MIAMI, FL — The president of Florida International University said Tuesday the school plans to build another pedestrian bridge on the same day the National Transportation Safety Board blamed the design of the last pedestrian bridge for the March 2018 collapse that killed six people, including a bridge worker.
In a message to the university community, FIU President Mark B. Rosenberg said more than 3,000 students cross busy 8th Street outside the school’s main campus several times a day.
“To address this, FIU does intend to build a new bridge where the victims will be memorialized as part of the University City Prosperity Project,” Rosenberg said. “We will keep the community updated on these plans.”
During a public meeting in Washington, D.C. on Tuesday, the NTSB concluded load and capacity calculation errors made by FIGG Bridge Engineers Inc. are the probable cause of the collapse of the bridge in Sweetwater, Florida just outside Miami.
In addition to the people who were killed, 10 other people were injured in the bridge collapse, which occurred after the 950-ton main span of the bridge was lifted from its temporary supports, rotated 90 degrees across an eight-lane road and lowered into its permanent position over busy SW 8th Street in a matter of hours.
“FIU was continually and repeatedly told that the cracks were not serious,” Rosenberg asserted in an interview with WPLG TV. “We followed state of Florida regulations all the way.”
Eight vehicles that were under the bridge were crushed. Six of the eight travel lanes under the bridge were left open at the time of the collapse, a decision that was criticized by the NTSB.
“The failure of FIGG, MCM, Bolton Perez and Associates Consulting Engineers, FIU and the Florida Department of Transportation to cease bridge work and close SW 8th Street to protect public safety contributed to the severity of the collapse outcome,” the NTSB said.
NTSB Chairman Robert Sumwalt called the collapse “preventable” and blamed the bridge design, inadequate peer review and poor engineering judgment.
“The failure of all concerned parties to recognize and take action on the threat to public safety presented by the significant observed bridge structure distress prior to the collapse, led to the tragic loss of life in this preventable accident,” Sumwalt said.
The NTSB issued one safety recommendation to the Federal Highway Administration, five to the Florida Department of Transportation, three to the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials and two to FIGG for a total of 11.
You can read an abstract of the NTSB’s report containing the probable cause, findings and recommendations from its investigation of the FIU pedestrian bridge collapse. The final report will be published in the next few weeks.