Engineer on FL bridge project called state 2 days before deadly collapse to report crack, state says

[DonViejo]

Source: The Washington Post



Engineer on Florida bridge project called state two days before deadly collapse to report crack, state says

By Michael Laris and Susan Svrluga March 17 at 1:52 AM

A lead engineer responsible for a pedestrian bridge that collapsed near Miami left a voice-mail message for a state transportation official warning of “some cracking” two days before the structure crashed, state officials said Friday night.

The engineer with the private contractor FIGG Bridge Engineers did not consider it a safety issue, he said in the call. The message was not retrieved until Friday because the Florida Department of Transportation official to whom the voice mail was directed was out of the office on assignment, the state agency said. The message about the bridge being built to connect Florida International University with a neighboring city was left on a land line.

“Hey Tom, this is Denney Pate with FIGG bridge engineers. Calling to, uh, share with you some information about the FIU pedestrian bridge and some cracking that’s been observed on the north end of the span, the pylon end of that span we moved this weekend,” the engineer said, according to a transcript of the call released by the Florida Department of Transportation.

“Um, so, uh, we’ve taken a look at it and, uh, obviously some repairs or whatever will have to be done but from a safety perspective we don’t see that there’s any issue there so we’re not concerned about it from that perspective although obviously the cracking is not good and something’s going to have to be, ya know, done to repair that.”

Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/grade-point/wp/2018/03/16/recovery-efforts-continue-following-florida-bridge-collapse-at-least-6-dead/

[Bernardo de La Paz]

1. Kudos he called it in, but malpractice to make such an off-the-cuff assessment on safety. . . .nt

[Roy Rolling]

2. CYA Call

The engineer thought he covered his ass in case the cracks should cause a catastrophe. Saying it was safe was a bonehead and dangerous statement.

[3Hotdogs]

5. Not necessarily just a C.Y.A.

Auto repair service advisor: "Your brakes are getting low. You still have some 'meat' on the pads but probably good for another 3 or 4 months the way you drive. Not a safety issue now but keep an eye on it."


The question is if it is a common occurrence in construction. How many similar calls does the state department get from other companies?

[beachbum bob]

3. the fingerpointing, lawsuits and political fallout as this saga moves forward will be huge

No complete structural collapse happens in a vacuum. Those with the deep pockets will pay, from the college to the A/E firms, to fabricators and the contractors. Many will no longer be in business. The tragedy will be another textbook example on how a collapse happens and all the missed opportunities along the way. Similar to the Kansas City Hyatt walkway collapse in 1981 that killed 14.

[MissB]

10. I think you are missing a 1.

[Chemisse]

4. I'm so curious about where the break occurred.

Did it break free or slide off from its mooring at the end and then all the other breakage happened? Or did it crack and break within the bridge span at one spot, resulting in the rest of the damage?

Also, what kind of support did the (loose) cables provide? Could it have collapsed because the cables were needed to reduce the weight the bridge was expected to support?

[justhanginon]

9. I think since they have film of the collapse they will be able to

go ultra slow motion using stop motion etc. and pinpoint the time frame and see where the collapse began. Really a tragedy that most can relate to as I think we have all been stuck in traffic under a bridge or overpass at one time or another.

[Strelnikov_]

15. Looked at the video . . my estimate of what happened

It appears that one of the last 'diagonals' is what failed. Note the workers on top near where they would be in a operation to tighten post-tensioning cables for this member.

This is crucial since in the interim simple span configuration some of the diagonals would be in (high?) tension, whereas in final cable-stayed configuration would most likely be in compression (or reversal). This was probably the member that was 'cracked'.

In simple span configuration it was, albeit highly unconventional, essentially a truss. A non-redundant critical truss, in that one of the diagonals fail, the span comes down.

During the tightening operation an anchorage may have failed or cable snapped, as can happen, and this was enough in an already compromised member.

[Farmer-Rick]

6. So were people on the bridge?

From reading the article, I have even more questions.

If they were still building the bridge, why did they allow people on it, or did they?

"The pylon end of that span we moved this weekend." So, they moved it as they built it? So, were people on it? If not, what safety protections were around the bridge if they were still building it, it was a construction zone. Who lets people near a construction zone?

[LisaL]

7. The people on the bridge were workers installing it.

[Farmer-Rick]

8. Oh, now I understand

They should have rerouted the traffic underneath. The poor workers would still have died, but the other people would have not.

[JustABozoOnThisBus]

11. Did any workers die? People in vehicles under the bridge died, but ...

... workers on the bridge would probably have some injuries, broken bones. I didn't hear of any fatalities among the bridge workers.

The engineer's message was weak sauce, but should have been checked anyway. And, when the decision was made to "tighten" the bridge, traffic should have been stopped during the operation.

Maybe next time...

[LisaL]

12. Yes.

"An employee of a company that provides products to strengthen bridges died in the collapse of the pedestrian bridge connecting Florida International University with the city of Sweetwater."

http://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/community/miami-dade/article205584729.html

[Farmer-Rick]

19. Oh really.

I just assumed some of the fatalities were workers. But you're right.

[ToxMarz]

13. You don't need to be physically present to listen and respond to voicemails

If part of your job involves travel, the rest of your job isn't just put on hold until you get back. Particularly if your job is pubic safety!

[LisaL]

14. FDOT knew about the cracks.

"Hours before Florida International University’s new pedestrian bridge collapsed onto traffic, the school met with engineers and the state’s Department of Transportation for two hours to discuss whether a crack on the structure was a safety risk, FIU said in a statement Saturday."

http://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/community/miami-dade/article205660334.html

[Strelnikov_]

16. Probable reason for failure is coming into focus

The fact that the Structural Engineers called a meeting of all parties involved to discuss the crack indicates to me that this crack was atypical and in a critical location.

Further, I don't know why you would 'stress test' an already (possibly) compromised member. I think this 'stress testing' was actually checking/tightening of post-tensioning cables. During this operation something went wrong (anchorage/cable failed?) and at that point the structural integrity of this already compromised member was lost.

[LisaL]

18. According to the article, despite the cracks, it was deemed to be not life threatening or urgent.

[lark]

17. Please ms use this in an ad against Scott.

He and his staff didn't do their jobs, didn't have phone coverage and people died as a direct result.

Scott changed the law to allow 19 year old people to buy assault rifles and a 19 year old kill 17 people within a few months of the change. Now he wants to raise the age back to 21, where it was before he allowed this murderous teen to buy an assault rifle.

They need to start advertising soon, Scott is ahead and playing a hard game. All of a sudden, he's anti-drilling, and wants to change rules and toughen the gun laws he personally weakened allowing a mass murder to happen. Scott will have Koch and russian $$, Dems need to work hard to re-elet Nelson or we will have another criminal in DC supporting drumpf and russia.