New Pedestrian Bridge Collapses in Miami

[depotoo]

I haven't read the entire thread but is there any information on why traffic was not diverted during the stress test and cable tightening work?

Still nothing. They said some info should be out in about a week.


Also, they just pulled another car from the rubble. I believe that is the fourth today. That means 4 remain, which they say are really entangled vs the four removed.

 

[depotoo]

Ok, they have removed all 6 cars that had victims in them now. I got in late to the news conference, but thought I heard him say there were a total of 6 deceased, which is either wrong, or one other vehicle was empty, as they had found 2 in one vehicle today, so had not included that person in their previous count of 6. I am sure the correct total will be published later. I think it should be 7, including the worker that died at the hospital.

 

[depotoo]

FIU Bridge Collapse: ‘Several’ Dead, 8 Cars Trapped Underneath


Death Toll Stands At 6 In FIU Bridge Collapse; 5 Victims Under Bridge
Saturday morning, crews removed two cars and said they found three bodies, Late in the day they recovered several more cars with the final two victims.

Authorities say the six victims were killed when the structure fell onto a busy six-lane road connecting the FIU campus to the community of Sweetwater on Thursday, March 15.

The first four victims were identified by police earlier Saturday.

Rolando Fraga Hernandez and his gold Jeep Cherokee were pulled from the wreckage Saturday.

Later, the bodies of Oswald Gonzalez, 57, and Alberto Arias, 54, were found inside a white Chevy truck.





I hope it’s true, but it makes no sense.

 

[Peter Dow]

The Obama Administration

Atorod Azizinami, FIU Chair of the Civil & Environmental Engineering Department and director of the Accelerated Bridge Construction University Transportation Center

Anthony Foxx, Obama's Secretary of Transport Engineering

Crime of which Atorod Azizinami and Anthony Foxx are accused - involuntary manslaughter

Summary of evidence -

* Atorod Azizinami professed his so-called "accelerated" (actually fraudulent, rushed, botched, risky, culpably negligent and prone to collapse) bridge construction method, misleading others into following his dangerous and ultimately deadly unprofessional engineering malpractice.

* See FIU NEWS, 03/10/2018 - First-of-its-kind pedestrian bridge “swings” into place

“This project is an outstanding example of the ABC method,” said chair of FIU’s Civil & Environmental Engineering Department and director of FIU’s ABC-UTC Atorod Azizinamini, who is one of the world’s leading experts on Accelerated Bridge Construction. “Building the major element of the bridge – its main span superstructure – outside of the traveled way and away from busy Eighth Street is a milestone.”​

* Anthony Foxx as Obama's US Secretary of Transport directed the US government to fund Atorod Azizinami

* See photograph and other reports of Foxx with Azizinami at a White House event announcing Azizinami was to be appointed a "Champion of Change in Transportation"

* US Department of Transport - 2015 Champions of Change in Transportation

* See the reports of the collapse of the weak and uncertified truss mainspan of the bridge on March 15, 2018, crushing vehicles and people which the mismanaged but Azizinami-approved project had allowed to pass dangerously underneath.

* Wikipedia - Florida International University pedestrian bridge collapse

 

[Peter Dow]

Florida International University Presidents and Professor of Bridge Engineering

Mark B. Rosenberg, FIU President

Kenneth Jessell, FIU Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer

Atorod Azizinamini - Chair of FIU’s Civil & Environmental Engineering Department and director of FIU’s Accelerated Bridge Construction University Transportation Center

Crime of which Mark B. Rosenberg, Kenneth Jessell and Atorod Azizinamini are accused - involuntary manslaughter

Summary of evidence -

* Mark B. Rosenberg as FIU president allowed the FIU to employ Atorod Azizinami and to award the contract for the design and construction of the pedestrial bridge to MCM + FIGG.

* Kenneth Jessell as FIU Vice President and Chief Financial Officer supported Mark B. Rosenberg as president allowing the FIU to employ Atorod Azizinami and to award the contract for the design and construction of the pedestrial bridge to MCM + FIGG.

* Atorod Azizinami professed his so-called "accelerated" (actually fraudulent, rushed, botched, risky, culpably negligent and prone to collapse) bridge construction method, misleading others into following his dangerous and ultimately deadly unprofessional engineering malpractice.

* See FIU NEWS, 03/10/2018 - First-of-its-kind pedestrian bridge “swings” into place

“FIU is about building bridges and student safety. This project accomplishes our mission beautifully,” said FIU President Mark B. Rosenberg. “We are filled with pride and satisfaction at seeing this engineering feat come to life and connect our campus to the surrounding community where thousands of our students live.”

“This bridge is the result of great support from our congressional delegation and the U.S. Department of Transportation,” said FIU Senior Vice President and CFO Kenneth Jessell. “This bridge has already been the catalyst for significant economic development in the City of Sweetwater. FIU and our surrounding community will benefit from this project for generations to come.”

“This project is an outstanding example of the ABC method,” said chair of FIU’s Civil & Environmental Engineering Department and director of FIU’s ABC-UTC Atorod Azizinamini, who is one of the world’s leading experts on Accelerated Bridge Construction. “Building the major element of the bridge – its main span superstructure – outside of the traveled way and away from busy Eighth Street is a milestone.”​

* See the reports of the collapse of the weak and uncertified truss mainspan of the bridge on March 15, 2018, crushing vehicles and people which the mismanaged but Azizinami-approved project had allowed to pass dangerously underneath.

* Wikipedia - Florida International University pedestrian bridge collapse

 

[Peter Dow]

From Wikipedia - Florida International University pedestrian bridge collapse I discovered this useful source

FIU - MCM Design-Build Proposal - MCM_FIGG_Proposal_for_FIU_Pedestrian_Bridge_9-30-2015.pdf

and at 173 pages of PDF it is a goldmine of information for identifying suspects in this case. For example, this organisation chart, from page 22 -

Charge sheets for many of those coming right up ...

 

[Peter Dow]

Company Presidents

Linda Figg, President and Chief Executive Officer of Figg Engineering Group

Jorge Munilla, President of MCM

Crime of which Linda Figg and Jorge Munilla are accused - involuntary manslaughter

Summary of evidence -

* Linda Figg allowed Figg Engineering Group employees to present and to follow a fatally flawed engineering design and construction methodology for the FIU Pedestrian Bridge Project.

* Jorge Munilla allowed MCM employees to follow FIGG's fatally flawed engineering design and construction methodology for the FIU Pedestrian Bridge Project.

* See FIU - MCM Design-Build Proposal - MCM_FIGG_Proposal_for_FIU_Pedestrian_Bridge_9-30-2015.pdf

* See reports of the collapse of the weak and uncertified truss mainspan of the bridge on March 15, 2018, crushing vehicles and people which the mismanaged project had allowed to pass dangerously underneath.

* Wikipedia - Florida International University pedestrian bridge collapse

 

[Peter Dow]

Pedestrian Bridge Project Management

Dwight Dempsey, FIGG, Project Design Manager

Rodrigo Isaza, MCM, Project Construction Manager

Eddie Martinez, MCM, Project Safety Manager

Crime of which Dwight Dempsey, Rodrigo Isaza and Eddie Martinez are accused - involuntary manslaughter

Summary of evidence -

* Dwight Dempsey, Rodrigo Isaza and Eddie Martinez as project managers allowed project employees to follow FIGG's fatally flawed engineering design and construction methodology for the FIU Pedestrian Bridge Project.

* See FIU - MCM Design-Build Proposal - MCM_FIGG_Proposal_for_FIU_Pedestrian_Bridge_9-30-2015.pdf

* The fact that road traffic was allowed by project managers to pass under the bridge while it was under construction, before it had been completed, tested and certified as safe.

* See reports of the collapse of the weak and uncertified truss mainspan of the bridge on March 15, 2018, crushing vehicles and people which the mismanaged project had allowed to pass dangerously underneath.

* Wikipedia - Florida International University pedestrian bridge collapse

 

[Peter Dow]

National Society of Professional Engineers

W. Denny Pate, FIGG, Lead Technical Designer and Engineer of Record

Robert Murphy, MCM, Project Director

Dwight Dempsey, FIGG, Project Design Manager

Kenneth Heil, FIGG, Design Quality Manager

Manuel Feliciano, FIGG, Bridge Engineer

Kristian Navarro, MCM, Project Engineer

Crime of which W. Denny Pate, Dwight Dempsey, Kenneth Heil, Manuel Feliciano and Kristian Navarro are accused - involuntary manslaughter.

Summary of evidence -

* W. Denny Pate authored as the Engineer of Record an incompetent and fatally flawed engineering design and construction methodology for the FIU Pedestrian Bridge Project.

* Robert Murphy, Dwight Dempsey, Kenneth Heil, Manuel Feliciano and Kristian Navarro, as professional engineers should not have done, followed W. Denny Pate's unprofessional, incompetent and fatally flawed engineering design and construction methodology for the FIU Pedestrian Bridge Project, failing to do their duty as professional engineers to do all within their power to ensure that the project followed the standards and practices of National Society of Professional Engineers.

* The fact that these engineers made no alarming report about this mismanaged project to the National Society of Professional Engineers.

* See FIU - MCM Design-Build Proposal - MCM_FIGG_Proposal_for_FIU_Pedestrian_Bridge_9-30-2015.pdf

* See reports of the collapse of the weak and uncertified truss mainspan of the bridge on March 15, 2018, crushing vehicles and people which the mismanaged project had allowed to pass dangerously underneath.

* Wikipedia - Florida International University pedestrian bridge collapse

 

[Peter Dow]

US Army Corps of Engineers

Eddie Martinez, MCM, Project Safety Manager

Kristian Navarro, MCM, Project Engineer

Carlos Hernandez, MCM, Quality Control Manager

Crime of which Eddie Martinez, Kristian Navarro and Carlos Hernandez are accused - involuntary manslaughter.

Summary of evidence -

* Eddie Martinez, Kristian Navarro and Carlos Hernandez followed the fatally flawed engineering design and construction methodology for the FIU Pedestrian Bridge Project and failed to do their duty to report to the Army Corps of Engineers that this mismanaged civilian project was a danger to the people that should be reported by the US Army Corps of Engineers through the chain of command to the President of the United States of America.

* The fact that these army engineers made no alarming report about this mismanaged civilian project to the Army Corps of Engineers.

* See FIU - MCM Design-Build Proposal - MCM_FIGG_Proposal_for_FIU_Pedestrian_Bridge_9-30-2015.pdf

* See reports of the collapse of the weak and uncertified truss mainspan of the bridge on March 15, 2018, crushing vehicles and people which the mismanaged civilian project had allowed to pass dangerously underneath.

* Wikipedia - Florida International University pedestrian bridge collapse

 

[Peter Dow]

Recommendation to the authorities
The executive recommendation to the authorities is that the above mentioned suspects who have been accused of a crime should be prosecuted.

Site Authority
Mayor Orlando Lopez

State and Federal Authorities
Governor of Florida, Rick Scott
President of the United States, Donald Trump

 

[martybegan]

Absolutely bizarre. The fact the city allowed it is criminal, as well as the companies doing such.

FIU confirmed a stress test was in progress.

They had traffic running under it during a stress test.........

Now it may not have been a stress test, but tensioning of certain structural components.

Things like this take time to investigate.

 

[Peter Dow]

Elected Representatives of the People

Mario Diaz-Balart, U.S. Representative and Chairman of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Transportation, Housing and Urban Development.

Orlando Lopez, Mayor of the City of Sweetwater

Crime of which Mario Diaz-Balart and Orlando Lopez are accused - involuntary manslaughter.

Summary of evidence -

* Mario Diaz-Balart and Orlando Lopez trusted the untrustworthy and mismanaged FIU Pedestrian Bridge Project, lending it their undeserved support.

* Mario Diaz-Balart's support helped to allow the project to gain federal funding.

* Orlando Lopez's support allowed the project additional City of Sweetwater funding and the authority to build at the site.

* See the "SITE AUTHORITY" graphic and the raw photograph of the construction site and the billboard there notifying the public and the police that the project had the Mayor's authority to build at that site.

* See FIU NEWS, 03/10/2018 - First-of-its-kind pedestrian bridge “swings” into place

“FIU has come a long way since the TIGER grant that funded this pedestrian bridge was awarded in 2013. This project represents a true collaboration among so many different partners at local, state, and federal levels, and in both the public and private sectors,” said Mario Diaz-Balart, U.S. Representative and Chairman of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Transportation, Housing and Urban Development. “The university’s growth and acceleration is no longer just about the campus and its student body; it’s about the future of Sweetwater, Miami-Dade County and the entire South Florida region. I believe this is what creative solutions to transportation challenges look like, and I will continue to support and incentivize these new ideas.”

Funding for the $14.2 million bridge, connecting plazas and walkways is part of a $19.4 million Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery (TIGER) grant from the U.S. Department of Transportation. Other funding agencies include the Federal Highway Administration, Florida Department of Transportation Local Agency Program, FIU and the City of Sweetwater.

“The FIU-Sweetwater bridge will serve many purposes including being a visually distinctive gateway to our city,” said City of Sweetwater Mayor Orlando Lopez. “This bridge is symbolic of the growth our city is experiencing and our partnership with FIU.”​

* See the reports of the collapse of the weak and uncertified truss mainspan of the bridge on March 15, 2018, crushing vehicles and people which the mismanaged project had allowed to pass dangerously underneath.

* Wikipedia - Florida International University pedestrian bridge collapse

 

[Peter Dow]

FIU promoted technique used to build failed pedestrian bridge as solution to nation’s infrastructure woes​

"FIU provided $50,000 in seed funding for the Center for Accelerated Bridge Construction, ...

The U.S. Department of Transportation awarded the Accelerated Bridge Construction University Transportation Center at FIU a $7.5 million, five-year grant in 2016 to advance the construction method. FIU was the lead institution, also working with partners Iowa State University, University of Nevada - Reno, University of Oklahoma, and University of Washington.

Atorod Azizinamini, director of the university's Accelerated Bridge Construction center, ... has spoken extensively about the unique design of the pedestrian bridge at FIU.

In an interview with an FIU news site in November 2017, Azizinamini advocated for the ABC method as a more cost-effective and safer way to replace the nation’s aging bridges. The idea was that hosting construction off-site would reduce accidents and traffic congestion, and it would only take a few days to hoist the bridge into place.

In an emailed statement Thursday, the university's College of Engineering and Computing emphasized that the center had no role in designing or building the collapsed bridge, although the center recommended that the ABC method be used when FIU applied for a federal grant for the bridge. FIGG Bridge Group designed the bridge and it was constructed by MCM Construction, FIU noted."​

Atorod Azizinamini did indeed have a role in the building project which he supported as is reported here by speaking "extensively about the unique design of the pedestrian bridge at FIU".

Azizinamini's lethal role was as chief cheerleader and public propagandist for this mismanaged project, effectively urging caution to be thrown to the wind by all and publicly deflecting from a focus on the importance of continuous critical health and safety review of all aspects of the project as it went along.

That's not "no role". That is a decisive, culpably negligent and lethal role which cost innocents their lives.

"The statement added: "More than 1,000 bridges are constructed in the U.S. using accelerated bridge construction techniques without any problems."​

A failure rate of about 1 in 1,000 bridges, buildings or any civil engineering structure is completely unacceptable.

"Bridges collapse for different reasons, some engineering and others construction."​

Good engineering practice builds bridges which don't collapse for any reason! (Can you believe the ridiculous claims of Azizinamini's center of bridge-building incompetence?)

Good engineering practice tests all components of any construction in isolation and / or in situ as appropriate.

New bridge projects require an engineering certification that the bridge is safe before the bridge can be legally commissioned and only then are the public allowed to go under (or over) the bridge.

"Until forensic engineers take a look at the collapse, we cannot speculate on what caused the collapse.''​

Actually, we can easily speculate that the main-span concrete truss was long, relatively short and consequently was too weak, with barely the strength to support its own weight when it was supported in situ.

The MCM FIGG proposal's engineering drawings specify a mainspan truss which is 175 feet long and 18 feet tall, which equates to a length-to-height ratio of 9.72.

* See FIU - MCM Design-Build Proposal - MCM_FIGG_Proposal_for_FIU_Pedestrian_Bridge_9-30-2015.pdf

 

[Markle]

Peter Dow, your rant is duly noted.

Now, why don't we wait for the investigation to be complete so we actually know who is to blame? I know, what a wild and crazy idea!

 

[Peter Dow]

Peter Dow, your rant is duly noted.

Now, why don't we wait for the investigation to be complete so we actually know who is to blame? I know, what a wild and crazy idea!

You can wait if you want. I wanted to do a little investigating of my own.

 

[Markle]

Peter Dow, your rant is duly noted.

Now, why don't we wait for the investigation to be complete so we actually know who is to blame? I know, what a wild and crazy idea!

You can wait if you want. I wanted to do a little investigating of my own.

And, you have proven nothing other than you typically leap to conclusions. Not a good thing for an adult.

 

[Circe]

I am disconcerted about the talk of a criminal investigation. It seems to me there is an interesting ethical issue here: don't you have to want a bad thing to happen before it's a crime, whatever happens?

The engineer who called State Transportation, and the one who gave the two-hour talk about Issues shortly before the bridge collapse: both said there was cracking, but no problem, no safety issue. Well, the whole entire nation can readily see that they were about as wrong as anyone can be.

But no one can say they WANTED the bridge to collapse! They were simply wrong: they thought it wouldn't, but it did. I don't see criminal culpability here. I think people would be pretty stupid to hire this firm again, or to use these FIU special new designs again, but of course they didn't want the bridge to collapse. I'd say no criminal culpability at all.

 

[Peter Dow]

I am disconcerted about the talk of a criminal investigation. It seems to me there is an interesting ethical issue here: don't you have to want a bad thing to happen before it's a crime, whatever happens?

Florida Involuntary Manslaughter Laws
Overview of Florida Involuntary Manslaughter Laws

When a homicide, the killing of a human being, does not meet the legal definition of murder, Florida state laws allow a prosecutor to consider a manslaughter charge. The state establishes two types of manslaughter: voluntary and involuntary. While voluntary manslaughter describes an intentional act performed during a provocation or heat of passion, involuntary manslaughter does not require intent to kill or even intent to perform that act resulting in the victim's death.

To establish involuntary manslaughter, the prosecutor must show that the defendant acted with "culpable negligence." Florida statutes define culpable negligence as a disregard for human life while engaging in wanton or reckless behavior. The state may be able to prove involuntary manslaughter by showing the defendant's recklessness or lack of care when handling a dangerous instrument or weapon, or while engaging in a range of other activities that could lead to death if performed recklessly.​

So depending on the accused, his or her culpability would be with regard to the decisions he or she made negligently or recklessly that disregarded the dangers to human life and contributed to the deaths.

The engineer who called State Transportation, and the one who gave the two-hour talk about Issues shortly before the bridge collapse: both said there was cracking, but no problem, no safety issue. Well, the whole entire nation can readily see that they were about as wrong as anyone can be.

Wrong decisions were made long before then.

But no one can say they WANTED the bridge to collapse! They were simply wrong: they thought it wouldn't, but it did. I don't see criminal culpability here. I think people would be pretty stupid to hire this firm again, or to use these FIU special new designs again, but of course they didn't want the bridge to collapse. I'd say no criminal culpability at all.

The accused were "pretty stupid to hire this firm" - "or to use these FIU" (FIGG) "special new designs" - in the first place!

Involuntary manslaughter is a crime the first time someone commits it, not only if and when he or she does it "again".

We, the people, have to convict the killers the first time they kill so that they don't get a chance to kill "again".

 

[Circe]

The accused were "pretty stupid to hire this firm" - "or to use these FIU" (FIGG) "special new designs" - in the first place!

No, that's just how it looks now. Earlier, Florida International University was pioneering this fast bridge building plan --- and they were very proud of it. We KNOW everyone concerned was proud of it: they had openings, models, classes on the method, speeches --- we've probably all read the effusive speech by the president of the University when the bridge was put in place.

They clearly all believed it would work and was a good idea.

Okay, they were spectacularly wrong. But they could not know what they did not know.

IMO, we'll see this investigation drag on till people forget about it so they do not have to criminalize engineers who did not mean to commit a crime: they meant to build a good and useful bridge.