Miami pedestrian bridge collapse

[ovrszd]

I like watching people respond to one.

An example is the hype surrounding the upcoming meeting between N Korea and us.

 

[MossRoad]

What meeting?

 

[ovrszd]

We shall see.

 

[California]

There's an update over on Welding Web, posted by Tigatoo.

His comments are based on
FIU bridge collapse update: Photos show severe cracks | Miami Herald

Here's one of the photos in it.

 

[CADplans]

There's an update over on Welding Web, posted by Tigatoo.

Here's one of the photos in it.

Hey, Cali,,, the way you linked it, you gotta be a weldingweb member to view it,,,

 

[FTG-05]

AFAIK, all these pics were taken before the bridge collapse.

 

[Ritothebull]

By the looks of those cracks it appears the bridge was starting to move a few days before it went down, I find it hard to belive that they didn't close that road after seeing that.

 

[California]

Hey, Cali,,, the way you linked it, you gotta be a weldingweb member to view it,,,

Oops, sorry. Last night a link to Miami Herald's photo returned nothing so I substituted Tigatoo's downloaded copy of it. Maybe I didn't wait long enough. Today the link works so I updated the post above. The photo is the final one in the Miami Herald article.

Looks to me that the measuring stick probing 6 inches into the 'crack' illustrates separation of Diagonal #11 from its attachment point.

 

[Industrial Toys]

That would take a bit of poly filler.

When will the investigation make its results known?

I wonder if the "TRUTH" will ever come out?

 

[swines]

I wonder if the "TRUTH" will ever come out?

You'll have to define "truth." If you meaning blaming someone - no. The NTSB is conducting the investigation. They are precluded by Congress from issuing reports that include finding fault or blaming someone as Congress does not want the agency acting as an expert witness and/or testifying in court. They will only document the mechanisms that caused the failure. That could include: design, materials, construction methods, etc.

The NTSB is a totally independent agency. They are not part of any other federal department so they do not answer to appointed heads of departments. While most people are familiar with the NTSB's role in investigating aviation accidents, they have a number of different offices (divisions) dedicated to investigating accidents associated with: railroads, pipelines, hazardous materials; aviation safety; highway safety; marine safety.

They have investigated hundreds of bridge failures and accidents - you can find the reports on their website. There is no other investigative agency that can perform the investigation to the level of the NTSB, because if required, they will build replicas of the portion of the bridge that failed and test the replica for structural performance.

 

[Industrial Toys]

So the whole thing is likely to be repeated (with blame this time) within the course of civil suits.

 

[BrinkME]

NTSB report update that shows the same pics as previously posted.

https://www.ntsb.gov/investigations/AccidentReports/Reports/HWY18MH009-investigative-update.pdf

 

[ruffdog]

By the looks of those cracks it appears the bridge was starting to move a few days before it went down, I find it hard to belive that they didn't close that road after seeing that.

If I was a worker and saw those cracks....I would have got the he77 off that bridge and stayed away. It is only common sense that those cracks were a sign of some MAJOR movement.

 

[Botaskinner]

FIU bridge that collapsed had key design mistake, experts say. | Miami Herald

 

[dynasim]

My bet is that they were tensioning that member, and they should have been detensioning it. Engineering systems use a safety margin of 3. One has to seriously make a mistake for a calculation to be off by 3. Post tensioning systems could easily have overstressed that concrete joint.

Adding tension to the member for transport, and detensioning it later makes sense. Adding tension after it is in place does not. If they were attempting to "close the crack" by tensioning that member, the person in charge should not have been.

 

[Industrial Toys]

Way beyond the news cycle. Collapse, what?

 

[California]

Way beyond the news cycle. Collapse, what?

Instagram video shows collapse of FIU pedestrian bridge | Miami Herald

The first couple of pages in this thread are speculation then after that, some specifics. Particularly on recent pages starting from post #144.

 

[Industrial Toys]

People seem to prefer their disasters fresh!

 

[/pine]

The latest:

'Design errors' faulted in Florida bridge collapse: U.S. agency | Reuters

 

[/pine]

The latest:

'Design errors' faulted in Florida bridge collapse: U.S. agency | Reuters

for those without access:

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The National Transportation Safety Board said on Thursday that "design errors" were found in a pedestrian bridge that collapsed in March at Florida International University, killing six people and injuring eight.

The board's investigation update said there were errors in the design of part of the 174-foot Miami span, and that resulted in an overestimation of the capacity of a critical section. The NTSB said concrete and steel specimens tested met the project’s build plans' minimum requirements.

A crack in the bridge that was observed prior to the collapse and previously disclosed was "consistent with those errors," the board said.

The 950-ton, $14.2 million bridge, which crossed an eight-lane highway adjacent to Florida International University (FIU) in Miami-Dade County and linked the campus to the city of Sweetwater, collapsed five days after it was installed.

In March, FIU said that engineers and state and university officials had met hours before the new bridge collapsed, but concluded a crack in the structure was not a safety concern.

In August, the NTSB released photos of larger cracks from before the collapse that had been previously known. (Engineer reported cracks in bridge before fatal collapse: transportation agency | Reuters)

The NTSB said Thursday it had not made any conclusions about the probable cause of the collapse and that the "investigation continues to examine the design, review, and construction processes as well as the actions taken once the cracking was observed."

A spokesman for Florida Senator Bill Nelson said Thursday’s findings did not address the question of "whether there was proper oversight by regulators in the design and construction of the bridge."

FIU and the Florida Department of Transportation did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

The Miami Herald reported last month that FIU had not decided whether to rebuild the bridge.

The assessment of design errors was made by the Federal Highway Administration, the NTSB said.