Florida Bridge Collapsed After Crack Dismissed and Killed 6
Just hours before a pedestrian bridge at Florida International University collapsed on Thursday, engineers met the construction manager, university representatives, and state transportation officials to discuss the crack. The meeting concluded “there were no safety concerns and the crack did not compromise the structural integrity of the bridge.” However, just three hours after the meeting finished, the bridge fell and killed at least six people.
Two days before the bridge fell, an engineer that was hired by Florida International University called a Florida Department of Transport wanting to draw attention to the crack, however the voicemail wasn’t discovered until after the collapse. The engineer, W Denny Pate, stated “some cracking that’s been observed on the north end [of the bridge],” but didn’t believe it posed a risk to safety.
Yesterday crews worked to remove two cars from under the bridge, which were crushed when the bridge collapsed. “We’ve discovered three bodies within those two vehicles,” Juan J Perez, director of the Miami-Dade police department, told reporters. “Currently we are working on the removal of two more vehicles.”
Joe Smitha, whose niece died after being crushed by the collapsed bridge, asked “Why they had to build this monstrosity in the first place to get children across the street? Then they decided to stress test this bridge while traffic was running underneath it?“
