TWIA Commercial Property & Casualty
After fatal 2018 collapse, construction set for new FIU bridge
Sep
Dive Brief:
- The Florida DOT will begin construction next month on a new pedestrian bridge at Florida International University in Miami to replace one that collapsed while under construction over six years ago.
- In March 2018, six people were killed and 10 more injured when the pedestrian bridge collapsed during construction onto vehicles and pedestrians below.
- The new bridge will link the university’s Modesto A. Maidique Campus with a residential area to the north, where an increasing number of FIU students live, according to the news release.
Dive Insight:
Following the March 15, 2018 tragedy, the National Transportation Safety Board investigation determined the probable cause of the collapse was related to load and capacity calculation errors made by Tallahassee, Florida-based project designer and engineer FIGG Bridge Engineers.
In addition, NTSB determined consulting engineer Louis Berger Group failed to catch the design calculation errors that contributed to the collapse.
FIGG disputed the NTSB’s determination that bad design was the reason the bridge fell that day.
The collapse drove Miami-based general contractor Magnum Construction Management, then known as Munilla Construction Management, to file for bankruptcy. At the time of the collapse, the company told Construction Dive that it was the first time in its three-decade history it had experienced anything as serious as the bridge collapse.
Funding for the new $38 million bridge replacement will come from the federal government, state and a federal transportation grant assigned by FIU to Florida DOT.
The project seeks to improve pedestrian safety between the university and a residential area, where an increasing number of students live, the release said. Some accidents resulting in pedestrian deaths have occurred on 8th Street.
That need is growing too, as the project’s timing coincides with growth of student residences in the area, both on and off campus. Over 5,000 students live in Sweetwater, across from FIU’s main campus, and more residential buildings are planned.
FIU expects the bridge to open in fall 2026, per the release.
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