Jordan Coll / News Director
The investigation on the FIU pedestrian bridge collapse in 2018 continues, as a report by the National Road Safety Commission revealed calculation errors made by one of the contractors.
The NRSC report found FIGG Engineering, a consultant company hired by the university for the project, made calculation errors in the bridge’s design.
Louis Berger Group, a construction company hired to review the design, failed to detect the “overestimation of capacity and underestimation of demand,” done by FIGG Engineering, according to the report.
“The cracks in the member 11/12 nodal region were more than 45 times wider than is considered generally acceptable for reinforced concrete structures,” stated the report.
The NTSB, an independent federal agency that investigates infrastructure related incidents, started the investigation in 2018 following the 2018 FIU bridge collapse in SW 8th Street
The university hired Magnum Construction Management (MCM), to construct the bridge in 2016. That same year MCM hired Bolton Perez and Associates, an engineering firm to administer and inspect the development of the bridge.
FIU unveiled the bridge on Thursday, March 15, 2018 but it collapsed four hours later, about 1:46 p.m. due to structural cracks.
The collapse killed six people including FIU student Alexa Duran.
The recent NTSB report indicated design errors found on the bridge deck and main span truss of the 174-foot long bridge, made by FIGG Engineering responsible for the oversight of professional and engineering services, including providing the final design of the bridge.
FIGG entered into an agreement with the firm Louis Berger, one of the two companies involved in the construction of the bridge, which now faces a lawsuit of $15 million filed by MCM. The firm provided an independent review of the bridge, even though it was not qualified by the Florida Department of Transportation.
According to the National Transportation Safety Board, both the university and FIGG Engineering were responsible, as reported previously from PantherNOW.
Federal investigators noted in the report FIGG failed to notice structural cracks found prior to the collapse. Investigators also added the FDOT should have ceased all bridgework development as a result of the significant lack of structural failure.
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