Pedestrian Bridge collaspes on Campus...!

[4me2c]

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/miami-pedestrian-bridge-collapses-trapping-unknown-number-people-n857011

"A pedestrian walkway in Miami collapsed on Thursday, killing several people.

The Florida Highway Patrol confirmed the fatalities after multiple vehicles were crushed by the span near Florida International University's campus.

According to Miami-Dade County Fire Rescue, there were people were on the bridge and several cars were underneath it.

The walkway weighed 950 tons and was 174 feet long, according to FIU.

The bridge was scheduled to open early next year and was designed to withstand hurricane-force winds. The bridge was built across the seven-lane Tamiami Trail, connecting the FIU campus to the town of Sweetwater, where the university estimates some 4,000 students live."

 

[ilan]

Looks like a real bad scene. Our thoughts and prayers go out to those folks. That bridge was supposed to be able to withstand a Cat 5 hurricane!

 

[Kimbo]

It was installed days ago and was being tested which is dumb to allow cars under it so early...watching news conference so far 6 people confirmed dead!!

 

[Ryu]

very sad. rest in peace.

 

[Capt.Kangaroo]

Sad indeed.
R.I.P.

 

[dishuser]

It was installed days ago and was being tested which is dumb to allow cars under it so early...watching news conference so far 6 people confirmed dead!!

agreed
while they were working on loose cables that road should have been closed

 

[Orziz]

Very sad- apparently the engineering firm that designed the walkway took down their website on Thursday.

 

[4me2c]

just Another Update :

https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2018/03/16/594327432/as-bodies-are-pulled-from-rubble-questions-mount-about-miami-bridge

"The Florida Department of Transportation released a transcript of a voicemail left on Tuesday March 13, by W. Denney Pate, lead engineer with FIGG Bridge Engineers, a Tallahassee firm.

"'Hey Tom, this is Denney Pate with FIGG bridge engineers. Calling to, uh, share with you some information about the FIU pedestrian bridge and some cracking that's been observed on the north end of the span, the pylon end of that span we moved this weekend. Um, so, uh, we've taken a look at it and, uh, obviously some repairs or whatever will have to be done but from a safety perspective we don't see that there's any issue there so we're not concerned about it from that perspective although obviously the cracking is not good and something's going to have to be, ya know, done to repair that. At any rate, I wanted to chat with you about that because I suspect at some point that's gonna get to your desk. So, uh, at any rate, call me back when you can. Thank you. Bye.'"