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Dive Brief:
- The Florida DOT will begin construction next month on new pedestrian bridge at Florida International University in Miami to replace one that collapsed while under construction more than six years ago.
- In March 2018, six people died and 10 others were injured when the footbridge collapsed during construction onto vehicles and pedestrians below.
- The new bridge will connect the university’s Modesto A. Maidique campus with a residential area to the north, where a growing number of FIU students live, according to the news release.
Diving knowledge:
Following the tragedy of March 15, 2018, the A National Transportation Safety Board investigation has been ordered 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.
Additionally, the NTSB determined that consulting engineer Louis Berger Group failed to detect design miscalculations that contributed to the collapse.
FIGG disputed the NTSB’s determination that poor design was the reason the bridge collapsed that day.
The collapse caused 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 it was the first time in its three-decade history that it had experienced anything as serious as the bridge collapse.
Funding for the new $38 million bridge replacement will come from the federal government, the state and a federal transportation grant allocated by FIU to the Florida DOT.
The project aims to improve pedestrian safety between the university and a residential area, where a growing number of students live, according to the release. There have been some accidents on Carrer 8 that have caused the death of pedestrians.
That need is also growing, as the timing of the project coincides with the growth of student residences in the area, both on and off campus. More than 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 the fall of 2026, according to the release.
