Rescuers at the scene of yesterday’s bridge collapse in Miami have spent the night working to rescue any survivors and to recover the bodies of those who were killed when the newly-constructed pedestrian bridge collapsed over an eight-lane motorway that runs through the Florida International University (FIU) campus. Officials have confirmed that six people have died and nine have been taken to hospital. Alvaro Zabaleta, a spokesman for the Miami-Dade police said that emergency workers were having to take extreme care because of the possibility of finding more victims and for their own safety and said that “this has turned from a rescue to a recovery operation.” At one point, the BBC is reporting, the police had to order TV helicopters buzzing the scene to leave the area so that emergency workers could he any sound of people trapped under the rubble of the $14 million bridge. Dave Downey, Miami-Dade fire chief said: “We have to remove some of this piece by piece. It’s very unstable.”
One eyewitness, Tiona Page, told ABC News that the noise of those trapped in cars was “terrifying,” adding: “As soon as I looked outside, I saw dust flying everywhere. I knew the bridge had collapsed.” Meanwhile, Damany Reed told CBS News: “I heard a big kaboom … It sounded continuous. We look outside… We thought something had fallen but it was the bridge that collapsed. It was just surreal at the moment and pretty scary.” Another eyewitness, FIU student Jacob Miller, told Associated Press: “I saw there were multiple cars crushed under the bridge. It was just terrible.”
The Governor of Florida, Rick Scott and Florida Senator Marco Rubio have both visited the scene of the collapse last night along with a team from the National Transportation Safety Board, who are due to start their investigation this morning. Serious questions will need to be answered about why this bridge collapsed so soon after being constructed. The main span of the bridge was lowered onto supporting towers on Saturday as part of an accelerated construction method to reduce the disruption to traffic. The bridge was being built by several companies, including Munilla Construction Company (MCM) and by FIGG Engineering. The bridge was built of self-cleaning concrete and was designed to last 100 years and to be able to withstand a Category Five hurricane. It lasted for five days! Something catastrophic has clearly gone wrong, whether that is in the design of the bridge, the materials used, or the method and speed at which the main span was put in place. Both MCM and FIGG Engineering have said they will cooperated with any investigation.
FIGG Engineering issued a statement, in which it said: “In our 40-year history, nothing like this has ever happened before. Our entire team mourns the loss of life and injuries associated with this devastating tragedy, and our prayers go out to all involved.” Meanwhile MCM said that it would participate in “a full investigation to determine exactly what went wrong.”
The Guardian today eleborated on the construction of the bridge: “In models and drawings of the structure, the bridge has a tall, off-centre tower with supporting cables attached to the walkway. When the span collapsed, the main tower had not yet been installed, and it was unclear what builders were using as temporary supports. An accelerated construction method was supposed to reduce risks to workers and pedestrians as well as minimise disruption to vehicles travelling below, FIU said. The university has long been interested in this kind of design; in 2010, it opened an Accelerated Bridge Construction Centre to help in the development of the method.”
A professor of engineering and construction management at the University of California said that such an “innovate installation” was risky: “Innovations take a design firm into an area where they don’t have applicable experience, and then we have another unexpected failure on our hands.” Mark Rosenberg, the president of FIU, said tests were done on the bridge on Thursday and that two construction workers were on site when it collapsed. It is not clear whether the tests were connected to the resulting collapse. Associated Press are reporting that the design of the bridge included a central support tower in the middle of the motorway, which wasn’t in place before the main span was lowered onto the support towers either side of the motorway. It is also unclear what the construction crews were using as a temporary central support – if anything. Mr Rosenberg said: “This bridge was about goodness, not sadness. Now we’re feeling immense sadness, uncontrollable sadness. And our hearts go out to all those affected, their friends and their families. We’re committed to assist in all efforts necessary, and our hope is that this sadness can galvanise the entire community to stay the course, a course of goodness, of hope, of opportunity.”
Governor Scott said that an investigation would find out what went wrong and why: “But the most important thing we can do right now is pray for the individuals that ended up in the hospital for their full recovery. Pray for the family members that have lost loved ones.” He also said that if anyone did anything wrong “we will hold them accountable.” The Mayor of Sweetwater – the area of Miami in which the bridge is located – Orlando Lopez said: “Just last week we were celebrating the expanse being completed and now we are here dealing with a tragedy.” President Trump took to Twitter: “Continuing to monitor the heartbreaking bridge collapse at FIU – so tragic. Many brave First Responders rushed in to save lives. Thank you for your courage. Praying this evening for all who are affected.”
The first victim of the collapse has been named today. She was 18-year-old Alexa Duran (right) who was confirmed by her father to have died in one of the cars crushed under the collapsing bridge. Her father said she was travelling back from a doctor’s appointment with her friend Richie Humble in a Toyota SUV. Mr Humble managed to escape from the vehicle but Alexa could not. Mr Duran, who was speaking in Spanish, told the Nuevo Herald: “My little girl was trapped in the car and couldn’t get out. She died when the bridge collapsed on top of her car.” Mr Duran was travelling in England when he heard the tragic news and he plans to return to Miami today. Mr Humble said the only reason he survived was luck, with the car being more crushed on Alexa’s side than on his. He suffered head and neck injuries. He told the Today show: “We were parked at a red light and I started to hear the bridge creak, so I look up and I saw the bridge falling on top of us. It fell on the roof of the car and … kind of caved in on my neck and squished me down. But I don’t really know what was going on at all. I tried to duck but at the same time it was just way too fast.”
Alexa Duran was in her first year at FIU studying for a political science degree. The identities of the other five to die in the collapse have not yet been released.
UPDATE: Thursday 22 March 2018 – Victims of the collapse
By the 22 March all six victims of the collapse had been named. They were Alexa Duran, whom I wrote about above, Brandon Brownfield, aged 39, Navarro Brown, 37, Rolando Fraga Hernandez, Alberto Arias, 53, and Oswald Gonzalez.
A video filmed from a dashcam has also emerged showing the collapse of the bridge (see this article for the video and other aftermath videos). Further information on the bridge has also emerged that showed that it was over budget and behind schedule. It is also reported that the Florida International University (FIU) was advised by Department of Transportation to move one of the structures supporting the bridge, which would have widened the gap between the crossing end supports and would have needed new structural design. The video of the bridge collapse shows that the concrete segment of the bridge started crumbling on the same end of the span where the tower redesign occurred, just two days after and engineer on the project reported cracks in the same location.
See the two articles from Saturday 17 March and the one from Thursday 22 March below for breaking news about the collapse that emerged after this post was written…
Sources & Further Reading:
- At least six dead in Florida university bridge collapse – BBC – Friday 16 March 2018
- Miami bridge death toll rises as officials investigate collapse – The Guardian – Friday 16 March 2018 – by Associated Press in Miami
- First victim of Miami bridge collapse named as 18-year-old Alexa Duran – Metro – Friday 16 March 2018 – by Tanveer Mann
- Miami bridge collapse: Engineer reported cracks in voicemail – BBC – Saturday 17 March 2018
- Miami bridge collapse: engineer’s answerphone message about crack not heard – The Guardian – Saturday 17 March 2018 – by Richard Luscombe in Miami
- Footage emerges of moment bridge collapsed in Miami killing six people – Metro – Thursday 22 March 2018 – by Richard Hartley-Parkinson
STEPHEN NULTY 