FIGG, MCM met to discuss cracks morning of fatal accident

The design-build team of MCM and FIGG Bridge Group met for two hours the morning of March 15, not long before the pedestrian bridge at Florida International University (FIU) collapsed on top of drivers waiting at a red light on Southwest Eighth Street in the city of Sweetwater, killing at least six. Three bodies were recovered from the rubble Saturday morning. Authorities included the casualties in the current fatality count. Ten more were injured in the accident.

According to FIU, the engineer of record with FIGG gave a two-hour “technical presentation regarding the crack and concluded that there were no safety concerns and the crack did not compromise the structural integrity of the bridge.”

Those in attendance were representatives from both FIU and the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT).

FIGG Bridge Engineer W. Denney Pate noticed the cracking on the north end of the span two days before the deadly drop and left a voice mail with someone at FDOT. The agency, however, did not receive the message until a day after the collapse.