A 950-ton pedestrian bridge over a major thoroughfare at Florida International U. collapsed on Thursday.Roberto Koltun, Miami Herald via AP
Last updated (3/16/2018, 2:47 p.m.) with identification of the student victim.
A pedestrian bridge that was installed just days ago, and was still under construction, collapsed on Thursday at Florida International University, in Miami, killing at least six people, injuring about nine others, and squashing eight vehicles.
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A 950-ton pedestrian bridge over a major thoroughfare at Florida International U. collapsed on Thursday.Roberto Koltun, Miami Herald via AP
Last updated (3/16/2018, 2:47 p.m.) with identification of the student victim.
A pedestrian bridge that was installed just days ago, and was still under construction, collapsed on Thursday at Florida International University, in Miami, killing at least six people, injuring about nine others, and squashing eight vehicles.
“We are shocked and saddened about the tragic events unfolding at the FIU-Sweetwater pedestrian bridge,” the university said in a statement. “At this time we are still involved in rescue efforts and gathering information.”
The search for victims was continuing, according to local authorities. One of the dead was identified as Alexa Duran, a political-science major at the university, the Miami Herald reported.
Images from the scene show cars on a major road, Eighth Street, crushed under the 950-ton bridge, which the university touted on Wednesday as a way to “provide a safer crossing of the eight-lane thoroughfare for the 4,200 FIU students living in Sweetwater.” The bridge was not yet open to pedestrians, and the university was on spring break.
“FIU is about building bridges and student safety. This project accomplishes our mission beautifully,” said the university’s president, Mark B. Rosenberg, in a news release last Saturday. On Thursday he said: “I am heartbroken at the news of the collapse of the pedestrian bridge on Eighth Street and the resulting devastation. We send our deepest condolences to the victims and their families.”
The university told the Miami Herald that the “Accelerated Bridge Construction” method used to install the bridge had significantly reduced risks, although the Associated Press and The Washington Post reported late Thursday that questions had been raised about the engineering and construction companies that built the bridge. A bridge-engineering researcher told the Post that the construction technique could lead to catastrophic failure if a bridge is “not completely connected or supported.”
The project, which had been expected to be completed in early 2019, will now be the subject of an investigation by the National Transportation Safety Board.
Adam Harris, a staff writer at The Atlantic, was previously a reporter at The Chronicle of Higher Education and covered federal education policy and historically Black colleges and universities. He also worked at ProPublica.
