THE FIU BRIDGE COLLAPSE:
Peeking into the cone of silence
about the disaster that killed six
Florida Construction News staff writer
A cone of science has descended
over official interpretations about the
cause of the March 15 pedestrian
bridge collapse at Florida Interna-
tional University (FIU), as the Na-
tional Transportation Safety Board
(NTSB) investigates the incident that
killed six people under the glare of
national publicity.

The story, however, will likely
emerge as an example of how engi-
neering and construction can go
wrong, especially in the context of
the university’s leadership in con-
struction management and engineer-
ing programs, and understanding
how innovations in building practices
and technologies should be encour-
aged, but with safety safeguards.

FIU’s president and board of
trustees met on April 12 for the first
time since the tragedy for a retreat at
Coral Gables. Trustees started the
meeting with a moment of silent for
the collapse victims.

Then there was silence about the
incident itself, with FIU president
Mark Rosenberg and the university’s
lawyer telling local NBC 6 TV that
they needed to stay silent under
NTSB guidelines.

“There could be a point in time
during the investigation that the
NTSB begins to lift the shield, but
between now and then, we’re coop-
erating the best way possible . . .

and that is to be a party member to
the investigation,” the school’s gen-
eral council, Carlos Castillo, said in
the broadcast interview.

“We’re at the table with the NTSB
and we’ve made the decision to do
that precisely because we want to
get to the bottom of what caused
the bridge collapse,” he said.

Miami-based contractor MCM, in
partnership with FIGG Bridge Engi-
neers, designed and built the struc-
ture, part of a $9.3 million project
with sidewalks and plazas to connect
the City of Sweetwater with the uni-
versity’s Modesto A. Maidque Cam-
pus (MMC).

This was MCM’s first design-build
project with FIGG, described in a
news release as an award winning
Tallahassee-based firm. FIGG has de-
signed bridges throughout the U.S.

including the Leonard P. Zakim
Bunker Hill Bridge in Boston and the
Sunshine Skyway Bridge in Tampa
Bay. Both FIGG and MCM expressed
condolences for the victims and say
they are cooperating with the investi-
gation, but not much more, at least
in public.

Florida Construction News — SPRING 2018 – 3