FIU's pedestrian bridge installation left it vulnerable to collapse until complete, experts say

Published March 16, 2018 This content is archived.

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An article in USA Today about the collapse of a pedestrian bridge in Miami that had only been put in place Saturday interviews Amjad Aref, professor of civil, structural and environmental engineering, who said the designers would have created temporary supports for it until it was connected permanently to the structure’s columns and foundation.

“Think of Lego pieces,” he said. “Until you snap everything together, to become the whole system that will take everything from the top to the ground, if you are missing one piece, that structure could move. Normally that should be taken into account. You put some supporting system while it’s in the vulnerable state.”

Read the story here.

Articles appeared in news outlets around the world, including The Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, Miami Herald, Boston Globe, KHOU-TV in Houston, New York Daily News, England’s Daily Mail and New Zealand Herald.