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Florida International University ("FIU") needed a foot bridge to cross a canal and busy street. An FIU committee selected a design without redundant structural support because they were wanting a dramatic landmark (the bridge looked like it was a cable stayed design, but it wasn't -- the faux cables were almost entirely aesthetic). The original specs had called for structural redundancy so that the failure of one structural member would not cause a collapse -- the committee ignored this requirement in favor of visual appeal.
The engineering firm selected for the bridge (FIGG) made an error in calculation for a critical member at the end of the span. The engineering firm providing peer review of the design (Louis Berger) has refused to turn over to OSHA, certain documentation regarding what it was supposed to evaluate and what it actually did. When the bridge section which had been built on the side of the road was moved into place, experienced workers became extremely worried about cracks that started appearing and made their worries known to those up the chain. A FIGG engineer examined the cracks but determined they "did not present a safety concern even though its engineers did not know what caused them — and despite clear evidence that they were growing daily." Apparently, the guidelines are that cracks deeper than a half inch are to be taken seriously and these were much deeper and growing daily -- one photo shows a crack 4" deep.
The final bridge would have two sections -- the long section over the roadway and a short section over the canal. The canal section was to be built in place and tied into the long section. Had the canal section been built first, the risk of collapse for the section over the roadway would have been reduced because it would have shored up the longer road section.
The bridge collapsed killing six and permanently disabling another.
Article regarding the OSHA report: https://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/community/miami-dade/article231428938.html
Article regarding independent engineering review with some good explanations which I, as a non-engineer, found informative: https://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/community/miami-dade/article212571434.html
Time Lapse Video of Bridge Collapse (released by FIU): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vrBOF2jugFM
Original Soylent item: https://soylentnews.org/article.pl?sid=18/03/19/1746219
Link to the OSHA report itself: https://www.osha.gov/doc/engineering/pdf/2019_r_03.pdf
(Score: 2) by epitaxial on Thursday June 13 2019, @03:07AM (9 children)
That doesn't go over well.
(Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday June 13 2019, @03:11AM (2 children)
(Score: 1, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday June 13 2019, @03:44AM (1 child)
That company hasen't been the same since their partner Newton discovered gravity and moved on to greener pastures.
(Score: 0, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Friday June 14 2019, @02:28AM
Poor Newton was never the same after that apple hit the soft spot on the top of his head.
(Score: 1, Insightful) by fustakrakich on Thursday June 13 2019, @05:30AM (5 children)
Yeah, how do they get away with that?
Ah well, just another avoidable tragedy caused by corruption... SNAFU
La politica e i criminali sono la stessa cosa..
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Friday June 14 2019, @02:53PM (4 children)
Perfectly legitimate question modded down.
Huh, I guess nobody cares, and they don't want to think about it. To have even brought up in public seems to anger them. Indeed the corruption is personal.
Eh, such is life..
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday June 15 2019, @02:58AM (3 children)
This website has the potential to be influential at the very least, and could even be game-changing depending on who comes here and what information is exchanged. But the mod system breaks it. One idiot downmods an otherwise interesting, stimulating idea and it drops off the radar. At the very least it dies. Mod system here is stupid. Time for a change.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday June 15 2019, @05:23AM (1 child)
No, the mod system is okay. What it needs is a requirement that negative moderation be accompanied by a good accurate explanation from that moderator as to why, so we don't get this drive-by bullshit.
(Score: 2) by RS3 on Saturday June 15 2019, @06:59PM
Yes!! But it's still against the guidelines to downmod someone just because you disagree. Frankly I don't see a need for the "disagree" mod. Either state your contrary view, or move on.
I think the mod system could benefit from some focused discussion, not just comments here and there.
But overall this site is great!
(Score: 2) by janrinok on Saturday June 15 2019, @07:33AM
In most cases. the moderation system sorts itself out over the longer term. And comment can go up and down but, at the end of the discussion, the majority of comments carry the appropriate moderations. Of course, ACs begin at level 0 so have a larger hill to climb, but this is the price of anonymity.
There are a few cases where this is most certainly NOT the case. Some in our community like going back to stories that are several weeks or more old, and moderating comments that argue against their particular point of view. I suppose this is a form of trying to rewrite history. They hope, presumably, that if people visit the topic in the future it will look as though those who are carrying out late moderations had more support for their views than they did on the day.