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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: 5, Insightful) by schad on Thursday June 13 2019, @12:31PM (2 children)
The problem in both cases seems to be the same, namely that the bridge was mandated by a bunch of non-engineers to look a certain way, cost a certain amount, and be built in a certain amount of time. I think that anyone who actually builds things -- bridges, computer software, or Lego kits -- can see immediately where the problem is and that it's got nothing to do with being Chinese or American or anything else.
If we really want to try to extrapolate some kind of greater pattern from this, the one to find is that this sort of thing is far more common in societies that don't value technical skill very highly. And I'm not talking about financial compensation, or at least not entirely; it's more about how engineers and other technically-skilled people are viewed. How many companies in the US are run by engineers any more? Almost none. They're all run by people with backgrounds in sales, marketing, or finance, and those three fields, to a very great extent, are about finding clever ways to turn the lies that you want to believe into the truths that everyone believes: a mentality that is fundamentally incompatible with all forms of engineering.
(Score: 1) by khallow on Friday June 14 2019, @12:30PM (1 child)
Welcome to the real world where not everyone is a highly experienced engineer (and even when they are, they still make these kinds of mistakes) and everything isn't made of unobtainium. This is standard for engineering everywhere.
(Score: 2) by RS3 on Saturday June 15 2019, @07:03PM
Agreed.
I can also take the view that in a better world, nobody would take on this type of project. Anyone thinking about it would look at $, limitations of available materials, and just not bid.