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The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has issued an investigative update regarding the bridge accident.
According to the update, an assessment of the available design calculations and construction plans determined “that errors were made in design of the northernmost nodal region of the 174-foot-long span, where two truss members were connected to the bridge deck.”
FIU Senior Vice President for Finance and Administration and Chief Financial Officer Kenneth Jessell said FIU continues to work with NTSB to help bring the investigation to an end.
“At FIU, we continue to fully cooperate with the NTSB so that it may finish its investigation and complete a final report and safety recommendations. said Jessell. “We hope the results of the investigation will help bring closure to the families and loved ones of the victims.”
The NTSB investigation is ongoing.
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In my opinion, the problem started with the request of owner to increase the bridge length for a future west lane adjacent to Channel 4. The design revision may not have taken into account the fact that the carts or dollies that would be place under the prefab truss bridge would be placed approximately 15 from the north end of the bridge do to the steep embankment between edge of the road and the face of the support pier. If the cantelevered north end of bridge was not design for for the dead + impact weight of truss bridge, that would cause the top chord of truss to crack. Contracor/Subcontracor tried to close the crack by tighting the web tensor rod once the truss bridge was erected. However, they exceed the tensile strength of the tensor, pass the yield point and to brittle failure.