Bridge collapse: ‘There are bodies down there and we can’t get to them’
MIAMI — Investigators on Friday searched for bodies and sifted through the rubble of a new pedestrian bridge whose collapse Thursday afternoon left at least six people dead and prompted scrutiny of the structure’s design and the safety of its construction.
“We exhausted last night all of our search and rescue capabilities,” said Chief Dave Downey of the Miami-Dade County Fire Rescue Department, which deployed one of the nation’s most specialized rescue squadrons in the wake of the bridge’s collapse. “We’ve determined that there’s no longer any survivors.”
The National Transportation Safety Board has opened an investigation into the cause of the collapse of the 53-metre walkway, which was designed to connect the campus of Florida International University to the city of Sweetwater and had not yet opened to pedestrians.
The chair of the safety board, Robert L. Sumwalt, said Friday that part of the inquiry would examine why there was not a central support beam to hold up the bridge.
The NTSB’s investigation was poised to begin in earnest later Friday, once the recovery effort was expected to be completed.
But the board is not likely to issue its final assessment for many months.
The collapse of the $14.2 million structure, built adjacent to the street using a method called accelerated bridge construction, came less than a week after it was driven into its perpendicular position across the road by a rig.
Accelerated construction is a well-regarded method of erecting bridges that avoids the long months of street closings when a structure is built over a road or river.
Instead, parts of the bridge are prefabricated away from the site.
Bridges made using the accelerated techniques are not more at risk of collapse than others, but moving them into place causes different stresses than what the bridge would normally have to withstand, said Andy Herrmann, a former president of the American Society of Civil Engineers.
On Friday, there was still conflicting information about what work, if any, was occurring on the bridge when it fell.
Mark B. Rosenberg, the university president, said Thursday that there had been testing underway, without being more specific.
On Thursday night, Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., said on Twitter that the collapse happened as loose cables were being tightened. He learned of that detail from several workers at the site, his office said.
On Friday, authorities declined to answer questions about why the roadway under the bridge was not closed during testing.
Maurice Kemp, a deputy mayor of MiamiDade County, said they had not even confirmed whether any testing was happening.
“Obviously, everybody is in shock here,” said Rosenberg, who had been a public champion of the bridge project.
“We just want answers, and we’re going to get answers.”
At least eight cars are believed to be trapped under the remnants of the bridge.