FDOT had key role in FIU bridge project, documents show
In the hours after the collapse of the Florida International University pedestrian bridge that killed six on Thursday, the Florida Department of Transportation quickly attempted to publicly distance itself from liability, calling its role “limited.”
But documents of meetings from FIU and the city of Sweetwater over the past three years, and interviews with industry experts who asked that their names not be used because they still work with the agency, show FDOT’s involvement on the design and construction of the bridge was much more significant. For example:
FDOT was a member of the select committee that approved the design-build team, MCM and FIGG Bridge Group, which built and installed the structure. It was also involved in selecting the consulting engineer, Bolton Perez and Associates, chosen to make sure the plan was followed and was carried out safely.
FDOT staff attended weekly, biweekly, and then monthly meetings
of the design-build team and FIU staff, and had input on the design and location of the bridge.Miami-Dade police and family member have identified five of the victims. They are Alexa Duran, 18, Navaro Brown, 37, Rolando Fraga, 60, Osvaldo Gonzalez, 58, and Alberto Arias, 54. Saturday night, crews extracted the fourth and final vehicle from the wreckage and took it to the Miami-Dade County Medical Examiner’s Department.
FDOT served as a consultant on dozens of details, such as how to get a concrete mixture combination approved and whether to move pylons closer to the C-4 canal the bridge crossed.
And just hours before the bridge collapsed, FDOT’s project director was at a two-hour meeting called by the design engineer to discuss progress on the bridge.
Since the accident that killed six, the department and Gov. Rick Scott have rushed to absolve the state from any liability in the cause of the collapse.
“It’s not an FDOT project. It’s an FIU project,” Scott said during a press conference at the university the night the bridge fell. “There will clearly be an investigation to find out exactly what happened, and why this happened. We will hold anybody accountable if anybody has done anything wrong.”
FDOT also emphasized on Thursday that its role in the failed project was limited. It listed four bullet points detailing its involvement: traffic control during installation of the bridge on March 10; acting as a “passthrough” for federal funding of the project; conducting a “routine preliminary review” of the terms of the agreement with the state, and authorizing FIU “to utilize the aerial space” above the state road to build the bridge spans.
Then on Friday night, the agency unsheathed a dagger, saying the university never asked it to close Tamiami Trail during installation, and suggesting that FIU’s chosen engineer had perhaps wrongly downplayed cracks found in the concrete walkway before it crumpled. (Transportation experts told the Miami Herald that if the agency determined the road under the bridge needed to be closed, it didn’t need to wait to be asked by FIU or the city of Sweetwater.)
In a rare late-night statement, FDOT released the audiotape and transcript of a voicemail left by an engineer of the design firm, FIGG Bridge Group, warning that the bridge had experienced cracking. The FIGG engineer dismissed the significance of the problem, but the document FDOT sent to the media said the employee didn’t receive the voicemail until Friday when he returned to the office after being on assignment for three days.
“The responsibility to identify and address lifesafety issues and properly communicate them is the sole responsibility of the FIU design build team,” said a statement released by FDOT spokesman Dick Kane.
Saturday night, MiamiDade Police extracted the fourth vehicle from the scene of the collapse and took it to the Miami-Dade County Medical Examiner’s Department. A news conference was to be held late Saturday.
Those identified so far include:
Alexa Duran, 18. She was an FIU student who was driving under the bridge when it collapsed.
Navaro Brown, 37. He was an employee of Structural Technogies VSL. Two other employess were hospitalized after the accident.
Rolando Fraga, 60. He was a systems technician at ITG Communications and worked as a truck driver, according to his Facebook profile.
Osvaldo Gonzalez, 57, who was in a white van under the bridge.
Alberto Arias, 54. He had studied at the University of Havana.