Six companies will settle with FIU bridge victims
Tallahassee-based FIGG Bridge Group, which designed the doomed Florida International University pedestrian bridge, was one of six companies that have agreed to settle lawsuits brought by the victims and their families, an attorney for the plaintiffs announced in Miami-Dade Circuit Court on Wednesday.
While the amount is not yet known, the agreement means more money will be added to the $42 million that was set aside by the now-bankrupt construction Magnum Construction Management, which built the bridge. It was formerly known as Munilla Construction Management.
Families of the six people who died on March 15, 2018, and the eight injured survivors sued more than 20 defendants for their role in the collapsed bridge over Southwest Eighth Street, across from FIU’s main campus in southwest Miami-Dade. The people who died were crushed to death by the 950-ton span.
“It’s a positive step toward bringing an ultimate resolution for all of the victims that have suffered losses,” said attorney Alan Goldfarb, who represents the family of Alexa Duran, the 18-year-old FIU student who was killed when the bridge crushed her car as she waited at a red light. “It may lead to other defendants following a similar course and entering into settlements with all the plaintiffs.”
The other five companies that have agreed to settle are: Bolton Perez & Associates; Corradino Group; A&P Consulting Transportation Engineers Corp.; RLT Engineering Services LLC; and Gerdau Ameristeel US Inc.
Christos Lagos, an attorney for the plaintiffs, told a judge he is hopeful that other companies involved will soon settle.
“There are several other defendants that we have a lot of momentum and we very close to resolving, as well, to put them into this bankruptcy process,” he said.
Carli Teproff: 305-376-3587, @cteproff
Miami Herald Staff Writer Nicholas Nehamas contributed to this report.