Another of Obama's Legacies:


Companies behind Florida bridge collapse have history of fines, failures, lawsuits
12 hours ago
By Greg Norman | Fox News

The two firms responsible for building Florida International University’s "instant bridge," which suddenly collapsed Thursday and left six people dead, are coming under increased scrutiny as details emerge of past engineering failures and inspection fines -- including a recent accusation that one hired “unskilled” and “careless” workers.

The $14.2-million pedestrian bridge was supposed to open next year to help students cross a busy road adjacent to the campus. It was an accelerated, joint construction effort by two Florida companies: MCM Construction, a Miami-based contractor, and Figg Bridge Design, based in Tallahassee, who both have worked on dozens of projects nationwide, ranging from military facilities to schools.

"Innovations take a design firm into an area where they don't have applicable experience, and then we have another unexpected failure on our hands," Robert Bea, a professor of engineering and construction management at the University of California, Berkeley, told the Associated Press after reviewing the bridge’s design -- and the pile of rubble it was reduced to on Thursday afternoon.

As state and federal investigators worked Friday to determine how and why the five-day-old span failed, one factor may have been the stress test Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Gimenez said crews were conducting on the span. Two workers were on the 950-ton bridge when it pancaked on top of vehicles waiting at a stoplight.
Emergency personnel respond after a brand-new pedestrian bridge collapsed onto a highway at Florida International University in Miami on Thursday, March 15, 2018. The pedestrian bridge collapsed onto the highway crushing multiple vehicles and killing several people. (Pedro Portal/Miami Herald via AP)

Renderings of the project before it went up showed a tall, off-center tower with supporting cables attached to the walkway, the Associated Press reported. When the bridge collapsed, the main tower had not yet been installed, and it was unclear what builders were using as temporary supports.

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http://www.foxnews.com/us/2018/03/16/com...s-lawsuits.html



Father of Collapsed Florida Bridge was Obama ‘Champion of Change’ in 2015
By Judi McLeod
March 16, 2018

Celebrated leading visionary bridge engineer Atorod Azizinamini, whose ABC (Accelerated Bridge Construction) technology was used to build the bridge that collapsed yesterday on Florida International University’s campus, was named an Obama era Department of Transportation ‘Champion of Change’ in 2015.

[[File:Champion of Change.jpg|none|600px|200px]]

The event in which Azizinamini was awarded ‘Champion of Change’ status was webcast live at whitehouse.gov/live, no longer online.

Much will be made in coming days that FIGG Bridge Group designed the bridge and that it was constructed by MCM Construction, in the aftermath of the bridge’s collapse.

But it was Azizinamini bridge technology all the way:

“This project is an outstanding example of the ABC method,” said Atorod Azizinamini, the center’s director, in a press release on Saturday. “This bridge is the result of great support from our congressional delegation and the U.S. Department of Transportation,” said FIU CFO Kenneth Jessell in the same press release. “FIU and our surrounding community will benefit from this project for generations to come. (Reason, Mar. 15, 2018)

“Currently, about 24% of more than 610,000 bridges in the U.S. are deficient, and about 45% of all U.S. bridges are shorter than 60 ft. To address this issue, Azizinamini invented the Folded Plate Steel Bridge System, which provides an economical, long-term solution for replacing outdated short span bridges. It allows on-site construction of a bridge over a few days, using less costly materials and lasting longer, resulting in lower costs and limited impact to traffic.” (White House Honors Atorod Azizinamini as Champion of Change, Oct. 12, 2015)

“Eight vehicles were reportedly crushed when the 174-foot, 950-ton pedestrian bridge, installed Saturday over Southwest Eighth Street in Miami, collapsed this afternoon. The bridge was supposed to demonstrate methods developed by FIU’s Accelerated Bridge Construction University Transportation Center (ABC-UTC), whose work is also funded by U.S. DOT grants. (Reason)

“The death toll from the bridge collapse on Florida International University’s campus has climbed to six, police said. (ABC News, Mar. 16, 2018)

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“Known as accelerated bridge construction, this approach calls for the main span to be built offsite, and then hoisted into place atop support columns. By significantly reducing construction on roadways, FIU touted this as a way to speed up work and reduce traffic disruption and injuries. (BizJournal, Mar.15, 2018)

“The idea took root at FIU in 2010, when the university hosted a meeting of bridge engineering professionals. FIU provided $50,000 in seed funding for the Center for Accelerated Bridge Construction, which launched in 2011. It started conducting monthly webinars on the construction method.

The seed funding was soon to blossom into multi-millions of dollars over time:

“The U.S. Department of Transportation awarded the Accelerated Bridge Construction University Transportation Center at FIU a $7.5 million, five-year grant in 2016 to advance the construction method. FIU was the lead institution, also working with partners Iowa State University, University of Nevada - Reno, University of Oklahoma, and University of Washington. (FIU News, Dec. 5, 2016)

But the Accelerated Bridge Construction University Transportation at FIU really took wing through former President Barack Obama’s economic stimulus:

“The pedestrian bridge that collapsed at Florida International University’s Miami-Dade campus today, killing several people, was funded with $11.4 million from the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Transportation Investments Generating Economic Recovery (TIGER) program. The TIGER program has come under repeated fire for awarding money based on politics rather than merit. (Reason.com)

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https://canadafreepress.com/article/fath...-change-in-2015

Quote: Cincinnatus wrote in post #2

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Good grief: When the bridge collapsed, the main tower had not yet been installed, and it was unclear what builders were using as temporary supports.

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