Multiple errors, inadequate peer review led to pedestrian bridge collapse in Florida
The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has determined that load and capacity calculation errors made by FIGG Bridge Engineers, Inc., are the probable cause of the fatal, March 15, 2018, Florida International University pedestrian bridge collapse in Miami.
Contributing to the collapse was an inadequate peer review by Louis Berger, the independent consultant hired to verify the bridge's integrity and design by FIGG. According to the NTSB, Louis Berger failed to detect FIGG’s calculation errors in its design of the main span truss member 11/12 nodal region and connection to the bridge deck. The FIGG engineer of record’s failure to identify the significance of structural cracking observed in this node before the collapse, and failure to obtain an independent peer review of the remedial plan to address the cracking, further contributed to the collapse.