Campus Opens After Deadly Bridge Collapse

The nation was rocked by the recent news of the Florida International University bridge collapse, [...]

By Stephen Andrew

The nation was rocked by the recent news of the Florida International University bridge collapse, and now the college campus has finally reopened.

Four days after the tragic pedestrian bridge collapsed, killing multiple people, Florida International University has resumed classes and also held a moment of silence for the lives lost.

Additionally, the school is reportedly planning a vigil that will take place on March 21, according to BBC News.

Among those killed in the bridge collapse were 18-year-old FIU student Alexa Duran, as well as Rolando Fraga (60 years old), Oswald Gonzalez (57 years old), Alberto Arias (53 years old), Navaro Brown (37 years old), and Brandon Brownfield, whose age has not been shared at this time.

A company who touted the "structural monitoring" of the 950-ton pedestrian bridge in Florida deleted a tweet praising "a job well done," following the incident.

BDI is a company based out of Louisville, Colorado that provides "structural testing services & equipment all over the world."

On March 12, the company tweeted a photo of the pedestrian bridge at Florida International University, and captioned it, "We are thrilled to have performed structural monitoring during a spectacular bridge move by [Barnhart Crane] at [Florida International University, Miami]. Congratulations to [Barnhart Crane] on a job well done, we always appreciate being part of the team!"

As noted by Floridian Billy Corben, BDI deleted that tweet shortly after news of the bridge collapse was reported.

According to their website, BDI "personnel have performed hundreds of testing and monitoring projects around the world. This experience is apparent in the efficient services we provide and the instrumentation that we have developed and use on our projects."

"No matter how sophisticated, modern analytical techniques cannot replace field testing for understanding how a structure will respond under load," the company adds.

The Barnhart company was founded in Memphis, Tennessee in 1969, and describes itself as "one of the largest Heavy Lift and Heavy Transport organization in the United States with more than 40 locations across the country and a nationwide reputation for solving problems."

"Barnhart provides world-class service through a local presence. Operated crane rental, rigging services, outage planning, specialized solutions for component replacement, industrial storage and national project cargo logistics all combine to ensure Barnhart's customers receive the lowest total project cost. Barnhart also boasts one of the largest engineering teams in the industry — including a full R&D department — driving innovation across all services," the Barnhart website adds.

Prior to the fatal collapse, Florida International University tweeted that it was a "first-of-its-kind pedestrian bridge," and added a comment from FIU President Mark B. Rosenberg.

"FIU is about building bridges and student safety. This project accomplishes our mission beautifully," Rosenberg said.

0comments
Start the Conversation

of