University Did Not Consider Crack in Pedestrian Bridge a Safety Concern

Officials say they knew of a crack in the Florida International University pedestrian bridge that collapsed on Thursday but believed it was not a safety concern.

As Reuters reports, a meeting was held hours before the collapse, which killed at least six people. Representatives from FIU, the Florida Department of Transportation, bridge design contractor FIGG and bridge installers Munilla Construction Management all met to discuss the 950-ton bridge.

According to a FIU statement, FIGG’s engineer “concluded there were no safety concerns and the crack did not compromise the structural integrity of the bridge.”

This follows a similar report about a FIGG engineer’s analysis of the structure being left on a voicemail. The unnamed engineer left a message for the Florida Department of Transportation that stated that the crack needed repairs but was not in an danger of collapsing.

“From a safety perspective we don’t see that there’s any issue there so we’re not concerned about it from that perspective,” the engineer said. “Obviously the cracking is not good and something’s going to have to be, ya know, done to repair that.”

It is unclear if the crack led to the bridge’s collapse. Another theory that has been given is that construction workers were applying force to strengthen a diagonal member at the time of the accident. Investigators are still trying to determine the cause of the accident.

Among the people killed was Alexa Duran, who was driving her car at the time of the collapse. Friend Richie Humble, who was in the passenger’s seat, narrowly escaped the vehicle after is collapsed and killed Duran.

“I looked up, and in an instant, the bridge was collapsing on us completely. It was too quick to do anything about it,” Humble told The Associated Press.