![]() Plans called for the bridge to be completed by construction of a shorter back span connecting over a canal that runs along the Trail to Sweetwater. Unlike most bridges in Florida, the design for this project was overseen by the university, not the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT). The main companies behind the construction project were MCM, a Miami-based construction management firm, and FIGG Bridge Engineers, a renowned Tallahassee-based engineering firm. ![]() But the university also wanted an iconic design to serve as a new campus gateway.įor aesthetics, ease of maintenance, and durability, the design of the bridge called for steel-reinforced concrete instead of a more common, simpler-to-erect, steel span. The doomed bridge, the linchpin of a broader “prosperity” project, was meant to help the working-class town of Sweetwater improve its tiny downtown by tying it into the school’s sprawling main campus, while making it safer for students and others to get across the busy, multi-lane roadway. An elevator and stairs at the south end added 31 feet, and at the north end, 15 feet, for a total bridge length of 320 feet. The main roadway-crossing span was 175 feet long, and the shorter canal span was to be 99 feet long. The bridge was to cross both a major roadway and a parallel water canal, with two separate spans connected at a faux cable-stayed tower. The diagonal struts would carry either compression or tension forces, depending upon their angle and position. The canopy was to carry the structure’s main compressive loads. The deck was to carry the entire weight of the bridge span, as a tension load. The concrete walkway deck was to act as the horizontal bottom flange of a wide I-beam, and the concrete roof canopy was to function as the horizontal top flange of the I-beam. The bridge spans used a novel concrete truss design invented for this project-a “re-invented I-beam concept.” Concrete truss bridges are rarely constructed, and few exist. The bridge was styled to look like a cable-stayed bridge, with a pylon tower and high cables for dramatic effect, but functionally and structurally, it was actually a truss bridge, with the spans being fully self-supporting. A new formulation concrete that was used was intended to stay cleaner than standard concrete formulations. It was lifted into place on the morning of March 10, 2018, just five days before the collapse.Ī post-tensioned concrete structure, the bridge was about ten times heavier than an equivalent steel-designed bridge. The bridge’s main span was assembled adjacent to the highway using accelerated bridge construction (ABC), for which FIU was heralded. But on March 15, 2018, a 175-foot-long section collapsed onto the multi-lane Tamiami Trail, crushing eight motorists under 950 tons of concrete and metal. It was meant to last more than 100 years and to withstand a Category 5 hurricane. The bridge cost $9 million to construct, not including the installation cost. The project was funded with a $19.4 million Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery (TIGER) grant from the United States Department of Transportation (USDOT) in 2013. It was intended to improve pedestrian safety, as the crosswalks at this wide, busy intersection had been a safety hazard. The Florida International University (FIU)-Sweetwater University City pedestrian bridge was planned to connect the FIU campus to student housing neighborhoods in Sweetwater.
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