Multiple design errors by FIGG Bridge Engineers and its engineer-of-record were the primary probable cause of last year’s Florida International University pedestrian bridge collapse, the National Transportation Safety Board announced Oct. 22.
In a more than three-hour presentation of its findings, the three-member board pointed to FIGG’s “load and capacity calculation errors” and its “design of the main span truss member 11-12 nodal region and connection to the bridge deck” as key explanations of the collapse. [View abstract of NTSB findings, probable-cause determination and safety recommendations here.]