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As Mayor of Palmetto Bay, I feel compelled to address the pressing concerns surrounding the proposed 87th Avenue Bridge project detailed in the Miami Herald article by Doug Hanks, “Palmetto Bay’s bridge fight gets a new spark: County hired contractor on FIU collapse.” The safety of our residents is paramount, and recent events have only heightened our vigilance.
The tragic collapse of the Florida International University pedestrian bridge in 2018 serves as a stark reminder of what can go wrong when safety is compromised.
The National Transportation Safety Board’s (NTSB) investigation into this disaster revealed a series of alarming failures and oversights that we simply cannot ignore:
• The NTSB found that engineers made critical errors in load and capacity calculations for the main span truss. These miscalculations led to a severe overestimation of the bridge’s structural capacity.
• The NTSB report criticized the inadequate peer review process that failed to detect calculation errors in the bridge design.
• The investigation also highlighted a severe systemic lack of oversight in the project that allowed these errors to go unchecked, with multiple parties failing to recognize and address the structural problems that were literally cracking before their eyes.
• OSHA’s investigation, which worked closely with the NTSB, further emphasized the failure of contractors to address the significant structural cracking observed in the days leading up to the collapse.
• The NTSB report also criticized the decision to keep the road open to traffic while work was being performed on the bridge despite the observed cracking.
These findings underscored systemic issues in project management, engineering oversight, and communication between stakeholders, all of which contributed to the deadly collapse – a tragedy that could have been prevented.
Now, as we face the prospect of the 87th Avenue Bridge project, how can we not be alarmed? How can we not question every aspect of the planning, design, bidding and construction process?
Our community deserves better than blind trust in a system that has already failed so catastrophically.
I have met with Mayor Levine-Cava to discuss the concerns raised by our community.
The mayor understands the urgency of the concerns. She and I will continue to work together to answer every question raised regarding the safety of our residents.
Be assured, I will continue to demand the highest standards of safety and oversight for this project. As a village, we insist on:
1. Open, transparent, and competitive procurement process for this project
2. Proof the county considered independent experts before choosing the contractor
3. Rigorous, independent peer reviews of all design elements
4. Independent expert oversight of project construction
5. A commitment to prioritize safety over speed or cost at every stage of construction
6. Regular, public updates on safety measures and structural integrity
7. Continuous, transparent communication about the project’s progress and any issues that arise We cannot and will not gamble with the lives of our citizens. The lessons from the FIU tragedy must not be forgotten or ignored.
I pledge to fight tirelessly to ensure that every precaution is taken, every calculation double checked and every concern addressed.
We owe it to the victims of past tragedies and to our future generations to get this right.
Let us stand together in demanding nothing less than excellence in safety and oversight.
Our lives and the lives of our loved ones may depend on it.
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