If you haven’t heard already, a pedestrian footbridge being built for Florida International University has collapsed killing four.
Because everything sucks in 2018, people have already started blaming Trump and the GOP for this.
In the real world, engineering projects like this take years to carry out. Building codes and regulations are generally managed at the state level. But why let facts get in the way of a good two-minute-hate.
I have a feeling this story is going to dry up fast. Here’s why.
Back in the mid 90’s, Dadeland Station was built. It was near Dadeland Mall and was part Metrorail station and parking garage, and part shopping center.
As soon as it was completed, it had problems. The six story garage would shake. It was structurally unsound. The building had to be renovated, people lost their engineering licenses and went to jail over this.
Part of the problem was the crew that built the station. Most of the workers had just crossed the Florida Straights on home built rafts. They were totally unqualified to do that type of construction. Payments were made and this was ignored, until it presented a danger.
I am very specious that the people that actually built this prefab bridge were completely unqualified to do the work.
If that is the case, this story will vanish like a fart in a wind, because the headline “illegal immigrants build bridge that collapses and kills four” is not going to look good for Left.
I’m going to wait and see if I’m right.
Not entirely sure how it works in Miami, but in other Democrat controlled large cities I have lived in, if you want to build something, a suitable bribe must be paid to inspectors who are political appointees rather than real engineers. If sufficient funds are transferred you get your permit. Then you deal with the unions and must hire the “right” workers, and of course you must also hire “cronies” of the political elite. The usual practice is to shuttle the no-load “political”employees to someplace where they are not a danger to the public, or just let them stay home a draw a paycheck, then hire competent workers to do the actual job. The heirs of Pendergast and Tweed are alive and well.
AvE on YouTube has a pretty good run-down in layman’s terms on the engi-nerd-ing side of the construction fail…
This was, according to the publicity pictures, a cable-stayed bridge to span both the road and the canal, with the cable support at the mid point between road and canal. The section that collapsed was the road portion only which looks to have been installed without the cable stays – not sure you could install with them unless the other side was in position to balance the load. Which begs the question why did it not have a temporary support mid-span until it was properly stayed? Normally these types of bridges are built from the middle outwards.