HAZOP ANALYSIS

The Incident of Miami Bridge Collapse

Preliminary Task Performance for

Basic Occupational Health & Safety

Submitted by
Acebo, Marianne Jane Roda
COE601 of STI College Munoz-EDSA

Submitted to
Mr. Anthony Molacruz

March 15, 2023

 INTRODUCTION

The pedestrian bridge that collapsed over a busy Miami street on 2018, killing six
people, was doomed by a fatal design flaw, federal authorities concluded in a scathing
review on Tuesday. The errors led to unusually severe cracking in the concrete that
should have worried engineers and prompted the closure of the roadway below for
safety.
The 174-foot span, which had been prefabricated in a construction yard next to
the roadway, was elevated into place five days before its catastrophic collapse on March
15, 2018. During that time, workers documented growing cracks on the north end of the
bridge, at a node where a single plane of load-bearing concrete trusses began.
The cracks were 40 times as large as the maximum considered acceptable in a
reinforced concrete bridge, Mr. Sumwalt said. Yet none of the many parties involved in
building the structure recognized the gravity of the problem. Workers were attempting
to stop the cracking by tightening the tension rods of one of the trusses at the time the
bridge fell. The N.T.S.B. concluded that the chief probable cause for the bridge failure
was the design by Figg Bridge Engineers, an experienced Tallahassee firm whose
designers, the agency said, underestimated the load on the bridge and overestimated its
capacity. But agency officials said other parties contributed to two more key failures.
Source: https://www.nytimes.com/2019/10/22/us/bridge-collapse-florida-
international-university-NTSB.html
 HAZARD ANALYSIS FORM
INFORMATION ABOUT THE PERSON WRITING THIS REPORT
Full Name: Acebo, Marianne Jane
Section: COE601
Source/s:
https://sheerforceeng.com/why-did-the-fiu-bridge-collapse/
https://www.ntsb.gov/news/events/Pages/2019-HWY18MH009-
BMG.aspx
https://www.local10.com/news/local/2021/02/02/feds-release-report-on-
investigation-of-fiu-pedestrian-bridge-collapse/
https://www.ntsb.gov/investigations/AccidentReports/Reports/HAR1902.
pdf
https://www.buildbigideas.com/post/what-were-the-root-causes-of-the-
collapse-of-the-unique-pedestrian-bridge-at-fiu

INFORMATION ABOUT THE INCIDENT

Date of Accident: March 15, 2018 Location of Accident: Florida
International University
Description of an Accident:

The partially constructed pedestrian bridge in Miami, Florida experienced a

catastrophic structural failure in the nodal connection between truss sections 11 and 12
and the deck of the -foot span of the bridge dropped approximately 18.5 feet to The two
westbound lanes under the north end of bridge were closed to traffic during the
collapse; however, one westbound lane and all five on the day of the collapse,
construction crews were tensioning post-tensioning rods within member 11 that
connected the bridge's canopy and deck at the north end. Eight vehicles under Bridge
One bridge worker and five deficiencies in the monitoring of assessment and response to
significant pre-collapse disturbances of bridge structures; and the lack of redundancy
guidelines in pedestrian and concrete truss specifications.
 HAZARD ANALYSIS
What were the potential hazards that caused the accident? Name at least 3 and write a
brief description on how it could’ve contributed to the accident.

1.) Shear Failure – The primary structural reason for the failure of the FIU pedestrian
bridge was shear failure at the junction of the north fulcrum diagonal truss members
connected to the bridge's lower deck. Improper reinforcement was placed at the
construction joint where these two elements meet, eventually leading to its collapse.
2.) Weak Support- A second structural reason for the failure of FIU pedestrian
bridges is the shear resistance at the supporting nodes, which allows the truss lower
deck post tension cables to remain fully effective and support the lower deck tensile
load requirements. It was not designed to.
3.) Short Capacity - An inadequate evaluation by an independent testing company
that failed to detect miscalculations in the bridge design contributed to the collapse.
Another cause of the collapse was the failure of the responsible engineer to identify
the significance of the structural cracks observed at this node prior to the collapse
and the lack of independent verification of the restoration plan to repair the cracks. I
couldn't do it. Adding to the severity of the collapse was the fact that builders,
designers, site managers, owners, and the Ministry of Transport stopped work when
cracks in the structure reached an unacceptable level and, if necessary, relocated to
the southwest. Failure to take appropriate steps to restore Eighth Avenue. protect the
public.