Work begins on new FIU pedestrian bridge 6 years after collapse
MIAMI - More than six years after the Florida International University pedestrian bridge collapsed, work has begun on a new one.
Construction started Sunday night. The first phase is to make sure that all pedestrians and construction workers are safe.
There will be street closures mostly at night.
They hope to have the project finished by the fall of 2026.
The original bridge, which was under construction, killed six people on March 15, 2018.
After a lengthy investigation, the National Transportation and Safety Board concluded the design firm underestimated the load of the bridge and overestimated its strength in a critical section that splintered.
Sara Legrand is one of hundreds of FIU students who walk across Southwest Eighth Street and at 109th Avenue on any given day.
"It should be helpful," Sara Legrand, an FIU student, said. "There's a lot of students in this area especially crossing the street. Isn't always as safe as it seems. So I think you should be hopeful."
Legrand, along with many other students, are happy to hear a new bridge is being built
"I think it's good if it's constructed safely," Allen Sosa, an FIU student, said. "I guess then it would be good for everybody else as long as they do it good."
Manny Espinal, an engineer with Florida Department of Transportation overseeing the project, said the new one is much different from the previous one.
"The previous bridge was a concrete structure," Espinal said. "This one is a steel bridge and it's a cable-stayed bridge. The cables are there more than aesthetics, but it also provides an additional redundant support for the structure. The bridge can be self standing without the cables."
And he assures that safety is their priority.
"The security that I can provide is we have a very experienced staff that build bridges throughout all of South Florida and throughout the state," Espinal said. "I personally have been involved in construction of over 100 bridges throughout my career at DOT. We have better experience. I'm very experienced contractor."
CBS News Miami also met with Sweetwater Mayor Jose Pepe Diaz, who is also overseeing the project.
"Our goal is to make sure that the safety is there, make sure that everything is done, correct, from what we see working in partnership with them," Diaz said. "We don't see anything out of place. I think everything is redundancy to make sure that I believe it's gonna be a good thing," he said.
And that is something Legrand and Sosa are happy to hear.
"There's a lot of traffic through here and sometimes people aren't the best for driving. Especially here in Miami, so I guess it could be helpful," Legard said.
The construction of the new bridge originally was set to begin Oct. 8.
The current construction cost is $37.7 million.
