Photo credit: Credit - Twitter @sara_bee

Mr Denney Pate, the lead engineer (employed by contractor FIGG) who helped to install the deadly pedestrian bridge which collapsed in Miami and left 6 dead, had submitted a voicemail to the Florida transport department two days earlier, warning of “cracking” whilst unfortunately adding, there was no concern “from a safety perspective.

Related coverage: https://thegoldwater.com/news/20717-Multiple-Dead-After-Bridge-Collapse-at-Florida-International-University

The department released a transcript of the voicemail regarding the FIU pedestrian bridge which was heard only two days later by the employee who was away on assignment:

“Hey Tom, this is Denney Pate with FIGG bridge engineers. Calling to, uh, share with you some information about the FIU pedestrian bridge and some cracking that’s been observed on the north end of the span, the pylon end of that span we moved this weekend. Um, so, uh, we’ve taken a look at it and, uh, obviously some repairs or whatever will have to be done but from a safety perspective we don’t see that there’s any issue there so we’re not concerned about it from that perspective although obviously the cracking is not good and something’s going to have to be, ya know, done to repair that.”

“At any rate, I wanted to chat with you about that because I suspect at some point that’s gonna get to your desk. So, uh, at any rate, call me back when you can. Thank you. Bye.”

<blockquote class="twitter-video" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">First-of-its-kind pedestrian bridge “swings” into place. “FIU is about building bridges and student safety. This project accomplishes our mission beautifully,” -President Mark B. Rosenberg. <a href="https://t.co/x8gPM9A4DG">https://t.co/x8gPM9A4DG</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/worldsahead?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#worldsahead</a> <a href="https://t.co/mPEMeh2zmw">pic.twitter.com/mPEMeh2zmw</a></p>— FIU (@FIU) <a href="https://twitter.com/FIU/status/972529770683564033?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 10, 2018</a></blockquote>

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Florida Senator Marco Rubio explained the collapse due to loose-hanging cables in a tweet, stating: “The cables that suspend the Miami bridge had loosened & the engineering firm ordered that they be tightened. They were being tightened when it collapsed today.”

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">The cables that suspend the <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Miami?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Miami</a> bridge had loosened & the engineering firm ordered that they be tightened. They were being tightened when it collapsed today. <a href="https://t.co/9Uc9EUsDYY">https://t.co/9Uc9EUsDYY</a></p>— Marco Rubio (@marcorubio) <a href="https://twitter.com/marcorubio/status/974486176336957440?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 16, 2018</a></blockquote>

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Source:

https://www.wsj.com/articles/bridge-engineers-gave-briefing-on-crack-hours-before-collapse-university-says-1521295470