JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Jacksonville has several pedestrian bridges, which is why many residents want to know what caused a pedestrian bridge to collapse onto a busy Miami highway Thursday afternoon.
But Dr. Adel ElSafty, a civil engineering professor at the University of North Florida, told News4Jax that it's too early to determine exactly what happened.
“You cannot really tell what went wrong," ElSafty said. "Because the damage ... was because it fell on the ground or it failed first and caused the collapse."
The partially built 950-ton bridge had been assembled by the side of the highway and moved into place Saturday. The span stretched almost 200 feet to connect Florida International University with the city of Sweetwater. It was expected to open to foot traffic next year.
ElSafty said that method of construction minimizes traffic disruption and eliminates weather-related problems that could halt or delay construction. He also said modular construction helps with quality control.
“You can test the product, whether it’s steel, concrete or any other material you have, and make sure it’s passing certain limits then you can transport it to the site," ElSafty said. "So supposedly, you would have a perfect product at the job site.”
The National Transportation Safety Board said a team of specialists was heading to Miami on Thursday night to investigate.
“I believe they will go to this failed elements and debris, and start digging through it and start knocking out the concrete cover to get to the steel reinforcement to see if it encountered any rupture that happened because the whole issue is trying to know what is the mechanism failure," ElSafty said.
He added that video from nearby surveillance cameras may give investigators a better idea of what happened just moments before the bridge collapsed.