Ns News Online Desk: Bridge collapse in Miami- An engineer left a voicemail with officials two days before the catastrophic collapse of a 950-ton pedestrian bridge in Miami — and warned that some cracking had been found at one end of the concrete span, it was revealed on Friday.
The voicemail left at the Florida Department of Transportation wasn’t heard until Friday because the employee was out of the office on an assignment, state DOT officials said.
In a transcript of the voicemail, released Friday night, Denney Pate with FIGG Bridge Group says the cracking would need repairs “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.” The bridge collapsed Thursday, killing at least six people. Authorities are slowly removing the debris, looking for more victims.
At a news conference Friday night, officials from the National Transportation Safety Board said they have just begun their investigation, and cannot yet say whether any cracking contributed to the collapse. In addition to the voicemail about the “cracking,” It was revealed Friday that the bridge had just undergone a “stress test,” and concrete-reinforcing steel cables were being tightened when it fell, officials said Friday.
