This Engineering Ethics Webinar Focuses on the 2018 tragic collapse of the FIU Pedestrian Bridge in Florida. In the first part of this Ethics Webinar, we discuss the engineering aspects of the design, construction, and the damage in the form of cracks in the post-tensioned concrete truss of the main span before it collapsed on March 15, 2018.  Dr. Astaneh then presents the design errors made by FIGG Bridge Engineers that violated the provisions of the AASHTO LRFD Bridge Design Specifications. The collapsed main-span truss used a single concrete truss superstructure and an Accelerated Bridge Construction plan, both never done. Dr. Astaneh will show how the designers had failed to check the adequacy of main-span truss during all stages of a complex Accelerated Bridge Construction (ABC). Added to the very serious design errors, and lack of adequate stress analysis during various phases of the construction, was the inadequate peer-review by Louis Berger Group. The second part of the webinar focuses on engineering ethics, with emphasis on the Fundamental Canon 1 of the “Code of Ethics for Engineers” which states: Engineers shall hold paramount the safety, health, and welfare of the public. With several major design errors and the lack of adequate peer review, the collapse of the main span was inevitable. But could the loss of six lives and injury to 10 others be avoided? The answer is yes if only the engineers involved had followed the Fundamental Cannon 1 and considered public safety above other considerations.  Dr. Astaneh will take the attendants through the events from mid-February 2018, when the first cracks were observed, until almost a month later when on March 15 the tragic collapse occurred. He will show how almost everyone involved ignored the clear signs of the structure failing without thinking of the safety of the public who were driving under the collapsed bridge or the construction workers who were working on the bridge. Dr. Astaneh has spent more than 2,000 hours studying and investigating the collapse of the FIU Bridge; first as the lead expert witness on the engineering aspect of the collapse in a judiciary proceedings following the collapse, and since then doing the investigation of the case to bring lessons learned from this tragedy, especially the ethical issues, to the bridge engineering community to help all of us engineers to keep public safety, health and welfare paramount in all of our engineering activities.

Date:  Wednesday. March 15. 2023.  Starts: 2 - 4 pm ET Credits: 2 PDH Units

Learning Objectives

• The structural system used in the FIU Pedestrian bridge.
• The “Accelerated Bridge Construction” as it was applied to the collapsed main span of the FIU Bridge.
• The “Joint Venture” design/construction team of the FIU Bridge
• The “Peer Review” process for pedestrian/bike bridges, and the role of Peer Reviewer in the FIU Bridge.
• What was the mechanism of failure that led to the collapse of the FIU Bridge?
• Why the catastrophic collapse could be prevented at the design, peer review, construction, or inspection stages?
• The role of lack of proper and independent “Peer-review” in the tragic collapse.
• The role of lack of proper oversight in the tragic collapse.
• Why several violations of the “Engineering Code of Ethics for Engineers” resulted in tragic loss of lives of six people and injuries to 10 others.
• How “group think” can blind engineers to “hold safety paramount.”

References and Recommended Further Readings:

1. AASHTO LRFD Bridge Design Specifications, 7th Ed. With 2015 Interim Revisions. American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials, Washington DC.
2. ASCE- 2020 Code of Ethics-The American Society of Civil Engineers, https://www.asce.org/-/media/asce-images-and-files/career-and-growth/ethics/documents/asce-code-ethics.pdf
3. NSPE Code of Ethics for Engineers. National Society of Professional Engineers (NSPE). https://www.nspe.org/sites/default/files/resources/pdfs/Ethics/CodeofEthics/NSPECodeofEthicsforEngineers.pdf
4. NSPE Ethics Reference Guide (PDF)
5. Concepts and Cases-Engineering Ethics, a textbook by Charles E. Harris et al., published by Cengage2019. (Amazon page)
6. Ethics, Technology, and Engineering, a textbook by Ibo van de Poel and Lambèr Royakkers, Wily-Blackwell, 2011. (Amazon page)
7. The Ethical Executive, a 2010 book by Robert Hoyk and Paul Hersey, Stanford Business Books. (Amazon page)
8. Florida International University Pedestrian Bridge Collapse Investigation: Assessment of Bridge Design and Performance, prepared for the NTSB by the Federal Highway Administration (AASHTO), Washington, DC. https://dms.ntsb.gov/public/62500-62999/62821/628659.pdf
9. Investigation of March 15, 2018 pedestrian bridge collapse at Florida International University, Miami, FL. Washington, DC: U.S. Dept. of Labor, Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) . https://www.osha.gov/sites/default/files/2019-12/2019_r_03.pdf
10. Pedestrian Bridge Collapse Over S.W. 8th Street Miami, Florida, March 15, 2018, Accident Report NTSB/HAR-19/02 PB2019-101363, National Transportation Safety Board, Washington, DC. https://www.ntsb.gov/investigations/AccidentReports/Reports/HAR1902.pdf.
11. Prestressed Concrete Analysis and Design-Fundamental, 4th Edition, by Antoine E. Naaman, 2004. (Amazon page).
12. Stress Ribbon and Cable-supported Pedestrian Bridges-2^nd Edition., by Jiri Strasky, ice publishing, Institution of Civil Engineers. (AbeBooks page)
13. Designing and Constructing Prestressed Bridges., by Jiri Straski and Radim Necas, (Amazon page)
14. Reinforced Concrete, Mechanics and Design, 7^th, by James K. Wight, 2016, Pearson Education Limited (Amazon page).

Special Webinar Instructions

Group Discounts Available