It has emerged an engineer left a message for officials about cracks on a brand new pedestrian bridge in Miami, two days before it collapsed.
Officials from the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) say the message was not picked up until after the bridge came down on Thursday.
The 950-ton bridge at Florida International University was installed exactly a week ago, although construction had not yet been completed.
At least six people were killed when the bridge collapsed on Thursday.
#HappeningNow: All entities involved continue to work tirelessly on the scene of the #FIUBridgeCollapse. #ALLinThisTogether #YourMDPD pic.twitter.com/Jvx9FUFQSH
— Miami-Dade Police (@MiamiDadePD) March 17, 2018
The FDOT yesterday released a recording of a Tuesday voicemail highlighting concerns over apparent cracking.
The engineer explained: "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."
He added: "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."
The voicemail was not heard until Friday, when an FDOT employee returned to the office.
It is not currently clear whether the apparent cracking played any role in the eventual collapse.
Florida Senator Marco Rubio has confirmed construction crews were working at the bridge when the collapse happened.
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. https://t.co/9Uc9EUsDYY
— Marco Rubio (@marcorubio) March 16, 2018
More details about my tweet last night. Construction crews were working at north end of bridge applying a “posttensioning force” when #MiamiBridgeCollapse occurred. The @NTSB safety investigation is now fully underway
— Marco Rubio (@marcorubio) March 17, 2018
An investigation into the collapse is under way.
