This Engineering Ethics Webinar Focuses on the 2018 tragic collapse of the FIU Pedestrian Bridge in Florida. In the first part Dr. Astaneh will present 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.  He then will discuss the design errors made by FIGG Bridge Engineers that violated the provisions of the AASHTO LRFD Bridge Design Specifications causing the collapse. The collapsed main-span truss used a single concrete truss superstructure and an Accelerated Bridge Construction plan, both never done before in a bridge of this type. 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 all engineers involved in the project 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.  

Date:  Wednesday. March 13. 2024.  Starts: 2 - 4 pm ET

Credits: 2 PDH Units

Learning Objectives

Upon completion of the Webinar, the student should understand

• 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 https://www.nspe.org/sites/default/files/resources/pdfs/Ethics/EthicsReferenceGuide.pdf
5. Concepts and Cases-Engineering Ethics, a textbook by Charles E. Harris et al., published by Cengage, 2019.
6. Ethics, Technology, and Engineering, a textbook by Ibo van de Poel and Lambèr Royakkers, Wily-Blackwell, 2011.
7. The Ethical Executive, a 2010 book by Robert Hoyk and Paul Hersey, Stanford Business Books.
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://data.ntsb.gov/Docket?ProjectID=96877
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, 4^th Edition, by Antoine E. Naaman and Shih-Ho Chao, 2022. Published by Techno Press 3000, Florida. https://www.technopress3000.com/home
12. Stress Ribbon and Cable-supported Pedestrian Bridges-2^nd Edition., by Jiri Strasky, ice publishing, Institution of Civil Engineers.
13. Designing and Constructing Prestressed Bridges., by Jiri Straski and Radim Necas,)
14. Reinforced Concrete, Mechanics and Design, 7^th, by James K. Wight, 2016, Pearson Education Limited.

Special Webinar Instructions

After payment, please visit this webinar page, click "Start Course" and fill out the Webinar Registration Form.  You'll receive email notification and details on how to join the webinar.  You will then be able to access the webinar slides, test your system and receive webinar reminders.  After completing the webinar requirements, your certificate of completion will be saved and available for download in your profile. We value your feedback! Please rate this webinar after completion.  

Group Discounts Available

  Biography: Dr. Abolhassan Astaneh is a professor emeritus of civil and environmental engineering at the University of California, Berkeley, and a 2013 Minner Faculty Fellow in Engineering Ethics and Social/Professional Responsibility in the College of Engineering. He is the winner of the 1998 T.R. Higgins Lectureship Award of the American Institute of Steel Construction, the most prestigious award in his field. He is a licensed civil engineering Professional Engineer (P.E.) in California. Dr. Astaneh is currently a structural engineering and bridge engineering consultant, an expert witness in court cases, continues his research and publication of technical information and gives lectures and webinars/seminars in structural engineering, earthquake engineering, and engineering ethics.  He has published more than 300 journal papers, conference proceedings papers, technical reports, book chapters and has had hundreds of press interviews on technical aspects of subjects in his areas of interest. He has done teaching, research, design, and consulting on steel, steel-concrete, concrete, and timber buildings and bridges, failure analysis of buildings, bridges, and other structures, blast protection of structures, and protection of buildings, bridges, and other structures against terrorist attacks. He has been involved in the design, construction, research, teaching, and studies of buildings and bridges for 54 years, including buildings of up to 73 stories and long-span bridges such as the Golden Gate Bridge and the Bay Bridge. Dr. Astaneh has performed failure analysis of several collapsed structures, including the World Trade Center Towers, the I-35W Bridge in Minnesota, the I-5 Bridge in Washington State, and the Florida FIU Pedestrian Bridge.  He has taught seminar courses and several PDH Source Webinars focusing on engineering ethics.