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FIU had grand plans for 'signature' bridge. But the design had a key mistake

miamiherald.com

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Re: FIU had grand plans for 'signature' bridge. But the design had a key mistake

#61

Post by steve_g »

tialaramex wrote: post #37
Shank wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I concur on the quality of the article, but I would say it goes further: The Miami Herald is even suing to get public records requests filled in the interest of journalism. They’re doing an exceedingly good job at trying to get answers to tough questions.

There already exists an entity with the actual purpose of getting answers to those tough questions, which is in fact already doing so, the NTSB. The Miami Herald is suing to get more material so that it can run more speculative headlines, which doubtless is great for the Miami Herald, because it drives revenue from selling papers and from advertising. But unlike the NTSB the Miami Herald has no real interest in the p…

"Just Culture" by Sidney Dekker is a book about balance between fairness/justice and learning how to prevent incidents in the future. He doesn't have a lot of good things to say about the court system.

https://www.amazon.com/Just-Culture-Balancing-Safety-Account...

Re: FIU had grand plans for 'signature' bridge. But the design had a key mistake

#62

Post by m0llusk »

Odd that there is no mention of the analysis on AvE YouTube. The support structure used was substantially different from the one planned and it was the post tensioning process that triggered the failure. It is possible that using the planned supports might have allowed the structure to endure the post tensioning procedure.

Re: FIU had grand plans for 'signature' bridge. But the design had a key mistake

#63

Post by nkoren »

> The FIU bridge was meant to mimic the look of a cable-stayed bridge. But the 'cables' were actually steel pipes that didn't play a structural role

I spent 13 years, in various capacities, studying architecture and working as an architect.

Bullshit like this reminds me why I don't miss it. Vapid pasted-on "signifiers" that are not merely devoid of sensibility, but aggressively hostile towards it. Engineers fighting to coerce the pastiche into something that won't kill people.

If you're not an architect and you're feeling generous -- like, maybe you're just having your daily dose of Dunning Kruger, and that maybe the architecture profession is like this for a good reason -- don't bother. It's genuinely as idiotic as you think.

Re: FIU had grand plans for 'signature' bridge. But the design had a key mistake

#64

Post by mannykannot »

It is heartrending to realize that they were given one last chance to step back from the abyss, when cracks appeared, but they pressed on regardless. If something happens that you don't understand, it's time to halt and reevaluate.

It bugs me that FIGG (one of the contractors) appears to be threatening the professional licenses of the engineers who helped the Miami Herald's investigation, by suggesting that doing so was unethical.

Re: FIU had grand plans for 'signature' bridge. But the design had a key mistake

#65

Post by steve19 »

RcouF1uZ4gsC wrote: post #12
lrn wrote: post #9

The Fountainhead Chapter I; Howard Roark to the Dean --- "Why do you want me to think that this is great architecture?" He pointed to the picture of the Parthenon. "That," said the Dean, "is the Parthenon!" "So it is." "I haven't the time to waste on silly questions." "All right, then." Roark got up, he took a long ruler from the desk, he walked to the picture. "Shall I tell you what's rotten about it?" "It’s the Par…

Then again the Parthenon has has been around for nearly 2,500 years (finished in 432 BC), and during that time has been considered by people from all over the world one of the most beautiful buildings ever built. What building by modern architects will even be around 500 years from now, much less revered as an example of beautiful architecture?

As others have said Cathedrals (if you consider anything that has been build in the past 500 years modern) and I have seen Mosques that are breathtaking.

Religious communities have the motivation to build something that lasts and use the best of materials. They see the building as an act of worship, in and of itself. Cathedrals often took extremely long times to build. In some cases, such as the beautiful Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque, they also have the money to build it both well and quickly.

Within many modern protestant Christian communities, building grand buildings is seen as a poor use of money that could be better spent helping people. These grand buildings are seen as less comfortable, efficient and flexible for modern congregations that would prefer lower cost, environmentally friendly and low energy building with community facilities.

Re: FIU had grand plans for 'signature' bridge. But the design had a key mistake

#66

Post by bsder »

RcouF1uZ4gsC wrote: post #14

> At least one said that if so, it constitutes an avoidable mistake on a bridge that should never have been so complicated. >“This is not a big project," Beck said. "It’s a darn pedestrian bridge.” There is something to be said about not over-complicating designs, whether it be in actual construction or in software.

Many people said the same thing about the Eiffel Tower ...

Re: FIU had grand plans for 'signature' bridge. But the design had a key mistake

#67

Post by mannykannot »

echotango wrote: post #59
mygo wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Is the goal to make beautiful structures, or is it to make beautiful structures as if they still have the characteristics of wood? I’m inclined to believe that, if the original masterful wood-crafters had instead began their professions with stone, that they would have created beautiful structures that fully explored the capabilities of stone, and that their contributions to architecture may have looked a little diff…

I agree with you, but only because you seem to have missed the crux (no irony intended) of Ayn Rand's ideology. She hated how even the style of the buildings around her embodied a people and culture she saw as a threat to her vision of the world and wanted to tear down. She would have no "homage" to it at all.

We are under no obligation to regard Rand as the last word on anything, fortunately.

Re: FIU had grand plans for 'signature' bridge. But the design had a key mistake

#68

Post by LyndsySimon »

carapace wrote: post #53
otakucode wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The parallels do not go very far, unfortunately. When software fails, and kills people, it is rarely investigated. It's development is rarely investigated. When that is done, however, the differences widen even further. There is no degree to which software development can be done incompetently that criminal negligence charges can succeed. We saw this proven within the past decade when some of Toyotas cars engaged in…

I think part of the problem with software is that it's effectively invisible to most people. Most of our software would look like Rube Goldberg Machines if we somehow made it physically manifest, and a lot of the problems would then be pretty obvious even to the proverbial untrained eye.

> Most of our software would look like Rube Goldberg Machines if we somehow made it physically manifest

Now this is an interesting idea. I wonder if one write a static analysis tool that output a printable 3D model...

Re: FIU had grand plans for 'signature' bridge. But the design had a key mistake

#69

Post by ScottBurson »

danso wrote: post #2

Saw this story via an @EdwardTufte tweet: https://twitter.com/EdwardTufte/status/1007395311541682176 > A+ This is beautifully executed technical report by the Miami Herald, an instant classic of news reporting. Note that this report is a document not a deck. The FIU admistration loaded the bridge design down with features.

Wow, I thought it seriously needed an editor to take an axe to it. I usually like long pieces, but this just seemed repetitive.

Re: FIU had grand plans for 'signature' bridge. But the design had a key mistake

#70

Post by okyougotmenow »

echotango wrote: post #50
subjectsigma wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I can see La Sagrada Familia not only being around, but being celebrated, for 500 years more. It's still under construction and has been for (almost?) 100 years. Google it, the church is absolutely beautiful. In fitting with the theme of the GP, not only is it structurally sound (to my knowledge) because of how the pillars are constructed, but it successfully pays homage to Gothic architecture and the oldest inspirat…

I agree, it is beautiful. But Ayn Rand would have hated it. That design is steeped in European and Christian traditions and symbolism. Those things are all anathema to her ideology.

> Rand was born Alisa Zinovyevna Rosenbaum (Russian: Али́са Зиновьевна Розенбаум) on February 2, 1905, to a Russian Jewish bourgeois family living in Saint Petersburg.
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