11–20 of 153 posts
This is a really good article. Amazing how a dozen+ different things combined to produce the unfortunate result. Perfect case study in there being no such thing as a singular 'root cause'.
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…
What building by modern architects will even be around 500 years from now, much less revered as an example of beautiful architecture?
There are some parallels with software. Encryption for example. Don't deviate from standard implementations unless you really know what you're doing. And even then, review it and review it again. Preferably by a separate expert.
This problem will re-appear. When a bridge collapses, if they found out the company building it hired the cheapest engineers right out of school, denied them access to tools or training needed to do their job, kept them removed from decisions about scheduling, ignored any concerns voiced about needing more time for proper development and testing, multiple people (the ones who wear suits) would go to prison and the company would likely be destroyed. If a few executives were put in prison over shoddily made software rushed to market, I imagine we would see changes in how software is developed of monumental proportions. But not until then, apparently. And that day doesn't seem to be coming soon. Perhaps self-driving cars will herald such a wake-up call. I know I'm certainly not trusting one until things change drastically.
>“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.
This is a really good article. Amazing how a dozen+ different things combined to produce the unfortunate result. Perfect case study in there being no such thing as a singular 'root cause'.
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.
Often it is good to wait for an entire report to nail down the facts before the witch hunt should begin, is there something in this case that means this isn't the best idea?
The article barely touches on the subject, but the bridge was really unnecessary, or necessitated only by the nonsensical urban design surrounding the university. The student housing is not only on the opposite side of a gigantic road from the campus, but it's further separated by a canal and then acre after acre of parking. If any attention had been paid, at all, ever, to the built environment this bridge would not…
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…
Go to some modern temples/shrines in Japan. Check out the torii gates and any other classical looking structure. Compare the ones in wood to the ones in stone or concrete. They look identical.
If you look close, you'll notice the little details sticking out of parts of the design. It's almost always a part of Japanese wood joinery. But it's still in the stone copies. Is it bad design? Of course not. That simple, striking, beautiful, complicated wood joinery has its own unique aesthetic appeal, and shaving off features just because they aren't necessary is completely beside the point of aesthetic beauty. To say nothing of honoring the tradition of a difficult and highly effective craft.
They aren't joking about the "variety of different shapes and sizes" for the diagonal supports. It's really incredibly ugly. In my view any "aesthetics" gained from the fake cables on the bridge are far outweighed by how goofy the whole thing looks when viewed from the side. It's really jarring, and I imagine that it would look rather cobbled together when walking over it.
I also was shocked by the reported "2000 pages of calculations" that 3 different structural engineers signed off on. I have a hard time imagining that none of these experts might have said at some point, "this is a bad bridge that should not be built!" even if mathematically it could have survived magnitude 10 earthquake. Which it clearly couldn't. I'm not an engineer but it ought to be outside the ethics of an engineer's role in approving a bridge design that appears to have redundancy (the cable stays AND the diagonal supports) when the cable stays are merely a foolish aesthetic choice. Doesn't seem much different than selling a car with an airbag icon on the steering wheel when no such airbag exists. It's a false claim to structural integrity.
One final thought- the PURPOSE for this bridge seems ill-conceived in the first place. Why is the campus divided by a highway to begin with?? But that's neither here nor there.
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.
I am ignorant as to this whole story, but out of interest, why is it a bad thing to wait for the NTSB report? Often it is good to wait for an entire report to nail down the facts before the witch hunt should begin, is there something in this case that means this isn't the best idea?
One of the undercurrent themes of this story is that, according to the herald, the construction company and FIU officials are well-connected politically. Possibly related to this is the fact that the Herald is suing the state for records related to the bridge [0]. These records were determined to be public but have so far been withheld from public release.
[0] http://www.miamiherald.com/news/state/article212489364.html