18-year-old Alex Duran’s family filed a wrongful death complaint against the defendants Munilla Construction Management, Figg Bridge Engineers, and subcontractors involved in the bridge project in Florida.
Alex Duran a student in the Florida International University met her death while driving her Toyota SUV. The bridge collapsed on her SUV vehicle trapping her in the rubble. She was confirmed dead on Friday.
It is questionable how Figg Engineers constructed the bridge with much haste. On a statement by Goldfarb, the constructors hurried in the project. He said that there were no precautions taken by the said constructors as at the time of construction there was still traffic along the road.
Richard Humble, a friend of Duran, escaped death when a slab of concrete hit on Duran’s SUV where she died.
More lawsuits follow as Duran and Richard Humble took to the courts to file a new lawsuit.
Still, the families of Rolando Fraga who did not survive the tragedy; Emily Joy, a college student who escaped a crushed car, and marquise Hepburn who got injured while cycling just near the bridge have pressed lawsuits against the defendants.
Goldfarb, a representative of the plaintiff, mentioned earlier that they have six months and one day before pressing charges. He said that the constructors acted so reckless by putting more effort building the bridge during the college spring break. He also stressed that they optimized on using the spring break which is not long enough to complete the bridge.
FIU retained Munilla Construction Management LLC as the general contractor. The purpose of Munilla was to oversee the building of the bridge project. A statement reported that the contractor lacked skill and experience in ABC techniques.
In an attempt to fulfill its duties, Munilla entered into an agreement with subcontractors who possessed the expertise. The use of ABC technique was to the advantage of the contractors. Reason being structural components can be assembled at the construction site even as traffic flows.
Five days following the placement of the bridge and post-tensioning was underway, cracking and popping sounds could be heard as adjustments were made to the tensioning rods.
A short while afterward the bridge collapsed as a tensioning rod failed. The tragedy claimed several lives and that of the plaintiff – Alex Duran.
