One of the firms that worked on the pedestrian bridge that collapsed in Florida, killing six people, also is building a bridge in East Chicago.
CBS-2 is reporting that Florida-based FIGG Bridge Group designed the Florida pedestrian bridge that collapsed, and is building the upcoming Cline Avenue bridge replacement.
The new bridge over the Indiana Harbor and Ship Canal will rise 10 stories over the canal when it opens next year, It replaces a Cline Avenue bridge closed and declared unsafe by INDOT.
The TV station reports FIGG engineers could come under more scrutiny now, after the Florida bridge collapse. In 2003, the firm was sued by Delaware over what state officials called faulty engineering of a bridge that was never completed, after it was discovered the embankments were unstable. FIGG paid out $5 million to settle that lawsuit.
In 2012, a 90-ton section of a FIGG bridge under construction in Virginia crashed onto railroad tracks below.
In response to the accident at FIU, FIGG released a statement which said, in part, “in our 40 year history, nothing like this has ever happened before. Our entire team mourns the loss of life and injuries associated with this devastating tragedy.”
*Chris Nolte contributed to this story.
