As I write this post, Miami and Dade County emergency workers are still clearing the rubble and searching for survivors. For those who don’t know, a new pedestrian bridge built on the Florida International University campus collapsed today. When it fell, it crushed several cars and pedestrians below. The death count remains unknown.
Doubtless there will be many claims by those injured and by the families of those killed. Our prayers and deepest sympathies go out to all that were affected. Hopefully, the lessons from this incident will prevent other tragedies from occurring in the future.
We believe that the FIU bridge collapse was preventable. It will take months for the engineers to determine why the bridge fell. We have our own ideas, however.
For months we have warned about the dangers of contractors doing work on government funded bridge and construction projects. (The FIU bridge was funded in part with a federal DOT grant.)
A series of laws called “Buy America” and “Buy American” require that government funded bridge, highway and construction projects use quality American made steel. The recurring transportation funding bills also require American steel in bridge, rail, highway and other transportation projects.
Congress says that the reason for these Buy American provisions is to bolster the American steel industry. Last week in announcing emergency across-the-board tariffs on steel and aluminum imports, President Trump elevated the protection of the American steel industry to a national security interest.
These Buy American laws are important for another reason. Safety.
Steel is not a fungible commodity. There are different types and grades. Some steel works better in heavy loading bear environments, some is better for long expanses such as found on a bridge. And other steel has better corrosion resistance. (As I write this post, a court today decided a multimillion construction dispute involving the Venetian Hotel in Las Vegas. The builder of the casino’s roof top pool allegedly used steel supports under the pool that weren’t corrosion resistant.)
Every piece of construction steel manufactured (also known as “rolled”) in the United States comes with a certificate of origin. That certificate not only says where the steel was made, it also notes key data about the composition of the steel.
Unfortunately, steel from Turkey and China costs half the price of U.S. steel. And some companies cut corners by falsifying the country of origin on steel. They do that by using a fake certificate from a U.S. steel mill or by transshipping the steel so that it doesn’t get delivered directly from China (or some other foreign country).
Now to connect the dots. When a contractor uses steel with a phony certificate, how does anyone know where it was really made and if it meets the quality specifications of a given project?
They don’t. And when cheap foreign steel is substituted for U.S. made steel, accidents happen, and people are killed.
Several years ago, a concrete façade fell off a parking garage in Milwaukee killing a teen walking on a sidewalk below. The culprit? Defective steel. Where was the steel made? No one knows as the records were gone by the time of the accident.
During the “Big Dig” tunnel project in Boston, another piece of concrete fell, this time killing a motorist. Once again, investigators believe that a defective steel hanger was at fault. And in San Francisco, state officials are eyeing a billion dollar price tag because some of the Chinese steel used on the bridge is corroding.
In defective bridge construction, our usual suspects are Turkish rebar and Chinese made steel girders. Is that the cause of the FIU bridge collapse? Time will tell.
If you have inside information about foreign steel being substituted for American made steel on government sponsored building projects, call us. You may be entitled to an award under the US False Claims Act. More importantly, your actions in stepping forward may prevent another tragedy such as the FIU bridge collapse. For more information, contact us online or by phone at 414-704-6731.
Munilla Construction, Figg Bridge Group and the FIU Bridge Collapse
Why are we worried that cheap foreign steel might be behind the FIU Bridge Collapse? Because the primary contractors on the FIU project have a less than stellar track record. We worry that these tragic accidents will continue to happen until more whistleblowers step forward.
The primary contractors building the FIU pedestrian bridge are Munilla Construction Management and the Figg Bridge Group.
Munilla Construction Management (or MCM) was sued earlier this month after a makeshift bridge broke at a construction site at the Fort Lauderdale – Hollywood International Airport. A TSA worker was hurt when his weight caused the bridge to collapse. The lawsuit accuses Munilla of substandard work and of using “incompetent, inexperienced, unskilled or careless employees.”
Munilla was also the contractor on a major expansion project at the Miami International Airport. A subcontractor on an airport job there was prosecuted by the Department of Justice for using mislabeled foreign steel.
The other major contractor in the FIU bridge project is the Figg Bridge Group of Tallahassee. In 2012, a 90-ton section of a railroad overpass collapsed and fell onto the tracks below. No one was seriously injured. The Miami New Times reports that bridge was being built by Figg.
Whistleblower Awards and the Need to Prevent More Bridge Collapses
Although it will take months to investigate, everyone agrees that the FIU bridge collapse was preventable. Whether the collapse is due to cheap foreign steel, defective workmanship, or a poor design, that bridge should not have collapsed.
The bridge was installed just days before its collapse.
Anytime a contractor defrauds a government agency, that contractor violates the False Claims Act. Passed during the Civil War, the Act has been the government’s primary tool against fraud for over 150 years.
The False Claims Act allows the government to collect triple damages and impose high fines against companies that knowingly or recklessly defraud the government. Obviously, not every construction defect equates to fraud. Defects become fraud, however, when a company covers them up or knowingly substitutes inferior components or does substandard work.
A bad design probably isn’t fraud but covering up defects or substituting cheap foreign steel is.
Something went wrong at FIU and that something resulted in multiple deaths. If you have information about any government funded contract involving substituted goods, gross negligence or shoddy work, give us a call. We can investigate and decide if the case is fraud or negligence.
Our goal is to stop the fraud before someone gets hurt. Our goal is also to help our whistleblower clients receive proper compensation for steeping forward. If we don’t think you are eligible for an award we can still help you report your safety concerns, anonymously if necessary.
Under the False Claims Act, whistleblowers can receive up to 30% of whatever the government or we collect on behalf of the government from the wrongdoers. The law also protects whistleblowers from workplace retaliation.
Today we mourn the victims at Florida State University. Tomorrow we work to prevent another tragedy like this from ever happening again.
For more information, contact attorney Brian Mahany online, by email (*protected email*) or by phone at 414-704-6731. All inquiries are protected by the attorney client privilege and kept confidential. See also our Buy American and Chinese Steel information page.
The post Munilla Construction, Figg Bridge Group and the FIU Bridge Collapse appeared first on Mahany Law.