FIGG桥工程师, the Tallahassee, Fla.-based company cited by federal officials for its role in a fatal 2018 pedestrian bridge collapse in Miami, has asked a judge to block the U.S. Dept. of Transportation from suspending the company prior to a proposed 10-year debarment from any transportation projects involving federal funds.
FIGG的律师正在华盛顿特区联邦地方法院寻求临时限制令。
In its8月11日法院提交该公司声称,美国DOT's proposed suspensions, issued July 14, "pose a threat of catastrophic and imminent harm" to FIGG "that cannot be reversed if the suspensions are allowed to continue during" the debarment process.
[View 7/31/2020 ENR story on proposed suspensions这里.]
该公司声称，对FIGG的潜在危害包括失去一个身份不明的项目，该项目目前几乎提供其收入的一半。
Although the project isn't named, the Texas Dept. of Transportation announced recently that the joint venture leading the U.S. Route 181/Harbor Bridge in Corpus Christ, had replaced FIGG with a team of Arup and CFC. The switch reflected concerns about the firm’s involvement in the 2018 collapse of a pedestrian bridge at Florida International University.
当混凝土桁架结构，建筑的后期和最终连接之前，崩溃造成了六人丧生。
DOT的联邦高速公路管理局还暂停并提议将Figg的佛罗里达桥项目负责工程师Debar W. Denney Pate。在法院诉讼中，他还被列为原告。
In an email to ENR last month, an FHWA spokesperson said the agency's actions result from "safety failures" related to the bridge collapse.
The spokesperson added that the suspensions and proposed debarments are "being taken in the interest of protecting public safety."
FHWA发言人在8月12日的电子邮件中说：“我们不对正在进行的诉讼发表评论。”
2019 NTSB报告
国家运输安全委员会调查报告last year blamed several companies for their roles in the tragedy but reserved its harshest criticism for FIGG, the design subcontractor in a design-build contract award. In its report, NTSB stated that several members of the project team failed to exercise their implied authority to stop traffic beneath the incomplete structure as cracks worsened and the project team explored their significance and what to do about them.
Figg是一家42岁的公司，以其创新的桥梁设计而闻名，在佛罗里达灾难中从未承认过任何责任。
In its motion, FIGG claims—as it did prior to the NTSB's final report on the collapse—that the contractor that retained FIGG, Munilla Construction Management, damaged the partly assembled structure when rolling the bridge sections into final position above the road.
In addition, according to FIGG, MCM failed to properly follow design instructions at a key connection in the unusual concrete truss structure. When the cracks appeared on the structure in the days preceding the collapse, FIGG argues, MCM failed to communicate their dimensions or seriousness to the engineering firm, whose staff was not present at the jobsite.
