{"id":224064,"date":"2026-04-08T23:04:30","date_gmt":"2026-04-08T23:04:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/224064\/"},"modified":"2026-04-08T23:04:30","modified_gmt":"2026-04-08T23:04:30","slug":"construction-resumes-on-miami-signature-bridge-as-safety-and-delays-concerns-mount-nbc-6-south-florida","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/224064\/","title":{"rendered":"Construction resumes on Miami Signature Bridge as safety and delays concerns mount \u2013 NBC 6 South Florida"},"content":{"rendered":"

Construction resumed Monday on Miami\u2019s Signature Bridge project, just two weeks after a worker fell from an overpass and died \u2014 an incident now under investigation<\/a> by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA).<\/p>\n

The massive infrastructure project, designed to connect three of Miami\u2019s busiest highways, was originally expected to be completed in 2021. The Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT), the government agency overseeing the project, expects construction may not wrap up until 2029 \u2014 nearly a decade behind schedule.<\/p>\n

The project has also drawn scrutiny following an\u00a0NBC6 investigation<\/a>\u00a0that uncovered lawsuits filed by the lead contractor alleging design errors and other construction issues contributed to years of delays and hundreds of millions of dollars in added costs.<\/p>\n

\u2018A mixed blessing\u2019<\/p>\n

Miami Mayor Eileen Higgins, who has followed the project for years, called it a \u201cmixed blessing.\u201d While she believes the project will eventually help reconnect neighborhoods in the city, she expressed concern about the prolonged construction and its impact on the city.<\/p>\n

\u201cAll of it concerns me because this bridge needs to be finished sooner rather than later,\u201d Higgins said, responding to the NBC6 investigation. \u201cWhat we have now is a giant construction project that is dividing our downtown.\u201d<\/p>\n

FDOT has previously attributed delays to factors such as weather and supply chain disruptions. But lawsuits filed by the project\u2019s lead contractor, Archer Western\u2013de Moya Joint Venture, point to something else.<\/p>\n

The joint venture said the engineering firm it hired, HDR, miscalculated wind forces acting on the bridge\u2019s signature arches. If built as designed, according to one of the lawsuits, the original design may not have been capable of withstanding Miami\u2019s high winds, prompting a re-design before construction began. The changes, the lead contractor said, added years to the timeline and approximately $405 million in extra costs.<\/p>\n

Expert weighs in<\/p>\n

To better understand the allegations, NBC6 Investigates consulted Jean-Pierre Bardet, former dean of the University of Miami\u2019s College of Engineering, who reviewed court documents related to the case.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is not something simple,\u201d Bardet said, describing the project as \u201cone of the most challenging.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bardet, who is not directly involved in the project, noted that while the bridge\u2019s arches may look \u201cbeautiful,\u201d their design created some challenges. He explained that rounded edges could have reduced wind forces on the structure. But because the arches feature squared edges, he says additional reinforcement was required.<\/p>\n

\u201cSince we cannot smooth the edges, we have to strengthen them,\u201d Bardet said. \u201cWe don\u2019t want the arches, when the wind comes, to flutter.\u201d<\/p>\n

The joint venture alleges that an HDR engineer had proposed rounding the edges early in the design process. But \u201cafter months of discussions\u2026 FDOT ultimately rejected the changes proposed by HDR, citing significant alterations to the appearance of the Signature Bridge arches and increased maintenance costs,\u201d\u00a0according to the lawsuit.<\/p>\n

In a separate lawsuit, the lead contractor also alleges that defective concrete forced them to demolish and replace parts of the bridge\u2014an issue that was not allegedly discovered for months and cost an additional $3.6 million.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat seems to me a simple problem,\u201d Bardet said, adding demolishing and replacing the defective concrete was the right thing to do.<\/p>\n

Workers’ accidents<\/p>\n

According to the Florida Highway Patrol, a worker died in late March after he fell from the overpass<\/a> of Interstate 395 in Miami and landed 20 feet below onto Biscayne Boulevard. NBC6 spoke with his uncle, Clifford Thompson, who said his nephew, Jorge Eliud Galindo Thompson, worked in Miami for two years and operated heavy machinery. It\u2019s unclear at this time what caused the fall. OSHA is investigating the case.<\/p>\n

Galindo\u2019s death comes after a January construction accident in which a toppled concrete beam sent six workers to the hospital<\/a>. At the time, FDOT told NBC6 the incident \u201cdid not involve the bridge structure or any portion of the roadway open to traffic,\u201d adding that all work was taking place in a controlled, closed area away from live traffic.<\/p>\n

Calls for more transparency<\/p>\n

Back at City Hall, Mayor Higgins emphasized the importance of completing the project safely and efficiently.<\/p>\n

\u201cImagine if they had given us $1.4 billion to build a new transit line,\u201d the mayor said. \u201cWe would be alleviating traffic rather than continuing to watch a big construction project.\u201d<\/p>\n

FDOT did not respond to detailed questions regarding the project or the expert\u2019s analysis. An agency\u2019s spokesperson just confirmed construction had resumed.<\/p>\n

Bardet said moving forward, transparency will be key. He recommends forming an independent panel of engineers to review the project, explain ongoing issues, and help restore public confidence.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe public needs to be informed,\u201d he said. \u201cYour channel brought it to the attention of a lot of people and I\u2019m sure now they\u2019re asking, \u2018what is going on?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

NBC6 reached out to the joint venture, through its attorneys and phone numbers listed on the companies\u2019 website, to ask about the lawsuits, the expert\u2019s perspective, and the workers\u2019 incidents. We haven\u2019t received a response.<\/p>\n

NBC6 also tried contacting HDR\u2019s attorneys and staff.\u00a0 By the time of publication, HDR had not responded to our multiple requests. In court filings, HDR has said its design work was preliminary and noted that the case was settled without any admission of fault.<\/p>\n

This story was originally reported for broadcast by NBC6. AI tools helped convert the story to a digital article, and an NBC6\u00a0journalist edited the article for publication.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Construction resumed Monday on Miami\u2019s Signature Bridge project, just two weeks after a worker fell from an overpass…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":224065,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[123,125,124,1168],"class_list":["post-224064","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-miami","tag-miami","tag-miami-headlines","tag-miami-news","tag-nbc6-investigates"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/224064","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=224064"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/224064\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/224065"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=224064"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=224064"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=224064"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}