Engineer: NHRMC skywalk, building technique safe despite Miami collapse

WILMINGTON, NC (WWAY) — One day after a pedestrian bridge collapsed in Miami killing at least six people, there are questions about accelerated bridge construction technologies and what went wrong.

Last year New Hanover Regional Medical Center installed a similar bridge over S. 17th Street to link its main campus with a parking deck across the street.

The engineer who was a part of the project says he has no concerns for the safety of the hospital overpass.

Don Woods, president and owner of Woods Engineering, says he believes the NHRMC skywalk is much less complex then the one that collapsed in Miami and weighs probably three times less.

The skywalk was built off site and then lifted into place overnight back in August. Woods says there is better control of the structure when it is built off site.

“I’m not too familiar exactly what happened in Miami. Just a little bit of it, but what I understand, their structure was not complete,” Woods said. “What they took to shoring out, that’s the differnce with ours. The bones were there. It was complete when it was lifted into place.”

A hospital spokesman released this statement about the Skywalk today:

“We understand that tragedies like this raise questions, however we are confident in the structural integrity and safety of the walkway we installed last year. It was built to meet proven engineering and construction standards and was inspected and approved by a structural engineer and a third-party engineering inspections firm before it opened. In addition, the steel box truss design was approved by the NC Department of Transportation.”

Woods says the Skywalk has been thoroughly inspected and approved by third parties and the NCDOT. The only comparison he says he would make between the Skywalk and the one in Miami is that they have a similar span.

New Hanover High School also has a pedestrian bring that crosses over Market Street.