Forensic Engineering and Subject-Matter Expert Services

Collapse of Miami FIU Bridge

 

This page describes some of Dr. Rosignoli’s assignments of forensic bridge engineering and subject-matter expert services. Confidentiality requirements and Client’s non-disclosure agreements prevent the access to additional information.

  • WSP (2020). Gerald Desmond Bridge Replacement Project, Long Beach, CA, USA. Dr. Rosignoli provided subject-matter expert services in relation to contractor’s claims against the Port of Long Beach and Caltrans regarding the design and construction of the Main Span Bridge. The project includes a cable-stayed bridge over the back navigation channel of the Port of Long Beach featuring a 305m-long, 48m-wide main composite span with two planes of stay cables, lightweight concrete deck and edge box girders; two 151m cable-supported back spans, and post-tensioned box-girder approaches cast in-place span-by-span with movable scaffolding systems. The assignment included review of design plans, reports, calculations, specifications, correspondence and construction documents; structural modeling, structural analysis, and analysis of demands and capacities. The assignment also included investigation, research and providing preliminary views; providing expert opinions on the compliance of design with project-specific design criteria and AASHTO specifications; reviewing and rebutting contractor’s expert reports; responding to questions, and preparing and participating in Dispute Review Board hearings.
  • Morgan & Morgan (2018-2020). FIU Pedestrian Bridge, Miami, FL, USA. Dr. Rosignoli provided forensic bridge engineering and subject-matter expert services to a large joint venture of law firms on one of the most challenging, high-visibility catastrophic bridge failures in the USA. The assignment included reviews of design plans, reports, calculations, specifications, correspondence and construction documents; structural modeling and analysis of the collapsed prestressed-concrete truss; analysis of SPMT operations for span transportation and placement; demand and capacity analysis of truss members and connections; and identification of the most probable cause of the collapse. The assignment also included analysis of evidence; forming opinion and providing preliminary views; preparation of interrogatories; and providing design, technical and technological advice to a large joint venture of US law firms.
  • Minnesota Department of Transportation (2018-2019). St. Croix River Bridge, Stillwater, MN, USA. This 1420m bridge is the largest multispan extradosed precast segmental bridge in the USA. The project features a main crossing of the St. Croix River comprising four 183m cable-supported spans on twin-blade piers, two 102m cable-supported end spans, and complex curved approaches with rounded three-cellular cross-section. As MnDOT’s forensic bridge engineer and subject-matter expert, Dr. Rosignoli reviewed bridge design reports, plan submittals, details and specifications, as well as contractor’s submittals, construction processes and documentation. He reviewed industry practices and assessed the standard of care of designers, inspectors, erection engineers and contractors, and provided litigation and mediation support in relation to the design and construction of main cable-supported crossing and approach spans.
  • Florida Department of Transportation (2017-2018). Isle of Venice Bridge, Ft. Lauderdale, FL, USA. As FDOT’s forensic structural engineer and subject-matter expert, Dr. Rosignoli analyzed and interpreted massive cracking and seawall sinking in the Cadillac Villa, a historical building adjacent to the pile-driving area of the bridge construction site.
  • Green & Yalowitz (2016-2017). Snohomish River Bridge, Snohomish Pass, WA, USA. The Snohomish River Bridge was the first incrementally launched composite bridge built by the Washington State Department of Transportation. As subject-matter expert of the law firm, Dr. Rosignoli reviewed bridge design, plan submittals, specifications, and construction and launch procedures; he also provided expert advice supporting the arbitration between Scarsella Bros. and VAK Engineering in relation to construction engineering services.
  • Vinci-Construction Grands Projets (2015). Atlantic Bridge, Colon, Panama. The Atlantic Bridge Project includes a PC cable-stayed bridge spanning 530m over the Atlantic entrance of the Panama Canal, and incrementally launched and balanced cantilever PC approaches on both sides. As contractor’s consultant, Dr. Rosignoli provided subject-matter expert services in relation to AASHTO specifications on the use of combined external and internal tendons for the post-tensioning design of the launched approaches.
  • Lloyd’s of London (via Harman, Claytor, Corrigan & Wellman) (2014). Indian River Bridge, Delaware Seashore National Park, DE, USA. The Indian River Bridge is a 533m PC cable-stayed bridge with a main span of 290m. As a consultant of the insurance carrier, Lloyd’s of London, Dr. Rosignoli provided subject-matter expert services in relation to the design and fabrication of 213t cable-stayed underslung form travelers for in-place casting of the 7.3m cantilever segments of the main cable-stayed span. Dr. Rosignoli reviewed design plans, reports, calculations, specifications, correspondence and construction documents of the main cable-stayed span, the form travelers, and their interaction, and provided subject-matter expert services supporting the negotiation between Skanska USA and Strukturas.
  • HNTB (2009-2010). Hathaway Bridge, Panama City, FL, USA. The Hathaway Bridge includes 2.5km of precast segmental PC bridges erected with a 198m, 860t self-launching gantry on 100m balanced cantilever spans; the bridge exhibited early structural deterioration of the cast-in-place midspan closures and the adjacent epoxy joints. As the lead forensic engineer, Dr. Rosignoli performed thermal warping analyses of short-line match casting and time-dependent staged construction analyses of warped segments with finite-element models incorporating 27-node brick elements (LUSAS). He identified thermal warping of match-cast segments as the probable cause of distress, designed the bridge repairs, and calibrated their design with slant shear testing of concrete cores extracted from the bridge.
  • Pizzarotti (2005-2006). Simeto Bridge for the Catania-Siracusa Highway, Italy. The collapse of two 92m PC macro-segmental spans, three bridge piers and two shoring towers; of the 165m, 1290t self-launching gantry used for bridge construction; and of two half-span rolling forms for on-bridge casting of 46m, 720t macro-segments, required immediate forensic structural investigation and subsequent subject-matter expert services. As contractor’s consultant, Dr. Rosignoli led the emergency response to failure, documented site conditions, gathered information, interviewed construction crews, performed 3D structural modeling and analysis, and identified thermal buckling of a shoring tower as the probable cause of collapse. Concluded the emergency response to failure, Dr. Rosignoli provided subject-matter expert services to the prime contractor.
  • Modena scarl (2004). Modena Bridges, TAV High Speed Railway, Modena, Italy. Emergency response to a potentially catastrophic failure of a 105m, 900t twin-girder overhead movable scaffolding system (MSS) for span-by-span casting of 58m PC high-speed-railway spans. As contractor’s consultant, Dr. Rosignoli led the emergency response to failure, performed independent design reviews of the repairs, supervised repairs and load testing, and re-certified the MSS for operations.
  • Cogefar (1989). Reconstruction Project, Lot E, Naples, Italy. Emergency response to a potentially catastrophic failure of the support columns of a 110m, 900t single-girder overhead MSS for span-by-span casting of 47m PC spans. As contractor’s site manager, Dr. Rosignoli led the emergency response to failure and performed independent design reviews of the repairs.
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