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Friday, March 16, 2018 • 3aOMaha WOrLd-hEraLd MaiN NEWS
MIAMI (AP) — A pedes-trian bridge that was un-der construction collapsedonto a busy Miami highwayThursday afternoon, crush-ing vehicles beneath mas-sive slabs of concrete andsteel and killing at least fourpeople, authorities said.
Search-and-rescue crewsworked into the night, usingdogs, search cameras andsensitive listening devicesin a frantic search to findsurvivors among the debris.
“Everybody is workinghard to make sure we res-cue anyone who can be res-cued,” Florida Gov. RickScott said.
But Miami-Dade PoliceDirector Juan Perez saidhopes were dwindling as the
hours passed.“We know that there’s go-
ing to be a negative outcomeat the end of the day,” Perezsaid.
Four people were founddead amid the chaotic scene,and nine victims were takento hospitals, Fire Chief DaveDowney said without elabo-rating on their conditions.
The partially built 950-tonbridge had been assembledat the side of the highwayand moved into place Sat-urday to great fanfare. Thespan stretched almost 200feet to connect Florida In-ternational University withthe city of Sweetwater. Itwas expected to open to foottraffic next year.
Scott said an exhaustiveinvestigation will uncov-er “why this happened andwhat happened,” and hevowed to hold accountablethose responsible.
National TransportationSafety Board Chairman
Robert Sumwalt III saida team of specialists washeading to Miami on Thurs-day night to investigate.
Jacob Miller, a senior atFIU, was visiting a friendin a dorm when he heard si-rens and horns honking. Hewent to a balcony and couldsee rubble coming down.
“I saw there were multi-ple cars crushed under thebridge. It was just terrible,”he said.
An accelerated construc-tion method was supposedto reduce risks to workersand pedestrians and mini-mize traffic disruption, theuniversity said.
Renderings of the fin-ished bridge showed a tall,off-center tower with cablesattached to the walkway tosupport it. When the bridgecollapsed, the main towerhad not yet been installed,and it was unclear what thebuilders were using as tem-porary supports.
MiaMi
At least 4dead inbridge collapse
The WashingTon PosT
Seven of the patientswere dead, and two morewere dying of a rare chron-ic, progressive lung diseasethat can be treated but notcured.
It’s estimated that about200,000 people in the UnitedStates have idiopathic pul-monary fibrosis, or IPF, atany one time.
But the common denom-inator of a small group ofpatients at a Virginia clin-ic over a 15-year period isworrying the Centers forDisease Control: Eight weredentists; a ninth was a den-tal technician.
The dental professionalswere 23 times more likelyto have IPF than the rest ofthe population, the CDC saidin its Morbidity and Mortal-ity Weekly Report, releasedlast week. Something intheir workplace environ-ment may have been poison-ing them, investigators said,although they don’t knowwhat.
IPF causes scarring ofthe lungs, according to thereport. It can be slowed, butnothing can remove the scartissue. Over time, the lungshave difficulty getting oxy-gen to vital organs like theheart and brain.
In April 2016, a Virginiadentist who had just beendiagnosed with IPF and wasundergoing treatment at aspecialty clinic called theCDC with a warning: Sever-al other dental professionalshad sought treatment at thesame facility.
Investigators dug deep-er, poring over nearly 900records of IPF patients atthat clinic over 21 years andfound the nine patients withthe common work history.
The median survivalage of IPF after diagnosisis three to five years. Butfirst, patients experienceshortness of breath, a dry,chronic cough, weight loss,joint and muscle pain andclubbed fingers or toes.
Dentists and people whowork in their offices areexposed to a specific set ofhazards, particularly silica,polyvinyl siloxane, alginateand other toxic substancesthat can be inhaled whenthey’re polishing dental ap-pliances or preparing amal-gams.
Older dentists usuallyfare worse, both because ofincreased opportunities forexposure and because theymay have practiced at atime when safety standardsweren’t as stringent.
“We do work with mate-rials and with human bio-products that are potentiallydamaging to our bodies ifwe inhale them,” Paul Casa-massimo, chief policy offi-cer of the American Acade-my of Pediatric Dentistry’sPediatric Oral Health & Re-search Center, told CNN.
For example, the dentistwho alerted the CDC neversmoked, “but reported notwearing a National Institutefor Occupational Safety andHealth-certified respira-tor during dental activitiesthroughout his 40-year den-tal practice,” the CDC said.During the past 20 years, hestarted wearing a surgicalmask, which still may havebeen inadequate.
Even though CDC investi-gators have not figured outwhat, specifically, causedIPF in the patients, the re-port’s release may still dosome good.
Before, workers exposedto dust from wood and met-al have been warned to takeprecautions to prevent IPF,but this is the first time theCDC has warned that den-tists and the people whowork in their offices are vul-nerable.
Lungdiseaseiskillingdentists; CDCwonderswhy
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Structure was onlypartially built and notyet open to foot traffic
By andreW J. nelson
WORLD-HERALD STAFF WRITER
Inspections are a regularevent for pedestrian bridgesin the Omaha area, officialsin Omaha and La Vista saidThursday, hours after thebridge collapse in the Miamiarea.
In Omaha, the 50-year-old bridge crossing DodgeStreet, linking Memorial andElmwood Parks, is inspect-ed once every two years.In La Vista, the 20-year-oldpedestrian bridge over 72ndStreet at G. Stanley Hall El-ementary School is formallyinspected once per year.
Bridge inspections are
governed by Nebraska De-partment of Transportationregulations, said Bob Stub-be, public works directorfor the City of Omaha. Mostbridges in the city, includingthe pedestrian bridge, areinspected by a civil engi-neer every two years.
“We just redid it lastyear,” Stubbe said of thebridge over Dodge Street,a local landmark. “We didsome work on the abut-ments, on the deck itself.”
In La Vista, City Engi-neer John Kottmann saidthe 72nd Street pedestrianbridge undergoes weeklymaintenance and gets anannual formal inspection by
city staff.If city workers see some-
thing they will contact Kott-mann, a civil engineer. Ifa structural engineer wasneeded, the city would hirea consultant.
“So far that has not beenan issue,” he said.“We havekids going to school thereso we’re looking for looseflooring or safety hazards asopposed to structural haz-ards.”
The inspection processfor the Bob Kerrey Pedestri-an Bridge was not availableThursday — a represen-tative of the Omaha Parksand Recreation Departmentcould not be reached.
Local pedestrian bridges are inspected regularly
The WashingTon PosT
WASHINGTON — Pres-ident Donald Trump hasdecided to remove H.R.McMaster as his nationalsecurity adviser and is ac-tively discussing potentialreplacements, according tofive people with knowledgeof the plans.
Trump recently toldWhite House chief of staffJohn Kelly that he wantsMcMaster out and asked forhelp weighing replacementoptions, according to twopeople familiar with theirconversations.
Several candidates haveemerged as possible Mc-Master replacements, in-cluding John Bolton, a for-mer U.S. ambassador to theUnited Nations, and KeithKellogg, the chief of staff ofthe National Security Coun-cil. Kellogg travels withTrump on many domestictrips. Bolton has met withTrump several times.
White House press secre-tary Sarah Huckabee Sand-ers denied the report Thurs-day night on Twitter.
“Just spoke to @POTUSand Gen. H.R. McMaster— contrary to reports theyhave a good working rela-tionship and there are nochanges at the NSC,” shewrote.
Just days ago, Trump fired
Rex Tillerson, the secretaryof state, and moved to installhis close ally, CIA DirectorMike Pompeo, in the job.On Wednesday, he namedTV analyst Larry Kudlow toreplace his top economic ad-viser, Gary Cohn, who quitover trade disagreements.
And on Thursday, Trumpsignaled that more per-sonnel moves were like-ly. “There will always bechange,” the president toldreporters. “And I think youwant to see change. I want toalso see different ideas.”
McMaster is not the onlysenior official said to be onthin ice with the president.Veterans Affairs SecretaryDavid Shulkin has attractedTrump’s ire for his spendingdecisions as well as for gen-eral disorder in the seniorleadership of his agency.
Others considered atrisk for being fired or rep-rimanded include Housingand Urban DevelopmentSecretary Ben Carson, whohas generated bad headlinesfor ordering a $31,000 din-ing room set for his office;Environmental ProtectionAgency Administrator ScottPruitt, who has been underfire for his first-class trav-el at taxpayer expense; andInterior Secretary RyanZinke, whose agency spent$139,000 to renovate his of-fice doors.
Trump reportedly plans toreplace adviser McMaster
• •••
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