Accident That Killed Worker Was the Second This Year at Miami’s Signature Bridge

Less than three months after multiple construction workers were hospitalized in a serious on-site accident, a worker has died at Miami’s Signature Bridge construction site.

Early Monday morning, Jorge Eliud Galindo Thompson fell to his death while working on the controversial I-395/SR 836/I-95 Design-Build Project, which includes the construction of the Signature Bridge and a double-decker portion of State Road 836. According to the Florida Highway Patrol, the incident occurred just before 4 a.m., when Galindo fell roughly 20 feet from an overpass on the site and landed on Biscayne Boulevard. He was pronounced dead at the scene.

Galindo’s death comes several months after another safety incident at the same site, in which six construction workers were injured when a beam toppled and hurled them approximately 30 feet.

In an interview with NBC 6 South Florida, Galindo’s uncle, Clifford Thompson, said that their family was “destroyed.”

“You just feel helpless,” Thompson said. “I have been hearing about many things that have happened in this project, and I have always told him that he has to be careful.”

Roughly three months before Galindo’s death, at around 10 p.m. on January 16, the City of Miami Department of Fire Rescue responded to reports of “trapped victims” at the construction site. Rescue workers initially reported finding that a beam “somehow toppled,” throwing the six workers roughly 30 feet and trapping one of them. All six were transported to the Ryder Trauma Center, where five were listed in critical condition and one in serious condition. Five have since been released, while one remains in the hospital, FDOT spokesperson Maria Rosa Higgins Fallon tells New Times. Authorities have not publicly disclosed the cause of the incident.

Following Monday’s fatal accident, Fallon says the department has “immediately halted all work on this job to ensure the contractor and crews are committed to the highest level of safety possible.”

While “construction zones are a high-risk environment,” she adds, “safety is non-negotiable and will not be compromised.”

“The Department is deeply saddened by yesterday’s incident on Westbound I-395 near Biscayne Blvd. We send our heartfelt condolences to the friends and family impacted by this tragedy,” she wrote in the Tuesday email. “While this particular investigation is still ongoing, FDOT has demanded that the Contractor fully cooperate with investigating agencies, conduct a thorough internal review of the incident, and develop a corrective action plan to help prevent tragedies like this.”

The massive bridge project, slated to cost $840 million, is the product of a joint venture between construction companies Archer Western and de Moya Group. Overseen by the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) and the Miami-Dade Expressway Authority (MDX), the project aims to alleviate Miami’s hellish traffic but has faced repeated delays. It’s now scheduled to be finished by late 2029, although most longtime residents aren’t holding their breath.

While Galindo’s death is reportedly under investigation by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), which probes workplace safety accidents and deaths, the back-to-back incidents are likely to raise further questions about the project, which has already drawn criticism over its safety and design.

In January, NBC6 reported that a lawsuit filed by Archer Western and de Moya Group over project delays alleged that the engineering firm they hired to design the bridge had previously miscalculated wind loads. In recent weeks, photos circulating on social media that appeared to show cracks in portions of the bridge prompted some…natural public concern. An FDOT spokesperson previously assured New Times that the cracking is superficial and doesn’t pose a structural risk.

OSHA tells New Times it is investigating the incident and cannot share additional details while the probe is under way.