Broward County Awards $29 Million Contract to Builder Behind FIU Bridge Collapse

A politically connected construction company that was partly responsible for the fatal Florida International University bridge collapse in 2018 has won yet another lucrative contract courtesy of a South Florida county.

On February 6, Broward County commissioners voted unanimously to ratify a $29 million contract with Magnum Construction Management (MCM), formerly known as Munilla Construction Management, for improvements at the Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport's baggage-processing area.

The project entails Magnum overseeing multiple subcontractors for demolition, concrete installation, electrical, plumbing, and air-conditioning work at the airport. The contract includes a $24.7 million base price and $4.3 million in allowances.

Munilla Construction was the main construction-management firm behind the buildout of the 950-ton pedestrian bridge at Florida International University that collapsed in March 2018, killing a worker and five people in vehicles crushed on the street below.

Months after Munilla Construction filed for bankruptcy protection, the National Transportation Safety Board determined in an October 2019 report that the company bore responsibility for the bridge collapse alongside several other contractors and entities. The board found that Munilla, the Florida Department of Transportation, and the university had failed to halt construction and close down the area underneath the bridge after dangerous cracks appeared in the structure.

The root cause of the bridge failure was attributed to design errors and miscalculations by engineer FIGG Bridge Group.

Munilla Construction had more than a dozen safety violations under its belt from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration for projects in Miami, Fort Lauderdale, and Texas, in the five years leading up to the bridge collapse.

Read: "One Year Later, FIU Bridge Collapse Survivors Recall the Tragedy"

Back in 2015, Broward County awarded Munilla Construction a $128 million contract for a terminal expansion at the Fort Lauderdale airport.

As previously reported by New Times, just days before the bridge collapse, the company was sued in Miami-Dade court by a TSA employee at the Broward airport who accused the company of "shoddy work" in building a "makeshift bridge," which allegedly broke under his weight in 2016. (A spokesperson for the company later argued that the "makeshift bridge" was actually a plywood pathway, and that the case was a simple slip-and-fall at a construction site.)

"They built this makeshift bridge in the area where all the employees work, and it was poorly done," Tesha Allison, a lawyer representing the worker, previously told New Times. "He fell and hurt himself really badly."

The company was founded in 1983 by the Munilla family and in the decades that followed, it grew into one of the most prominent construction firms in Miami-Dade and Broward counties, with hundreds of employees.

Still run by the Munilla family, MCM has long been politically connected in South Florida.

Read: "Contractors Behind Collapsed FIU Bridge Are Major Miami Political Players"

In 2017, Munilla executives donated roughly $25,000 to Miami-Dade County commissioners. Former Miami-Dade Mayor and current U.S. Representative Carlos Giménez's wife, Lourdes, is also a cousin to Munilla family siblings, and both of the former mayor's sons worked or lobbied for the company. In 2019, Giménez and his wife were seen on a trip to Chicago with the company's current vice president Pedro Munilla.

Along with various government and military contracts with the Department of Defense, including a $66 million contract to erect a school on the Guantanamo Bay Naval Base, the South Florida-based firm previously contracted with Miami-Dade County for the Miami International Airport expansion, which county commissioners controversially voted to extend in 2019 after the bridge collapse.

In a 2021 media release announcing a change in ownership structure, the company said that it was "poised to make a comeback" under the direction of its newly appointed president, Daniel Munilla, who helped usher the firm through its reorganization.

"The company maintains that while its No. 1 priority is safety in all they do, the leadership is investing in new technology and operational procedures to ensure their personnel have the tools needed to succeed," MCM said.

The company stated that in the aftermath of the tragedy, it continued to work on projects including a bridge restoration on A1A and a Turnpike extension in Homestead.


This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.