Vertical Accelerations due to Joggers of a Short Span Footbridge

A prescribed approach according to the Eurocode to calculate the expected vertical accelerations of a footbridge due to joggers is to model a harmonic oscillating point load at midspan, representing the joggers, and calculate the outcome of the steady-­state solution. This is true for footbridges with a long span, but when looking at short span footbridges, the steady-­state solution overestimates the occurring vertical accelerations of the footbridge in reality by far. In case of short span footbridges the calculated vertical accelerations during the transient-­state, approaches reality better.

An analytical model is made of a moving harmonic oscillating point load in time, representing a jogger running across a footbridge. The vertical accelerations are calculated at midspan of the footbridge.

The results of the analytical model show good agreement with the results measured at midspan in reality, proving a steady-­state solution overestimates the expected vertical accelerations of a short span footbridge when a jogger runs across the footbridge.

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