Footbridge - Cirkelbrug

The new footbridge near Almere in the Netherlands will facilitate a safe crossing over the Waterlandseweg and improve the recreational network in the area. The slender 240m long steel bridge generates two unique balconies on top of the bridge. The balconies and the shape of the bridge invites the user to enjoy the different views of the surroundings. The paper will further elaborate on the architectural design and user experience. The meandering shape leads to a constantly changing cross section, which was interesting translating to a rational structural design, and for assessing the risk of uncomfortable vibrations and need of dampers for control. Especially the seating area on the bridge over the canal was identified as an area of concern. The paper shows the approach taken and the results of steady state dynamic analyses, transient dynamic analyses and measurements of the final product. Transient dynamic analyses results are more accurate and less conservative than the steady-state analyses, but some deviation from the measured accelerations remained. This project shows it is advised to account for dampers at the design stage when analyses show dynamic sensitivity of the bridge. And actual testing is necessary for taking the final decisions on the need for dampers.

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