The Simone de Beauvoir Footbridge in Paris. Experimental Verification of the Dynamic Behaviour under Pedestrian Loads and Discussion of Corrective Modifications

The Simone de Beauvoir Footbridge in Paris has been from the early stages designed with a complex damping system to avoid both lateral and vertical pedestrian-induced vibrations.

The experimental assessment of damping levels, object of this paper, has been conducted with a large number of walking tests and an extensive instrumentation.

Different unexpected phenomena came to light through these tests: unexpected looseness in footbridge articulations, solid friction on the expansion joints and sliding bearings. These phenomena affected deeply the behaviour of the first and fifth vibration modes.

After corrective actions have been taken, the damping of mode 1 could be markedly increased.

Experimental surveillance of the dynamic characteristics of the bridge during the first few years has been anticipated, that will permit to detect either structural modification or degradation of dissipative devices.