SERVICEABILITY ASSESSMENT OF A POLYESTER ROPE SUSPENDED FOOTBRIDGE UNDER PEDESTRIAN-INDUCED VIBRATIONS

Abstract

In rural areas of the world, lack of year-round access to transportation infrastructure reinforces the cycle of poverty. One method to improve access in these communities is pedestrian bridge crossings. Currently, most contemporary bridges built for this need are composed of steel rope. A feasible alternative to this conventional material is polyester rope, which is not commonly used in bridge applications. A case study bridge in Morocco provides a baseline example for a polyester rope suspended footbridge. Numerical static, natural frequency, and pedestrian excitation analyses are performed to determine the influence of mass, damping, and polyester rope’s material stiffness on the bridge’s lateral and vertical response to pedestrian loads. Potential improvements for the lateral behavior of a suspended footbridge are studied. Suggestions are made based on numerical analyses of these improvements. These recommendations may be implemented for bridges in both design and retrofit stages.