Design of footbridges against pedestrian-induced vibrations

In 1999 and 2000, the two vibration incidents at the Paris Passerelle Solferino Bridge and the London Millennium Bridge triggered a major revision of existing knowledge concerning footbridge response to pedestrian-induced actions. In the last 15 years, an incredibly large amount of research has emerged on the topic. Although researchers have provided many valuable scientific contributions regarding the understanding and modeling of pedestrian-induced vibrations of footbridges, there is still a need to determine what real improvements have been achieved in design procedures. This article provides a critical overview of the methodologies proposed over the last four decades, as well as their code implementations, and summarizes the actual advances available that consultants can use to their advantage in bridge design.