Vibration Serviceability Assessment of Pedestrian Bridges Based on Comfort Level

The comfort of pedestrians on a footbridge is a rather complex problem that has been discussed for a long time. Vibration acceleration is generally accepted as the main controlling factor that influences pedestrian comfort. However, no consensus has been reached regarding which acceleration-based parameters should be used as an index for assessing comfort. Only simple comfort limits, rather than specific relationships between comfort and the corresponding indices, are currently available for assessing the vibration serviceability of a pedestrian bridge. In this study, the vibration acceleration of 21 pedestrian bridges in Beijing, China, were recorded under different service conditions, and questionnaire surveys on pedestrian comfort were conducted. The acquired testing and survey results were utilized to analyze the correlation between pedestrian comfort and bridge vibration. A procedure for assessing the vibration serviceability of pedestrian bridges considering pedestrian comfort is proposed based on the relation between pedestrian comfort and the maximum footbridge acceleration.