Study of the potential of collapse of a footbridge under vandal loads

Abstract

The present paper describes a study developed to characterize the potential for structural collapse of a stress-ribbon footbridge excited by synchronized groups of vandals. The footbridge under analysis integrates the new Campus of the Faculty of Engineering of the University of Porto, providing a pedestrian link between the main buildings and the student's canteen and parking areas. The collapse of the footbridge is the occurrence of cracks on the top surface of the pavement and the rupture of the cables. The paper analysis three different load scenarios: (i) static action of very large crowd; (ii) dynamic action of crowd flowing along the bridge; and (iii) intentionally large vibrations induced by groups of pedestrians "vandal loads".