Case Study

Design and Experimental Analysis of an Externally

Prestressed Steel and Concrete Footbridge Equipped with
Vibration Mitigation Devices
Andrea Dall’Asta1; Laura Ragni2; Alessandro Zona, A.M.ASCE3; Luca Nardini4; and Walter Salvatore5
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Abstract: A 142-m, three-span continuous footbridge over the Esino River (Italy) is considered as a case study to illustrate a number of chal-
lenging aspects in its static and dynamic design. The adoption of an optimized steel deck with a variable cross section together with the use of
external prestressing tendons in the central span allows a substantial reduction of structural weights. The resulting footbridge requires a proper
model for the assessment of its behavior up to the ultimate limit state as well as attention to vibration control under pedestrian loading at the
service limit state. The former issue is addressed through the use of a specifically developed material and geometric nonlinear finite-element
formulation. Regarding vibration control, an original combination of two different systems is used, i.e., high damping rubber (HDR) stripes
and tuned mass dampers (TMDs). The HDR stripes, applied between the steel deck and the concrete floor, increase the overall damping of the
footbridge, whereas the TMDs significantly reduce the accelerations at the most critical frequencies. The design of this nonconventional solu-
tion for vibration control is discussed, and the results of experimental tests in the early stage of the footbridge construction are illustrated. The
experimental results allow the validation of the structural model used in the design as well as the evaluation of the influence of the HDR stripes
and of the nonstructural components on the modal properties of the completed footbridge, permitting fine-tuning of the TMDs before they are
installed. DOI: 10.1061/(ASCE)BE.1943-5592.0000842. © 2016 American Society of Civil Engineers.

Introduction landscape impact, such as suspended or cable-stayed bridges. This

A footbridge was recently built in Italy over the Esino River, near
its mouth into the Adriatic Sea, in the Falconara Marittima munici-
pality, approximately 15 km northwest of the city of Ancona. This
was done as a contribution to the revaluation of the nearby area with
the restoration of a link between the Fiumesino district on the south
bank and Rocca Priora on the north bank. The two banks were
linked in the past by a wooden bridge replaced in 1930 by a masonry
bridge. The masonry bridge was, however, built nearer to the sea-
coast to serve the road traffic circulation, thus the two neighbor-
hoods no longer had a direct pedestrian link. The choice of the struc-
tural scheme of the footbridge was influenced by the significant
naturalistic value of the area, which excluded solutions with large
1
Professor, School of Architecture and Design, Univ. of Camerino,
Viale della Rimembranza, 63100 Ascoli Piceno, Italy. E-mail: andrea
.dallasta@unicam.it
2
Assistant Professor, Dept. of Civil Engineering, Buildings and
Architecture, Marche Polytechnic Univ., Via Brecce Bianche, 60131
Ancona, Italy. E-mail: laura.ragni@univpm.it
3
Associate Professor, School of Architecture and Design, Univ. of
Camerino, Viale della Rimembranza, 63100 Ascoli Piceno, Italy (corre-
sponding author). E-mail: alessandro.zona@unicam.it
4
Structural Engineer, Building and Telecommunications Direction,
Univ. of Pisa, Lungarno Pacinotti 43–44, 56100 Pisa, Italy. E-mail:
l.nardini@adm.unipi.it
5
Associate Professor, Dept. of Civil and Industrial Engineering, Univ.
of Pisa, Largo Lucio Lazzarino 1, 56122 Pisa, Italy. E-mail: walter@ing
.unipi.it
Note. This manuscript was submitted on January 12, 2015; approved
on August 6, 2015; published online on January 5, 2016. Discussion pe-
riod open until June 5, 2016; separate discussions must be submitted for
individual papers. This paper is part of the Journal of Bridge
Engineering, © ASCE, ISSN 1084-0702.
led to the selection of a three-span solution with its two piers outside
of the streambed (Figs. 1 and 2) for a total length of 142 m (two lat-
eral spans of 33 m and one central span of 76 m). The imposed hy-
draulic requirements enforced a distance between the flood level
(200-year return period) and the bridge intrados larger than 1.00 m
and a limited contraction (less than 2%) of the river hydraulic sec-
tion produced by the piers.
Unusual structural characteristics of the Esino footbridge are (1)
the adoption of a steel deck with a variable cross section in conjunc-
tion with the use of external prestressing tendons in the central span
and (2) the use of high damping rubber (HDR) stripes between the
steel deck and the footbridge floor to increase the overall damping
of the footbridge. The former allows a substantial reduction of
structural weights, and the latter permits the reduction of unfavora-
ble vibrations at serviceability under human-induced excitation, as
expected in such structural typology (Živanovic et al. 2005; Van
Nimmen et al. 2014). To further control the critical frequencies of
the footbridge, three tuned mass dampers (TMDs) are used, a solu-
tion successfully implemented in various recent lively footbridges
(Li et al. 2010; Caetano et al. 2010).
In this paper the static and dynamic design of the Esino foot-
bridge is described with specific attention given to the study of the
nonconventional dissipative system based on HDR stripes and to
the dimensioning of the TMDs. The design is supported by numer-
ical analysis as well as by experimental tests performed during the
early stage of the footbridge construction. The experimental results
are used to (1) validate the structural model used in the design, (2)
evaluate the influence of the HDR stripes and of the nonstructural
components on the modal properties of the completed footbridge,
and (3) fine-tune the TMDs before they are installed. The illus-
trated numerical and experimental response results provide indica-
tions on the behavior of the considered footbridge that cannot be
directly derived from those observed in more common continuous
deck geometries (Zona et al. 2006).

© ASCE C5015001-1 J. Bridge Eng.

J. Bridge Eng., 2016, 21(8): C5015001

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Fig. 1. Esino footbridge, as seen from the near road bridge (image by Andrea Dall’Asta)

Fig. 2. Plane and lateral views of the Esino footbridge

Fig. 3. Cross sections: (a) piers; (b) tendon deviators; (c) midspan

Static Design
Structural Scheme and Deck Geometry
The structural scheme of the Esino footbridge is a three-span continu-
ous beam with two equal lateral spans of 33 m and a central span of 76
m for a total length of 142 m. The ratio between the central and lateral
span lengths permits transferring the load almost exclusively to the
piers, minimizing the force transferred to the abutments so that the
embankments are not altered. The deck is restrained by fixed bearing
devices on the South pier, whereas those placed on the North pier and
on the abutments are free to slide in the longitudinal direction. Thus,
the transverse horizontal forces are contrasted by all the substructures,
whereas the longitudinal horizontal forces are adsorbed only by one
pier.
The deck cross section consists of a steel box with variable ge-
ometry with depth and width increased toward the piers [Fig. 3(a)]
and strongly reduced in the central span [Figs. 3(b and c)] on
which external prestressing tendons are adopted. The vertical and
horizontal paths of the tendons are profiled to counteract the

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J. Bridge Eng., 2016, 21(8): C5015001

 vertical loads and limit the transverse deformability. The tendon
traction is designed to produce null midspan deflection in the cen-
tral span under permanent loads. On top of the orthotropic steel
plate constituting the upper part of the box section, a reinforced
concrete (RC) slab constitutes support for the pavement of the pe-
destrian floor.

Structural Model of the Deck with External Prestressing

The global behavior of the footbridge is studied through a finite-
element formulation (Zona et al. 2008) specifically developed for
girders with external prestressing tendons and validated through
comparisons with experimental results available in the technical lit-
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erature. The adopted approach is capable of linear and nonlinear

analyses; the latter includes the nonlinear behavior of the materials
Fig. 4. Load multiplier versus midspan deflection of the central span
as well as nonlinear geometric effects. The formulation is based on
the work originally developed by Dall’Asta (1996) and subse-
quently applied to the nonlinear analysis of concrete and steel-con-
crete composite beams with external posttension (Dall’Asta and
Dezi 1998; Dall’Asta and Zona 2005; Dall’Asta et al. 2007a, b;
Zona et al. 2009). This formulation permits a general number of ten-
dons in the model, each with its own path defined by the two end
anchorages and an assigned number of intermediate deviators.
Tendons are free to slip at deviators with negligible friction, as com-
monly observed. The geometric nonlinear interactions between ten-
dons and girders are described within the small strain and moderate
rotation theory. The nonlinear analyses are performed using the
mean values of the material parameters following the indications of
the safety format of the European structural codes, as described in
detail in Zona et al. (2010). More refined approaches for describing
the uncertainties in the nonlinear response of steel-concrete girders
(Barbato et al. 2014) are beyond the scope of this case study.
The model developed for the Esino footbridge is made of 284 fi- Fig. 5. Load multiplier versus tendon traction
nite elements, each with an assigned constant cross section, i.e., a
stepwise constant function approximates the actual continuous vari-
ation of the geometry of the cross section of the footbridge. The
nonlinear static analyses are made considering the steel girder and
its external tendons as the only resisting components. The RC slab
is not included as a resisting element given that a conventional shear
connection system is not used and the HDR stripes are not relied on
to transfer the longitudinal shear between the girders to the slab up
to the ultimate limit state. Hence, the RC slab in the model only con-
tributes to the definition of the permanent loads, together with the
other nonstructural elements (pavement and parapets).

Static Response
Nonlinear analyses are made to predict the global static behavior
of the footbridge under increasing vertical loads. In this way the
expected deflections and the safety margin at the ultimate limit
state are assessed with the inclusion of the nonlinear material
behavior of the cross section and of the tendons, the increment of
traction in the tendons caused by the footbridge deformations, and
the nonlinear geometric effects in the beam-tendon system.
Selected results are reported for the combination with the smallest
collapse load, i.e., variable loads in the central span only. Fig. 4
illustrates the applied load versus the vertical displacement in the
central span in nondimensional units, i.e., as a multiplier of the
factored design permanent and variable vertical loads as a func-
tion of the ratio between midspan deflection of the central span
and its length. It is observed that the footbridge is in the elastic
range when the design loads are attained and the collapse load is
significantly higher than the design load. This is a consequence of
the restrictions given by the deformability condition at that service
Fig. 6. Bending moment diagram at design load and at collapse load
limit state that governs the footbridge static design. Fig. 5 illus-
trates the variation of the resultant tendon traction in nondimen-
sional units, i.e., the design load multiplier versus the ratio
between the tendon traction and its traction at yielding. It can be
observed that the increment of tendon force at collapse, evaluated
considering that the tendons are free to slip at deviators, is remark-
able. Nevertheless, the tendons remain in the elastic range with an
ample margin up to the collapse load level. In Fig. 6 the flexural
moment diagrams at the design load and at collapse are reported
to evaluate the redistribution of flexural moments caused by the

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 plastic deformations in the deck. It is noted that the bending
moments in the central span are significantly smaller than the
bending moment at the piers, in accordance with the adopted vari-
able cross-section geometry.

Model for Local Verifications

In addition to the nonlinear beam model for the global analyses
illustrated in the previous section, a three-dimensional model made
of shell elements is developed using commercial software to study
local problems under static conditions, such as stresses from shear-
lag, the efficiency of diaphragms in contrasting the transverse defor-
mations of the cross sections, and local buckling phenomena. An
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example of the obtained results is given in Fig. 7 in which the stress

analysis for the local verifications of the tendon deviators and rele-
vant connections are illustrated.

Dynamic Design

Pedestrian Load Models and Acceleration Spectra

For light and flexible structures with a low value of natural damp- Fig. 7. Three-dimensional stress analysis for local verifications of the
ing, such as the Esino footbridge, dynamic analyses are necessary tendon deviators
to verify that the peak accelerations of vertical and transverse vibra-
tions from human-induced excitations are below the values that can
annoy or alarm people walking on the footbridge. The design of the
Esino footbridge is made following Eurocode 5, Part 2 (CEN 1997),
suggesting the resonant load method, which takes into account a
small group of people walking together synchronized with each
other and synchronized with the natural frequency of the bridge. In
particular, the following simple sinusoidal expression is used for
human loads

FðtÞ ¼ KA sin ð2p ftÞ (1)

where A = load amplitude from a pedestrian equal to 0.28 kN for

vertical loads and 0.07 kN for transverse loads; t = time, f = fre-
quency, and K = synchronization factor, which depends on the
frequency f as shown in Fig. 8. The most critical frequencies are
from 1.50 to 2.50 Hz with vertical vibrations and from 0.75 to
1.25 Hz with transverse vibrations, in which K reaches its maxi-
mum value. These ranges of critical frequencies agree with more
recent code indications (Živanovic et al. 2005; Van Nimmen et
al. 2014).
The vibration analysis of the Esino footbridge without dissipa-
tive devices, i.e., steel deck with external tendons with a RC slab
and the other nonstructural elements contributing to the mass but
not to the stiffness (Table 1), provides the first four vibration
modes reported in Table 2 and Fig. 9. The first, third, and fourth
modes involve vertical displacements, whereas the second mode
concerns transverse displacements. The fifth mode (transverse)
and sixth mode (vertical), not depicted for the sake of brevity,
have periods equal to 3.21 and 3.22 s, respectively. Thus, the
Esino footbridge without dissipative devices has three vertical
vibration modes and one transverse vibration mode within the
range of frequencies providing a synchronization factor larger
than 1.00.
To evaluate the footbridge accelerations, harmonic analyses
are performed with a damping coefficient j 0 = 0.005, a value
measured in numerous steel bridges (Butz et al. 2008). The first,
third, and fourth modes are considered in the analyses of the verti-
cal accelerations. The concentrated group of people is positioned
at the point in which the mode shape considered has its maximum
Fig. 8. Synchronization factor for vertical and transverse human loads
amplitude value and the acceleration is monitored at that same
point (Fig. 10). Fig. 11 reports the acceleration spectra for each
load condition considered in Fig. 10 (CL1, CL2, and CL3). The
peak acceleration value is approximately 1.4 m/s2 and comes from
the load condition CL1.
The problem is more complex when the simultaneous presence
of a large number of pedestrians is considered. The input force is a
random signal, which is very difficult to predict and reproduce. The
indications given by available works (Rainer et al. 1988, Bachmann
and Ammann 1987, Fujino et al. 1993) suggested a simplified pffiffiffi
approach in which the signal is again sinusoidal. A coefficient n
is applied to take into account that pedestrians are not all synchron-
ized with each other during vertical vibrations. The reduction coef-
ficient is 0.2 for transverse vibrations, because pedestrians exhibit
a larger tendency to synchronize with each other when the vibra-
tions involve transverse motions. To maximize the load effects,
portions of the footbridge are selectively loaded according to the
modal shapes considered. Fig. 12 reports the three different distrib-
uted load conditions for the vertical accelerations. Figs. 13–15

© ASCE C5015001-4 J. Bridge Eng.

J. Bridge Eng., 2016, 21(8): C5015001

 Table 1. Summary of the Structural Models Developed for the Esino Footbridge

Analysis type Application Structural components Nonstructural components

Static analysis Static design
Dynamic analysis Dynamic design
Model validation based on monitoring of construction
Phase 1
Model validation based on monitoring of construction
Phase 2 and TMD fine-tuning
Steel girder with external prestressing RC slab, pavement, parapets
Steel girder with external prestressing RC slab, pavement, parapets
Steel girder with external prestressing None
Steel girder with external prestressing Pavement and parapets
connected to the RC slab by a deformable interface

Table 2. Modal Frequencies from Numerical Analysis of the Esino

Footbridge (Complete Deck without HDR Stripes and TMDs)
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Mode number f (Hz)

1 (vertical) 1.08
2 (transverse) 1.36
3 (vertical) 1.55
4 (vertical) 2.48

Fig. 10. Concentrated load positions with monitored points in har-

monic analysis

Fig. 9. First four vibration modes from finite-element analysis of the

steel girder with external tendons Fig. 11. Acceleration response spectra for concentrated loads

report the envelope of the vertical acceleration response spectra for

the three monitored points, i.e., A, B, and C, respectively.
Generally, the distributed load conditions give acceleration values
larger than those of the concentrated load conditions, with
observed peaks between 3.00 and 4.75 m/s2. The same procedure
was followed for the transverse critical frequency and the value
attained for the transverse peak acceleration when the distributed
load is approximately 1.20 m/s2.
Acceleration Limits and Vibration Mitigation
In this project the peak acceleration limits are chosen according to
Eurocode 5, Part 2 (CEN 1997), i.e., 0.7 m/s2 for vertical vibrations
and 0.2 m/s2 for transverse vibrations. These values coincide with
more recent code indications as seen in Živanovic et al. (2005) and
Van Nimmen et al. (2014). Comparing the peak accelerations
obtained in the analyses illustrated in the previous section with the
prescribed limits, it is concluded that the accelerations obtained by
the harmonic analysis exceed the assumed tolerable limits. Note
that the harmonic analysis is a steady-state analysis, in which results
neglect the transient response of the system and consider an infinite
number of cycles. In reality the structure is subjected to a limited
number of load cycles as the pedestrians move forward and the tran-
sient response actually vanishes only after a remarkable number of
cycles. For this reason the harmonic analysis is expected to be

© ASCE C5015001-5 J. Bridge Eng.

J. Bridge Eng., 2016, 21(8): C5015001

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Fig. 12. Distributed load positions with monitored points in harmonic
analysis
Fig. 13. Acceleration response spectra for distributed loads (moni-
tored Point A)
Fig. 14. Acceleration response spectra for distributed loads (moni-
tored Point B)
conservative. To investigate this aspect, a time history analysis is
performed to simulate the footbridge response when a limited num-
ber of cycles is considered. For example, Fig. 16 reports the time
history of the acceleration related to Point A and load distribution
© ASCE C5015001-6
J. Bridge Eng., 2016, 21(8): C5015001
Fig. 15. Acceleration response spectra for distributed loads (moni-
tored Point C)
Fig. 16. Acceleration in the transient phase obtained from time history
(Point A, DL3)
DL3 (second peak from the left in Fig. 13). The value obtained by
the harmonic analysis is asymptotically reached after a very large
number of cycles. Nevertheless, the acceleration limit value is
exceeded after just a few cycles. Consequently, these numerical
results confirm that the conveyance of pedestrians is not ensured.
To obtain an acceptable behavior of the bridge at the service limit
state some mitigation criteria must be adopted. Such a design
requirement is pursued in this case study through the use of a double
mitigation system.
The first system consists of placing HDR stripes between the RC
slab and the steel girder. When the deck deflects, the rubber stripes
are subjected to shear strains so that they are able to dissipate energy
through hysteretic cycles. In this way an increment of the damping
coefficient of the structure can be achieved, and a global reduction
of the acceleration spectra can consequently be obtained for all fre-
quencies. This technique of introducing a damping layer (usually a
viscoelastic layer) between two structural components acting in par-
allel was used for the mitigation of human-induced vibrations in dif-
ferent contexts, e.g., building floors (Ebrahimpour and Sack 2005),
and has been known in mechanical engineering applications since
the 1960s in composite panel vibration mitigation (Ungar and
Kerwin 1962).
The second system consists of three TMDs installed inside the
steel box and tuned with the critical vibration modes of the structure
J. Bridge Eng.
 to mitigate selectively the structural response at the critical vibra-
tion modes. In this way a reduction of the peaks of the response
acceleration spectra can be achieved. The design of both systems is
described in the following paragraphs.
Design of Vibration Mitigation Based on HDR Stripes
The HDR stripes used as dissipation devices are made of a natural
rubber compound with the addition of black carbon filler to improve
the dissipation properties and make the material only marginally de-
pendent on temperature and strain rate (Dall’Asta and Ragni 2006).
The cyclic behavior can be described using an equivalent linear
viscoelastic model characterized by a shear modulus G and a damp-
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ing coefficient j (Dall’Asta and Ragni 2006; Dall’Asta and Ragni
2008a, b), as defined in Fig. 17 in which Ed denotes the energy dissi-
pated by the rubber, i.e., the area of the hysteresis cycle. Usually,
the shear modulus depends on the strain amplitude, and for the
adopted HDR stripes G = 800 kN/m2 at a 100% shear strain. The
damping coefficient j is almost constant with the strain amplitude,
and for the adopted HDR stripes j = 0.15. The approximated linear
description of the HDR behavior makes it possible to use a simpli-
fied design approaches, e.g., the modal strain energy method
(Soong and Dargush 1997), based on an energetic equivalence at
the resonance condition between the real system and a classically
Fig. 17. Hysteresis cycle of the adopted HDR and relevant material
parameters
Fig. 18. Cross section with HDR stripes
Fig. 19. Position of the designed TMDs
© ASCE C5015001-7
J. Bridge Eng., 2016, 21(8): C5015001
damped system. For a single degree of freedom system the equiva-
lent damping coefficient is given by
Ed
j ¼ j0 þ ¼ j0 þ jd (2)
4p Es
where Ed = energy dissipated in a cycle by the rubber; Es = strain
energy of the system; j 0 = natural damping coefficient of the
structure; and j d = damping coefficient from the dissipative de-
vice. This method may be easily extended to a multi–degree of
freedom system (Soong and Dargush 1997) by introducing the
equivalent modal damping coefficients related to each mode of the
structure
Edi
ji ¼ j0 þ ¼ j 0 þ j di (3)
4p Esi
where Edi = energy dissipated by the rubber at the modal frequency;
Esi = modal strain energy of the system; and j di = modal damping
coefficient. In this way modal analysis can still be used to determine
the structural dynamic response. By denoting with Esri and Esbi the
modal strain energy of the HDR stripes and of the steel footbridge,
respectively, Eq. (3) is rewritten as
Edi Esri
ji ¼ j0 þ ¼ j0 þ j (4)
4p Esi 4p ðEsri þ Esbi Þ
Adopting four equal rubber stripes each with width b = 40 mm
and height h = 12 mm (Fig. 18), the equivalent modal damping coef-
ficients notably increase; they are approximately 2% for all the
vibration modes. As specifically described in this paper, the rubber
stripes are much more flexible than the steel beam, thus, the incre-
ment of stiffness from their presence may be disregarded. As a
result, the same structural model adopted from the previous vibra-
tion and harmonic analyses (i.e., steel deck with external tendons
with the RC slab and the other nonstructural elements contributing
to the mass only as reported in Table 1) is used to evaluate the natu-
ral frequencies, the modal shapes, and the modal strain energy, and
to repeat the harmonic analyses with the increased damping. The
results of the harmonic analyses show a global reduction of the
acceleration response spectra. In fact, the peak accelerations range
from 1.20 to 2.00 m/s2 for the vertical vibrations and 0.50 m/s2 for
the transverse vibrations, which is notably smaller than the values
observed without additional dissipation but still larger than the
imposed limits.
The values of the shear strain amplitude of the rubber stripes are
not constant along the bridge but always lower than the design shear
strain equal to 100% for all the harmonic analyses performed.
Moreover, the values of the rubber shear strain attained at the ulti-
mate limit state (static analysis), considering the combined effect of
the factored permanent and live loads acting on the bridge together
with the shrinkage of the concrete slab, are compatible with the ulti-
mate deformation capacity of this material (approximately 200%).
Similarly, the forces transmitted to the RC slab are not constant
along the footbridge, with the maximum value transmitted by the
four stripes Fmax = 128 kN/m. The forces transmitted to the RC slab
J. Bridge Eng.
 are taken into account for the determination of the steel reinforce-
ments in the RC slab.
Design of Additional Vibration Mitigation Based
on TMDs
The second system adopted to mitigate the structural vibration con-
sists in the introduction of three TMDs, each made of a steel mass
connected to the structure by springs and viscous dissipation devi-
ces. To optimize the vibration control, the TMD frequency must be
chosen close to the natural frequency of the structure (Den Hartog
1985). In this way the peak accelerations corresponding to the
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The solution of a single degree of freedom system coupled with
a TMD device is known (Den Hartog 1985). The design parameters
are m , a, and j corresponding to the ratio between the mass of the
TMD and the original system ( m ), the ratio between the natural fre-
quency of the TMD and the original system (a), and the damping
coefficient ratio of the TMD ( j ). Generally, a value of m must be
decided, and then the optimal values of a and j need to be esti-
mated so that the two acceleration peaks (corresponding to the in-
phase and the out-of-phase motion of the TMDs with respect to the
bridge) are equal to each other and minimal. The expressions of
these optimal values are
1
aopt ¼

(5)
dynamic loads acting at the natural frequencies of the original sys- 1þm
tem can be drastically reduced. More specifically, each peak accel-
eration becomes two minor peak accelerations (a1 and a2), which sffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
3m
correspond to the in-phase and the out-of-phase motion of the TMD j opt ¼ (6)
with respect to the bridge. The accelerations corresponding to the 8ð1 þ m Þ3
dynamic loads at the other frequencies do not vary considerably.
It is important to remark that these design criteria may also be
Table 3. Properties of the Designed TMDs used for multi–degree of freedom systems by introducing the con-
cept of generalized mass corresponding to the mode at which the
TMD number m (kg) k (kN/m) f (Hz) j dmax (cm)
TMD is tuned. The generalized mass must be determined by a shape
1 800 58 1.36 0.13 1 function, which assumes the unitary value at the TMD position.
2 800 75.3 1.55 0.13 1.4 This procedure is accurate if the modal shapes of the original system
3 800 194.25 2.48 0.13 2.25 do not change very much when the TMD devices are introduced.
This hypothesis is realistic if the TMD mass is remarkably smaller
than the original system mass. For this reason small values of m are
Table 4. Peak Accelerations with TMDs suitable, which can also be obtained using more than one device
placed at different points of the structure to protect the critical fre-
TMD number a1 (m/s2) a2 (m/s2)
quencies. In this case study three TMDs are used, one for each of
1 0.05 0.06 the most critical frequencies. More specifically, the three most criti-
2 0.20 0.25 cal frequencies are those of transverse mode (TMD1) and of the sec-
3 0.30 0.50 ond (TMD2) and third (TMD3) vertical modes. To maximize the
effects, the three TMDs are located approximately at the position in
which the modal shape relevant to the protected mode attains its
maximum value (Fig. 19). To simplify the design of the TMDs, the
same mass (800 kg) and the same values of a and j are assumed for
all the devices. In particular, the value a = 1 is assumed to determine
the TMD’s frequency, and the value 0.13 (larger than the optimal
value) is assumed for the damping coefficient, to make the construc-
tion of the devices feasible. The characteristics of the devices are
reported in Table 3, where m = mass, k = stiffness, f = frequency,
j is the damping coefficient of the TMD, and dmax is the maxi-
mum displacement of the TMD. The peak accelerations a1 and a2
obtained by introducing the TMD devices (the in-phase and the
out-of-phase motion of the TMD with respect to the bridge) are
reported in Table 4. It is noted that the two peaks are not equal
given that the assumed TMD parameters are not exactly the opti-
mal design values. Nevertheless, these two peaks are notably
smaller than the peak acceleration obtained without TMDs and
Fig. 20. Acceleration response spectra of the footbridge with and smaller than the tolerability limits imposed. The final result is
without additional dissipative devices (Point A, DL3) illustrated in Fig. 20, which plots the accelerations measured at
the middle of the central span for the third critical frequency of

Fig. 21. Plane and lateral view of the positions of the accelerometers

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Fig. 22. Acceleration power spectra calculated from the recorded vibration data in Phases 1 and 2

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J. Bridge Eng., 2016, 21(8): C5015001

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Fig. 23. First four identified modes from experimental monitoring
(Phase 1)
the bridge, comparing the (1) footbridge without dissipative devi-
ces, (2) footbridge with HDR stripes, and (3) footbridge with
HDR stripes and TMDs. It should be finally noted that to fine-
tune the devices with the actual frequencies of the completed foot-
bridge, generally some of the design parameters of the TMDs
might be modified before the device installation, based on the ex-
perimental testing performed on the footbridge. This is the case of
the mass of the adopted TMDs that is modified, as discussed in
the last paragraph of this case study.
Construction Phases and Monitoring
Experimental Monitoring
Three construction phases are of interest for what concerns the
dynamic behavior of the Esino footbridge: (1) steel deck with
external prestressing only (absence of the RC slab and of the
other nonstructural components as well as the absence of vibra-
tion mitigation devices); (2) added HDR stripes, RC slab, and
other nonstructural components; and (3) added TMDs. An exper-
imental campaign is made to characterize the dynamic behavior
(modal frequencies, damping factors, and modal shapes) of the
footbridge during the first two phases of its construction. The
© ASCE C5015001-10
J. Bridge Eng., 2016, 21(8): C5015001
Fig. 24. First four identified modes from experimental monitoring
(Phase 2)
objectives of such experimental monitoring are (1) the validation
of the steel-only structural model through the results of Phase 1,
(2) the evaluation of the influence of the HDR stripes and RC
slab as well as all the nonstructural components (pavement and
parapets) on the modal properties of the completed footbridge at
the end of Phase 2, and (3) to make possible adjustments of
TMDs parameters before they are installed on the basis of the
results of Phase 2.
The footbridge is monitored in each phase with 16 uniaxial
accelerometers arranged in vertical and transverse directions in 43
stations, adopting six accelerometers as a reference for the four
different configurations (Fig. 21). Wind and the nearby road traf-
fic are the main ambient vibration inputs that allow the identifica-
tion of the modal characteristic of the structure. The identification
of the modal properties of the footbridge is made using the opera-
tional PolyMAX algorithm (Peeters et al. 2004). An example of
acceleration power spectra calculated from the recorded vibration
data in Phases 1 and 2 are illustrated in Fig. 22. The first four
modal shapes identified during Phase 1 (Fig. 23) and during Phase
2 (Fig. 24) have the frequencies and damping ratios reported in
Tables 5 and 6, respectively. The vibration modes identified in the
two phases are compared by the modal assurance criterion (MAC)
index (Allemang 2003). The resulting MAC values are above
90% (Table 5) showing a good correlation between the two
groups of modes. It is observed that there is a nearly uniform
reduction (ranging from 11.31 to 13.59%) of the vibration fre-
quencies of the considered modes because of the nonstructural
components. In contrast, the variation of the damping ratio is
uneven among the considered modes, as expected for low
J. Bridge Eng.
 Table 5. Modal Frequencies from Experimental Modal Analysis of the Table 8. Comparisons between Experimental and Numerical Modal
Esino Footbridge: Steel-Only Girder (Phase 1) and Complete Deck with- Frequencies of the Esino Bridge at Phase 2 (Complete Deck without
out TMDs (Phase 2) TMDs)

Mode number Phase 1 f (Hz) Phase 2 f (Hz) Df1–2 (%) MAC (%) Mode number fexp (Hz) fnum (Hz) Dfexp-num (%)
1 1.41 1.22 −13.59 93.85 1 1.22 1.25 −2.46
2 1.63 1.45 −11.31 90.01 2 1.45 1.47 −1.38
3 2.14 1.90 −11.44 91.98 3 1.90 2.03 −6.84
4 3.44 2.97 −13.55 94.60 4 2.97 3.12 −5.05

Table 6. Damping Ratios from Experimental Modal Analysis of the

Esino Footbridge: Steel-Only Girder (Phase 1) and Complete Deck with-
out TMDs (Phase 2)
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Mode number Phase 1 j (%) Phase 2 j (%) D j I-II (%)

1 0.44 0.39 −11.36
2 0.30 0.37 þ23.33
3 0.24 0.41 þ70.83
4 0.45 0.49 þ8.89

Table 7. Comparison between Experimental and Numerical Modal

Frequencies of the Esino Bridge at Phase 1 (Steel-Girder Only)

Mode number fexp (Hz) fnum (Hz) Dfexp-num (%)

1 1.41 1.40 þ0.71
2 1.63 1.73 −6.13
3 2.14 2.12 þ0.93
4 3.44 3.31 þ3.78

vibration amplitudes (Magalhães et al. 2010). However, the ambi-

ent vibration test is not adequate for the evaluation of damping
properties at the design condition.

Structural Model Dynamic Response Validation

and TMD Tuning
The structural model used for the Esino footbridge design, i.e., steel
deck with external tendons, provides a good estimation of the exper-
imental modal properties in Phase 1. In Table 7 the experimental
frequencies are compared with the frequencies of the model used in
the design in which only the mass of the steel deck is considered
(Table 1). Because of the absence of the RC slab and of the other
nonstructural mass, the obtained frequencies are larger than those
reported in Table 2, and they are in good agreement with the experi-
mental values. The structural model also provides a good prediction
of the relevant modal shapes and their sequence, as can be seen
when comparing Fig. 9 with Fig. 23. The agreement between exper-
imental and numerical results in Phase 1 validates the model used in
the design, including the steel girder with variable geometry of the
cross section and the external tendons.
To simulate the behavior of the Esino footbridge in Phase 2, a
structural model including the RC slab as a structural element con-
nected to the steel deck through a deformable interface, i.e., steel
and concrete composite cross section with partial composite action
(Dall’Asta and Zona 2005), was developed (Table 1). In particular,
the connection elements are modeled as linear elastic links with
stiffness equal to the stiffness provided by the rubber stripes at low
vibration amplitudes typical of ambient vibration tests. The modal
frequencies obtained with the modified model are reported in
Table 8, and their modal shapes are depicted in Fig. 25. Also, this
second model gives a good estimation of the experimental modal
frequencies (Table 8) and a good prediction of the relevant modal
Fig. 25. First four vibration modes from finite-element analysis of the
steel girder with external tendons and RC slab connected by HDR
stripes
shapes and their sequence (comparison between Figs. 24 and 25)
confirming that the inclusion of the RC slab and HDR stripes as
well as other nonstructural components in the model does not
change significantly the vibration modes of the footbridge, even if
the frequencies are increased with respect to the original model fre-
quencies (reported in Table 2).
The final design of the TMD properties is performed by intro-
ducing into the model a HDR-reduced shear stiffness value coherent
with the larger deformations expected at the design condition.
Results were used for adjusting the mass of the TMDs before their
installation. In particular, a variation of 60 kg for TMD1 and of
100 kg for TMD2 and TMD3 is prescribed with respect to the initial
design values given in Table 3. The TMDs were finally installed on
the basis of these provisions.
Conclusions
In this case study, some challenging aspects in the design of a
142-m, three-span continuous footbridge built in Italy over the Esino

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J. Bridge Eng., 2016, 21(8): C5015001

 river are illustrated. The adoption of an externally prestressed steel
deck with an optimized variable cross section permits a substantial
reduction of structural weights while keeping static deflections
under control and ensuring a large margin against collapse, as veri-
fied through a specifically developed material and geometric nonlin-
ear finite-element model. To control the dynamic behavior of the
footbridge under pedestrian loads, an increase of the overall struc-
tural damping is pursued through the application of HDR stripes
between the steel deck and the RC floor slab. The stripes dissipate
energy when the bridge deflects because of the composite action
between the steel deck and RC slab. Numerical results show the
effectiveness of this solution in reducing the unfavorable vibra-
tions at serviceability under human-induced excitations, even if
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TMDs are required to further reduce the acceleration peaks at the
most critical frequencies. Possible discrepancies between the
simulated dynamic response and the actual dynamic response
determined by the inevitable simplifications in the model as well
as by the presence of nonstructural elements must be assessed.
Consequently, the experimental evaluation of the dynamic
response of the footbridge becomes essential to validate the design
model and to calibrate the vibration control systems, avoiding that
their design is based merely on numerical simulations. For this rea-
son the design of the footbridge illustrated in this case study is sup-
ported by experimental dynamic tests performed at two different
stages: (1) steel girder alone with its external prestressing to vali-
date the girder model and (2) completed footbridge including the
HDR stripes and the nonstructural components to permit a revision
of the dynamic model and a fine calibration of the TMD parame-
ters before their installation.
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J. Bridge Eng.