Design of Cable Stay Pedestrian Footbridge – SH18

Hobsonville Deviation and SH16 Brigham Creek

Extension
Name: Ben Ryder, B.Eng (Hons) (Civil)
Design Engineer, Connell Wagner Limited (CWDC), Auckland NZ
Graduate Member of the Institution of Professional Engineers New Zealand
Date of birth: 1 June 1982 (Young Author)
Biography:
Ben Ryder is a Civil Structures Engineer and has been working with Connell Wagner
since graduation from the University of Canterbury in 2004. Ben has 4 years
experience in transportation and building industry. Ben was the main designer of the
Clarks Lane Footbridge during the detailed design stage. Ben was responsible for
the Structural modelling and design of all structural elements of the structure
including Seismic and calculation of resonant excitation from Pedestrian foot traffic
and wind gusts. Ben was also responsible for co-ordination and documentation of the
aspects of the design which interface with other disciplines which included.
Architectural appeal, Lighting design, Storm water design, Lightning protection,
Approach Ramp design and building consent application.

Name: T Pang, BEng (Hons) in Civil Engineering Study

Senior Engineer, Connell Wagner (CWDC), Auckland NZ
Date of birth: 10th Dec 1961
Biography:
Thomas Pang is a Chartered Engineer and has over 20 years of experience in
development, planning, design and construction of road and railway bridges and
associated infrastructures both in the United Kingdom and New Zealand.
During the concept and tender phase of the project, Thomas worked closely with the
Client (HEB) and the Architect (Jasmax) to develop concept designs that complied
with the principles from the PR specified by TRANSIT (NZTA) and met the budgetary
constraint as set by the Client, as well as observing the aspirations of both landscape
and bridge architect. Thomas carried out the concept / tender design to allow the
estimate being completed by the Client and provided background and technical
advice during the detailed design stage of the project.

Contact Details: Ben Ryder

Email: ryderb@conwag.com
DD: 09 5236463
 Design of Cable Stay Pedestrian Footbridge – SH18
Hobsonville Deviation and SH16 Brigham Creek
Extension
Ben Ryder Design Engineer Connell Wagner Limited (CWDC), Auckland NZ
Thomas Pang, Senior Engineer, Connell Wagner (CWDC), Auckland NZ
Synopsis
Architectural urban design is becoming an important aspect in the majority of roading
projects as non price attributes such as the urban design are ranked highly in the
assessment of tenders. This was the case for the assessment of SH18 Hobsonville
deviation and SH 16 Brigham creek extension in which the urban design developed
by HEB, CWDC and Jasmax was ranked highly.
Architecturally designed footbridges present many challenges to the structural
engineer these challenges include creating a structure that fit with in the environment
while meeting the strength requirements under loadings such as crowd loading,
seismic, wind loads and collision loading while staying within the required slender
forms of the architectural design. These forms also create serviceability issues not
usually considered in structures carrying traffic these include dynamic excitation from
pedestrian foot impact load and wind loading. Durability also becomes an issue
because of the more extensive use of structural steel in place of New Zealand’s
commonly used materials of prestressed and reinforced concrete. This paper
presents how these challenges were calculated and overcome in the design of the
Cable Stay footbridge located at Clarks lane.

Figure 1 – Architects (Jasmax) impression of the finished structure.

Introduction
SH18 Hobsonville Deviation and
SH16 Brigham Creek Extension
Project forms part of the Upper
Harbour Corridor extension for the
Auckland Western Ring Route. The
project is New Zealand’s largest
design and construct contract
undertaken by New Zealand
Transport Agency (NZTA
previously Transit NZ). HEB
Construction was contracted to
Figure 2 Loaction Plan
construct the project in 2008. The
Design of Cable Stay Pedestrian Footbridge – SH18 Hobsonville Deviation and SH16 Brigham Creek Extension
Author: Ben Ryder
Page 1 of 12
project includes 6 Km of motorway a large amount of new local road diversions, five
Super-T bridges with spans ranging between 23 to 35m, one Cast insitu box girder
bridge on a 67 degree skew, One Cable Stay Footbridge and various MSE and Soil
Nail Walls. CWDC (Connell Wagner’s Design and Construct Company) was engaged
by HEB Construction to design all Civil, Structural and Geotechnical aspects of the
design following on from CWDC’s design work completed for the tender which was
completed in late 2007
Clarks Lane Footbridge is a two span cable stay bridge which provides a pedestrian
link between two country lanes which will be segregated by the construction of the
SH18 motorway extension. The opportunity was taken to use this bridge to create a
major visual interest feature on the longest straight section of SH 18. This bridge is
one of the main features of the hardscape urban design elements. The bridge and its
approaches is aligned with Clarks Lane to allow viewing of the bridge on approach
and to provide a site for the John Radford artwork commissioned by the Waitakere
city council this artwork references Sinton House (demolished as part of the
construction of the motorway) and will allow the window elements of the sculpture to
be looked through by users of the bridge.

Description of Structure
The bridge is constructed from a trapezoidal steel box girder
deck with insitu concrete toping. This deck is supported at the
abutments by pairs of guided bearings at each abutment and
fixed bearings at the central pier. Provisions for longitudinal
movement are provided by the guided bearings and expansion
cover plates at each abutment. The box girder will be continuous
over the pier. The deck is also supported by 6 cables per span
connected to the main girder by steel box hanger beams. The
cables run to the top of a central ‘A Frame’ constructed with
steel I sections these Pylon legs are held apart at the top and
extend vertically beyond the cable support to approximately 25m
above the motorway level. Structural steel will be painted yellow
to work with sodium motorway lighting and provide a bold
statement during the day.
The vertical alignment of the bridge deck forms a continuous
curve through the use of 5 straight segments.
The Cable Stay Option was chosen to provide a slim structure thickness while still
enabling two elegant 30m clear spans over a 4 lane motorway with spill through
abutments. This spill through abutment and approach batters will allow the bridge to
appear to have not significantly altered the existing rolling nature of the surrounding
countryside.

Architectural design
General
The urban design scheme developed by Jasmax for the SH18 section of the
Hobsonville deviation is the ceramic or Clay carpet. The proximity of this structure to
Clark House, the proposed location for a museum celebrating the ceramics industry
in the area, has provided inspiration for the urban design theme. The theme
incorporates coloured noise fences, batter treatments to spill through abutments and
the elements of Clarks lane footbridge explained below.

Design of Cable Stay Pedestrian Footbridge – SH18 Hobsonville Deviation and SH16 Brigham Creek Extension
Author: Ben Ryder
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As part of the challenge during the tender phase of the project in creating a
architectural feature that would fit into the clay carpet theme, it was necessary for us
to review and identify the key features of the project goals, understanding on the
functionality of the bridge and approach structures as well as spatial availability over,
under and adjacent to the location. During optioning stage, number of alternative
structures were investigated and discounted for the following reasons, too
complicated for the construction, too costly to build, too imposed, too difficult to
maintain or not fitting with the architectural scheme. These rejected forms included a
super tee bridge and ramps (the original sample bridge in the PR), steel box girder
deck, through truss bridge, bow string arch bridge and inclined mast cable stay
bridge. The preferred option was a balanced cable stay bridge. With the bridge
chosen, the adjacent landscape was also extensively rearranged from the original
scope to allow better harmonisation and create a pleasant experience for the end
user either on or under the bridge.
The Ceramic theme is incorporated into the design in three ways. The first is the bold
yellow colour selected by Jasmax for the steelwork this allows the bridge to be highly
visible both during the day and at night with the feature lighting enhancing the light
from the yellow sodium motorway and approach ramp lighting. The second element
of the clay carpet theme incorporated into the bridge is the batter treatment this uses
coloured bricks to create a pattern of alternating clay colours in a wedge the width of
the abutment at the top of the slope tapering to a point at the base of the batter The
third element of ceramic pathway incorporated into the structure is the ceramic tiles
that will be placed in a continuous strip (250mm wide) on either side of the bridge.
These ceramic tiles will be decorated by local artists selected by Jasmax and
Waitakere city council
Artworks
Two artworks will be located on and near the bridge. The first of these is the ceramic
tiles that will be inlaid into the topping concrete of the bridge deck. These tiles will be
decorated by an artist or group of artists to reflect this heritage theme. The artist are
selected though a competition. Currently the artists Matt Mclean and Harriott
Stockman are finalists in the selection process being accessed by Kim Martinengo
(Waitakere City), Caroline Robinson (Jasmax) and Jeff Wells (Jasmax).
The second Artwork created by John Radford this artwork references Sinton House a
historical house required to be demolished as part of the construction. The sculpture
is to be located near the northern abutment of the bridge it uses windows and other
elements recovered from the building. The sculpture will allow the window elements
of the sculpture to be looked through by users of the bridge thus giving these users a
different perspective of both the bridge and the surrounding landscape.
Lighting
To enhance the design at night a specialised lighting scheme was designed. 12
narrow beam Cosmo Polis spotlights are mounted below each cable mount on the
pier frame with elliptical beam lenses and anti glare cowls to illuminate the bridges
deck. These lights offer, enough light for safe movement on the bridge, Architectural
feature enhancement lighting the cables, handrails and pier frame, Minimal glare to
the traffic below, minimal environmental spill lighting, Energy efficient operation over
the life of the installation, Low maintenance and capital expenditure costs.
Continuous LED accent lighting is located on the edge of the girder projecting onto
the sloping surface of the steel girder in order to create a very low light level feature
of the horizontal deck structure to travelers on the road below.

Design of Cable Stay Pedestrian Footbridge – SH18 Hobsonville Deviation and SH16 Brigham Creek Extension
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On the decks centre line, in ground LED coin lights at 2m centers. These lights offer
to Illuminate the centre-line of the deck to separate its pathways, offer orientation to
users at night and create a visual detail effect.
Lighting is required for safety reasons as the bridge tower is located within 4km of the
Whenuapai Airbase runway. Whilst the top of the tower is located well below the
structure ceiling of the district plan it was thought prudent to provide low intensity
group of omnidirectional light to alert any close aircraft movement in the area

Design Life Requirements

The architectural design described above required the use of steel as the main
construction material. The principal’s requirements for the use of steel on this project
were that it had to be designed for a 100 year design life with 40 years to first
maintenance. The bridge is located near the coastline which resulted in an
atmospheric classification of Marine (ISO Category 3). This highly corrosive
environment and long design life required specialised coating systems to be applied
to the structure (described below). Recommendations for the corrosion protection
system were sought from the Heavy Engineering Research Organisation of New
Zealand, paint suppliers and Connell Wagner’s internal materials experts.
Steelwork.
Two methods of corrosion protection were utilised to protect the main steelwork the
first method was to provide a protective coating system to the exposed steelwork
which comprised of a combination of: Zinc Metal spray (AS/NZS2312/TSZ200S) and
high build epoxy consisting of one coat of Ultra Sheild 2000 Epoxy sealing coat
followed by two colour coats of E line 379 Colour Yellow (High build epoxy)
This system protects the structure against corrosion by sealing the steel from water
and oxygen thus preventing the corrosion reaction this is performed by the Altex
Coatings Ultra Shield 2000 epoxy and the E Line epoxy paint coatings. The Ultra
shield is a low viscosity epoxy that will enter the pores left by the zinc metal spray
and thus provide an effective sealant and a smoother surface for the final high build
epoxy coating (E line) which will act as a further sealing layer and provide the
required yellow colouring. Additionally Zinc Metal spray which with provide sacrificial
cathodic protection to the steel should the sealant become damaged.
The second method of corrosion protection was to remove the ingredients required to
corrode. This was applied to the internal portions of the box girder this involved
sealing the box by welding to prevent oxygen and water entering the box thus
preventing corrosion by starving the oxidation reaction of oxygen. To prevent
corrosion prior to the box being sealed during fabrication a weldable zinc rich primer
was specified. The corrosion protection is to be applied to all external steel surfaces
including the handrails.
Cables
Cables by the nature of their application are hard to inspect for the signs of corrosion
and also near impossible to apply a painted system 25m above a possibly live
highway. A painted system would also need to be flexible to cope with the constant
flexing and deflection of the cables under service loadings. For these reasons a
painted corrosion system was ruled out to protect the cables. The cable system
therefore needed to not only achieve the strength and stiffness requirements of the
structure but provide protection without requiring painting.
Macalloy Tensotechi cable system selected provides triple corrosion protection
through a combination of hot dip galvanised “Galfan” 95% zinc 5% aluminium coating
combined with Tensofill Corrosion Inhibitor placed between the layers of wire strand.
Design of Cable Stay Pedestrian Footbridge – SH18 Hobsonville Deviation and SH16 Brigham Creek Extension
Author: Ben Ryder
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 This inhibitor is a resin and zinc powder. The filler helps to prevent the entry and
diffusion of moisture inside the cable and gives additional protection to the
galvanised wires. A HDPE sheath will be applied full length to the outside of the
cables preventing the ingress of water.
The connections at the end of the cables are galfan galvanised and prepared by
flaring the individual strands of the cable within the head of the connector and
pouring a resin into the flared strands this seals the ends of the cable and prevents
ingress of water it also means that there is no mechanical stress on the cables
reducing the potential for stress induced corrosion that would be possible in
traditional clamp swaging.

Analysis
To model the actions on the bridge effectively three- Stay Cable Connection positions
beam elements between
dimensional structural modelling was required. From
this the moment, shear and torsion envelopes are
Box Beam (Beam/plate element)
developed for the design of each element. Dynamic With Fixed Bearings
analysis for pedestrian loading required the
calculation of maximum accelerations of the bridge Steel Pier Frame (Beam elements)

deck under service loading. The design approach

incorporated 3D models using Strand 7 software the
following two figures depict how the main elements of
the structure were represented.
Pier Pedestal (Beam element)
Central A Frame Tower (Beam elements)
Ground Beam (Beam elements)
Cable Elements modelled as truss
elements with pin releases
Fixed Bearings Piles Beam elements
provided at pier with Winkler spring
Steel Box Beam lateral supports
element (made up
of plate elements)

Figure 3 Section through central Pier

Road lanes Road lanes
Guided Strand 7 finite element
Guided Bearings at
Bearings at Abutment software package was
Abutment Pier Ground chosen because of its
beam and
piles advanced dynamic
processing ability. This
Figure 4 Elevation of the structure ability is discussed further
in the seismic and
pedestrian dynamics
sections below

Seismic design.
The design philosophy set out in the Transit New Zealand Bridge Manual1 is similar
to that of other NZ design codes when dealing with seismic design. Structures are
designed to withstand the loading generated by an earthquake of a specified return
period which in this case was 1000 years.
Due to the complexity of the structure geometry the equivalent static force method
depicted in the bridge manual cannot be used. Modal analysis was required by the
code. Modal analysis was performed using Strand 7 and checked using the modal
analysis feature of Space Gass. In both these analysis the natural frequencies were
calculated followed by two spectral response analysis load cases these were
Design of Cable Stay Pedestrian Footbridge – SH18 Hobsonville Deviation and SH16 Brigham Creek Extension
Author: Ben Ryder
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transverse and longitudinal earthquakes these cases had 100% of the spectra
applied in one principal direction and 30% in the other direction to account for the
simultaneous occurrence of earthquake shaking in two directions.
Seismic Detailing
Girder restraints were an important aspect that was considered early in the design as
these affected both the seismic response and the dynamic response of the bridge
under pedestrian loading. The restraints at the abutment were required to deflect
longitudinally for both thermal and seismic reasons. The deflection and uplift imposed
on these bearings was too great to be accommodated by standard elastomeric
bearings (±15mm thermal and ±75mm seismic). A secondary restraint is provided by
the abutment walls, if the deflection is exceeded the girder will impact with the flat
face of the end of the girder into the back wall of the abutment thus preventing further
deflection. Should the lateral restraint of the bearings fail the wing walls will prevent
the girder moving laterally.
The restraints at the pier were required to transfer a high shear load from the
longitudinal earthquake to the tower as this is the only load path available given that
the abutment bearings are allowed to move for thermal reasons. The load on these
bearings is unusual and has initially posed some problems for the bearing
manufacturers as the lateral load is high compared to the vertical load. This is
because the vertical load is transferred to the tower via the cables. The secondary
mechanism should these bearings fail is that the girder will become a pendulum that
can move between the abutments thus reducing the stiffness of the system and
therefore the loading imposed. The cables are strong enough to carry the additional
dead loading.
The tower is required to resist high lateral loadings from earthquakes in both principal
directions and was sized to resist all earthquake loadings. A high equilibrium torsion
loading is applied to the tower cross members due to the eccentricity of the bearings
to the shear centre of the cross member. This member was found to be sufficient
even to resist this torque though the I section that it is constructed from is relatively
weak in torsion.
The base plate for the tower is required to transfer high moments from the tower legs
to the concrete plinth. In order to prevent a brittle failure mechanism of bolted
connection failure the connection was designed using hierarchy of strength
principals. By designing the connection to resist the over strength moment from the
tower leg a ductile plastic hinge will form in the base of the tower.
The piles were chosen to be bottom driven 600 diameter steel tubes which will be
filled with concrete and the upper portion reinforced upon completion of driving.
Because of their slender nature they are not able to resist large moments in bending
therefore they were arranged in two rows of five two metres apart connected by a 1m
deep ground beam. This allowed the moments applied by the tower to the top of the
pedestal to be resited by push pull couples between pile pairs this force was then
resisted by skin friction and end bearing.
Cables were chosen over stress bars due to their high strength and continuous
unjointed nature. Bars have the disadvantage that if they become loaded in
compression during dynamic loading (avoided by prestress to the design earthquake)
they will buckle and yield this yielding will result in a permanent kink in that will most
likely not be removed when the bridge returns to the self weight loading condition.

Design of Cable Stay Pedestrian Footbridge – SH18 Hobsonville Deviation and SH16 Brigham Creek Extension
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Geotechnical and pile design.
Geotechnical investigations in the location of Clarks Lane
footbridge consisted of Bore Holes, Hand augers and Cone
Penetrometer testing. This testing revealed three types of soils
that were present to a depth of 40m where the base rock (East
coast bays formation ECBF siltstone) was found. These soils
were:
 Tauranga Group Alluvium Clay (Atcl), A Pleistocene-aged
relatively weak silty clay (c=6-15, =23-27, =17)
 Tauranga Group Alluvium sand (Ats), A Pleistocene-aged loose
to medium dense silty (c=0-5, =28-30, =18)
 ECBF (Ew,Eu) (part of the Waitemata Group) comprising
Tauranga group
alternating beds of weak siltstone and sandstone(Eu). located at Alluvium clay (Atcl)
about 35 to 40m below existing ground level the upper surface
is highly to completely weathered with the consistency of
residual soil. (Ew) (c=10, =30-35, =18-20 higher values
represent unweathered rock)
Following these investigations it became evident that it would be
uneconomic to found this structure on the bedrock and that
bottom driven piles founded on the denser sand layer
approximately 18m below ground level. Tauranga group
The soil layers were modelled as Winkler springs evenly Alluvium sands (Ats)

distributed along pile and lower ground beam members in the

Strand 7 model. The stiffness of each spring is based on the
horizontal modulus of subgrade reaction for the soil type expected
to be encountered at a given location using the calculation below.
Residual East Coast
Bays formation (Ew)

Es = drained Youngs Modulus of the soil, Epile = Youngs Modulus of the pile, Ipile =
second moment of area of the pile section, s = Poissons Ratio and D = diameter of
East Coast Bays
pile.
formation (Eu “Rock”)
Existing alluvium sands may have been locally comprised of firm
to stiff silts and clays. This could have presented considerable Figure 5 Geological
resistance to pile penetration even under heavy driving conditions Long section extract
due to a state of pile hydraulicing, preventing further penetration.
The designers approach to overcome this issue was to allow the excess pore water
pressures developed by driving process to dissipate and then re-striking the pile to
continue to drive the pile to the design depth.
Testing of the piles design strength was undertaken in two ways the first was during
the final stages of driving the sets were measured and the Heiley formula used to
calculate the vertical load capacity of the piles. The second method was to test two
piles (15% of piles) using PDA testing and capwac analysis. This PDA testing was
carried out approximately one week after driving so that the final capacity of the pile
could be observed without the influence of excess pore pressures.
To ensure lateral and uplift capacity and to ensure that the strength observed was
not due to the Hydrolicing effect a target depth was specified as well as design
strength.

Design of Cable Stay Pedestrian Footbridge – SH18 Hobsonville Deviation and SH16 Brigham Creek Extension
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Pedestrian Dynamics
Low natural frequencies and low system damping are typical characteristics of wide
span pedestrian bridges such as this bridge. Bridges such as this one are therefore
often sensitive to dynamic loads especially when excited in resonance. The resulting
bridge motion will not only reduce the comfort when passing over the bridge but in
the worst case may cause dynamic loadings to the structure far in excess of the
static design loading. Therefore careful consideration was applied to the dynamic
loading of the bridge under pedestrian loading
Walking is a complex process and it gives rise to a complex load that varies with time
position and quantity as a person or group of people walk across. It can be separated
into vertical and horizontal effects. Both the loading from a single person and a group
of people was considered as the dynamic effect of a single individual is generally
greater than the dynamic effect of two or more individuals (with some exceptions
discussed later) the reason for this is illustrated below.

The sum of the dynamic load of a number of pedestrians walking with different
frequencies and phases adds up to an irregular load with a dynamic magnitude less
than that of a single individual (even though the static magnitude is clearly much
greater).
The Transit New Zealand Bridge Manual refers to the British standard BS5400 Part 2
or BD37/01 for dynamic pedestrian loading the acceptable limit for the vertical
acceleration in this code is 0.5SQRT (fo) where fo is the frequency corresponding to
the vertical fundamental frequency for the bridge. It does not provide guidance for
horizontal acceleration limits noting that these are generally less than vertical limits
as are more easily perceptible however it does state that if the natural frequency of
horizontal motion is greater than 1.5Hz then horizontal motion will not be an issue.
This was found to be the case for this bridge because of the combination of the
restraints (fixed at the pier and guided at the abutment) and the stiff girder. The
horizontal frequency was found to be 2.2Hz well outside the limit set by BD 37/01.
Recommendations for the application of dynamic loading using Strand 7 have been
taken from the Connell Wagner paper “Serviceability assessment of footbridges and
floors for pedestrian induced vibrations.”2 This paper is based largely on Allen DE
and Murray TM, “Design criterion for vibrations due to walking,” Engineering Journal
American Institute of steel Construction 1993 3

Single Person Loading Function

The real stepping load is complex, the measured pedestrian load function can be
simplified to the function below through the use of a Fourier transform:
P(t)= 0.7 KN (1+0.5cos(t) +0.2 cos (2 t) +0.1cos(3t) +0.05 cos(4t)
Note the 0.7 KN implies a 70Kg initial static load which will vary between 1.5 and 0.5
due to the first cos term. t is time in seconds
The fundamental stepping frequency () of a single person is taken to vary from 1.6
to 2.2 Hz, the load also contains components at frequencies of 2, 3 and 4 times this
fundamental frequency. The higher harmonics of the load function reduce in
magnitude but they are present. This means that a structure with an apparently very
‘safe’ naturally frequency of say 8 Hertz can be brought to resonance by the fourth
harmonic of the stepping frequency.

Design of Cable Stay Pedestrian Footbridge – SH18 Hobsonville Deviation and SH16 Brigham Creek Extension
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BD 37/01 has a forcing function of P=0.180 sin (2fot) (KN) at a velocity of vt=0.9fo (in
m/s) however the application of a moving load in both time and space cannot be
easily modelled therefore the approach detailed in below has been adopted noting
that the above BD37/01 load corresponds to and value of 0.125 (refer below for
explanation of ). Within the frequency range most likely to cause uncomfortable
resonance (0-5Hz) the proposed loading below is greater.

Application of Single Person Loading (Vertical) using Strand 7

The analysis method used for analysis of this bridge assumes that manual methods
of analysis such as those suggested in BD 37/01 will not be used because they have
been developed for simply supported structures this bridge has cable supports within
the span therefore these manual methods cannot be applied but that rather a finite
element analysis will be undertaken using Strand7 as described below.
 The system was modelled taking particular care that all masses were included as
masses rather than as loads. For bridge loading no live load was included as
mass because the loading is fundamentally concerned with a single pedestrian
which has negligible mass compared to that of the bridge.
 The first (lowest) natural frequency of the system (that primarily involves
vertical motion of the deck on which pedestrians will walk was determined using
natural frequency analysis. There may be lower frequency modes that do not
involve significant vertical deck motion. Such modes would not be ‘excited’ by the
vertical loading function.
 A value of was chosen depending on stepping harmonic and natural frequency
(as below and adopt a loading function depending on the natural frequency of
the system as:
P(t) = ( cos t) x 0.7 kN
 is the factor applied to determine which of the harmonic frequencies within the
loading function or cos terms in the Fourier transform will be creating resonance
within the structure.
Example for  = 6 Hz  = 0.1
 = 0.5  = 0.2  = 0.1  = 0.05
1.6 2.2 3.2 4.4 4.8 6.4 6.6 8.8
(Hz)

1st harmonic 2nd harmonic 3rd harmonic 4th harmonic

The critical damping ratio  was taken as 0.01 as recommended by the paper
Serviceability assessment of footbridges and floors for pedestrian induced vibrations.
A sensitivity analysis to the damping ratio was applied as the real damping ratio is
hard to determine until the structure is constructed and tested. Information has been
obtained from measured values of damping for similar bridges in Sydney these
measured values varied between 0.0075 and 0.0178 therefore =0.01 was deemed
appropriate.
Harmonic analysis was undertaken using the following parameters related to the
Strand7 solver as follows:
 The dynamic displaced shape corresponding to the fundamental mode of
vibration was observed to identify the point of maximum dynamic displacement.
 A load case with a single point load located at the point of maximum dynamic
displacement as identified above with a of magnitude 0.7 kN with  chosen to

Design of Cable Stay Pedestrian Footbridge – SH18 Hobsonville Deviation and SH16 Brigham Creek Extension
Author: Ben Ryder
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 represent the stepping harmonic excited. The strand 7 harmonic analysis
automatically varies the load as 0.7cost.
 The frequency range is set to  ± 1 Hz to analyse frequencies either side of the
natural frequency to allow graphs of the acceleration at a range of excitation
frequencies to be created.
 A graph for the acceleration of the same node where the load will be applied was
created and exported to excel for further analysis.
 From the graph of the maximum value of the acceleration is identified and
reduced by the reduction factor R = 0.7 for footbridges. This factor is included to
allow for the fact, ‘full steady- state resonance is not achieved when someone
steps along the beam instead of up and down at mid-span and the walker and the
person feeling the vibrations are not simultaneously at the location of maximum
modal displacement’ reference. Allen DE and Murray TM, “Design criterion for
vibrations due to walking,” Engineering Journal American Institute of steel
Construction 19932
Clarks Lane Footbridge showed first natural frequency of 1.5Hz which was just
outside the range of normal walking (slower than normal walking) The analysis was
showed a peak acceleration of 0.35mm s-2 this was less than the limit set out by
BD37/01 of 0.63mm s-2

Multiple Pedestrian Loading

Multiple pedestrian dynamic excitation is a recently discovered phenomena
documented in detail with the millennium bridge in London. As such this loading
application is not yet present within codes of practice however an example of best
practice engineering is was therefore applied to Clarks Lane.
Multiple pedestrian dynamic loading is often less than that of a single person
because of the different phases and frequencies of the individual loading will cancel
out and become an irregular loading that is not likely to cause resonance within the
structure. This will only be true if multiple pedestrians are uncorrelated or do not walk
in step. However resonance has been seen to develop suddenly on other structures
in the past.
There are two prerequisites for pedestrian correlation. Firstly the bridge must have
either a vertical mode of vibration with a natural frequency in the range of 1.6-2.2 Hz
or a horizontal mode of vibration in the range of 0.8hz to 1.1Hz (these are the
frequencies of normal walking motion). The second prerequisite is that the bridge
must initially start to resonate in response to uncorrelated low amplitude dynamic
loading. Once resonating, people will begin to match their walking frequency in time
with the bridge motion as it is more comfortable to walk in time with the motion than
to walk out of step with the motion. This is a chicken and egg situation as correlation
will not start to develop without resonance and resonance will not develop without
some correlation. This is effectively the basis of design to avoid this phenomenon if it
can be shown that a “reasonable estimate of the partially correlated dynamic load will
produce a response that is below a level sufficient to encourage correlation, the
correlation should not develop.”
Resonance will also not develop when the bridge is loaded with greater than 0.8
people per square metre on the bridge as at a greater density than this people will
not be able to walk normally without running into each other and thus having to alter
step spacing and frequency. When the bridge is loaded with 5KPa (design static
loading) people will be so closely packed together that they will have to shuffle to be

Design of Cable Stay Pedestrian Footbridge – SH18 Hobsonville Deviation and SH16 Brigham Creek Extension
Author: Ben Ryder
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able to move, meaning that the impact from their footfall will be small and of higher
frequency, thus outside resonant range.
If all walkers are perfectly in step with correlation of 1.0 the correlated loading per
square metre (at 0.8 people per square metre) would be simply be 0.8 times the
single pedestrian loading function applied as a pressure. However this correlation is
not likely to happen in practice a correlation of between 0.2 and 0.4 is probable. The
lower bound value is the one of primary design interest. This may is considered to be
the level of correlation that may occur without significant dynamic motion of the
bridge. If analysis demonstrates that accelerations at this level of correlation are low
then further correlation is unlikely. If accelerations are already high at this level then
correlation is likely to increase up to the 0.4 level.
Using the 0.2 correlation factor and the average value of the pedestrian loads and a
crowd density of 0.8 people per square metre gives the following load functions now
expressed as uniformly distributed area loads rather than point loads from a single
pedestrian these will be applied in Strand 7.
P(t)vertical = 36 cost Pascal
Note that if the analysis predicts ‘unacceptable’ accelerations due to the loading of
equations above then further correlation may be expected and ‘things will get worse’.
To predict how bad things may get the upper limits of loading will be applied:
P(t)vertical = 90 cost Pascal
The equivalent horizontal loading functions were not applied to the bridge as the
natural frequency for horizontal motion of the deck was 2.2Hz which is well outside
the limit of 1.5 Hz set by BD 37/01.

Application of this loading Multiple Person Loading using Strand 7 is defined

below
The modelling and analysis process is identical to that used for the single pedestrian
loading with the following exceptions:
 This analysis assumes that there are 0.8 people per square metre on the bridge
and an average of 70 kg per person this is equivalent to 50 kg per square metre.
This was included in the model as a well distributed set of lumped masses (6 per
span).
 The dynamic load cases are uniformly distributed loads. They were ‘shaped’ to
the dynamic deflected shape of the structure. This is illustrated in the figure below
representing a two span continuous beam that will have an ‘S’ shaped first mode.
If the basic load is simply input as a downwards UDL then the ‘harmonic analysis’
solver will simply increase the whole lot up and down and this will not ‘excite’ this
mode shape. If the basic load is input as shown in figure below then the harmonic
analysis solver will correctly vary the load out of phase between the two spans in
order to excite the fundamental mode.

Figure 6 Matching the load shape to the mode shape

Following the analysis of Clarks Lane footbridge it was found that the harmonic
response to multiple pedestrian loading was found to be outside code limits for single
pedestrian loading defined in BD 37/01 meaning that correlation was likely to
develop. The multiple pedestrian loading and acceptance criteria are not defined in
this code. The frequencies of the vertical modes affected were found to be just
Design of Cable Stay Pedestrian Footbridge – SH18 Hobsonville Deviation and SH16 Brigham Creek Extension
Author: Ben Ryder
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outside the range of the normal stepping frequency therefore less likely to develop.
The frequencies of the horizontal modes were found to be will outside the range that
may cause horizontal excitation. The bridge is located on a country lane which
accesses 10-15 lifestyle blocks therefore the likelihood of 120 people (0.8people per
square meter) is considered to be very low the only likely situation would be if the
nearby air force base was to run drills over the bridge. Therefore the combination of
the above reduces the likelihood of the correlation developing. This correlation could
result in uncomfortable passage across the bridge but will not induce loadings
sufficient to damage the structure.
To ensure that if in the unlikely situation that resonance should develop and becomes
a problem to the users of the bridge an access hatch has been detailed to allow
retrofit of the bridge with two tuned mass dampers. This access hatch was sized to
allow room for a tuned mass damper with a mass of 1000Kg, the size of tuned mass
dampers used in similar bridges. The specific design of these tuned mass dampers
cannot be performed prior to the construction of the bridge as it is not until the actual
structure is built and its natural frequencies and damping ratios are measured that
the damper can be designed.
This mass was added to the seismic model to check that the magnitude of the
seismic forces developed with this extra mass did not exceed the calculated member
capacities
Due to the sensitive nature of the modeling of damping stiffness mass and the
assumptions required the only true representation of how the bridge will respond will
be the bridge itself, as the bridge is still under construction we do not yet know how
sensitive the bridge will be to dynamic motion.
CONCLUDING REMARKS
Architecturally designed foot bridges such as this
one presented many challenges for the structural
engineer to design the structure for both strength
and serviceability. These challenges can be
overcome using advanced design technology such
as finite analysis programmes and theories.
Advanced materials such as zinc metal spray and
high strength cables are also applied to overcome
strength and durability issues. The result is a
product that will fit into the urban design landscape
and appeal to the travelling public whether they be
by foot over or the motorway traffic below.
REFERENCES
1. Bridge Manual, Second Edition 2003, Transit
New Zealand.
2. Durack J, Serviceability assessment of
footbridges and floors for pedestrian induced
vibrations.
3. Allen DE and Murray TM, “Design criterion for
vibrations due to walking,” Engineering Journal Figure 7 – Architects
American Institute of steel Construction 1993 (Jasmax) impression of the
Acknowledgement finished structure.
We acknowledge the parties involve in the project: The project principal: NZTA , The
Contractor: HEB Construction and the urban designer of the project: Jasmax
Architect.
Design of Cable Stay Pedestrian Footbridge – SH18 Hobsonville Deviation and SH16 Brigham Creek Extension
Author: Ben Ryder
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