Dynamic loading of bridges due to people running

With increasingly popular marathon events in urban environments, dynamic performance due to people running is becoming a critical aspect of bridge design. While the dynamic loads induced by pedestrians walking have been intensively studied since the infamous lateral sway of the London Millennium Bridge in 2000, reliable and practical descriptions of running excitation are still very rare and limited. This study brings together a database of individual vertical running force signals recorded using instrumented treadmill technology and their mathematical characterisation. Motivated by the existing models of wind and earthquake loading, speech recognition techniques and a method of replicating electrocardiogram signals, the model generates random near-periodic signals which can reliably simulate the measurements. Such a model is an essential prerequisite for future quality models of dynamic loading induced by individuals, groups and crowds running under a wide range of conditions, such as perceptibly vibrating bridges and different combinations of visual, auditory and tactile cues.