In many parts of the world, rural communities are separated from their basic needs by streams and rivers. Pedestrian suspension bridges are being built in some of these communities to provide communities a safe route for travel. These suspension bridges have low mass, low stiffness, and low damping, which makes them susceptible to vibrations. Pedestrians can walk at a pace that corresponds with a bridge natural frequency, causing resonance and the pedestrian to feel unsafe due to the high acceleration, velocity, and displacement. A pedestrian suspension bridge has several modal frequencies in the vertical plane, the lateral plane, and combinations of the two. This parametric study was completed utilizing numerical models to analyze the dynamic response of selected pedestrian suspension bridges. The study focuses on the effects of tuned mass dampers on the dynamic response. The tuned mass dampers were analyzed using four different geometries and three different mass ratios. The study determined that: 1) lateral dampers control the vertical dynamic response more effectively than vertical dampers; and 2) vertical dampers control the lateral dynamic response more effectively than lateral dampers.
