The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) has circulated a proposal for a new field of activity on location requirements of urban pedestrian bridge (footbridge) assemblies in cities. As the U.S. member body to ISO, the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) invites all interested stakeholders to submit comments on the proposal by the end of the business day on Friday, March 25, 2016.
A pedestrian bridge or "footbridge" is an elevated structure designed to facilitate safe access for pedestrians as they cross from one side of a traffic-heavy road or highway to the other. Such bridges ease traffic and decrease accidents, and are useful for linking buildings and popular places including shopping malls, universities, recreational facilities, parking garages, and light rail stations. The scope notes that the location of pedestrian bridges is determined by various factors, including the volume of pedestrian and vehicle traffic, and the distance from adjacent intersections. The proposed work will consider such important requirements of locating pedestrian bridges for optimum safety.
The Institute of Standards and Industrial Research of Iran (ISIRI) submitted the work item proposal, which further specifies that an International Standard for urban pedestrian bridge (footbridge) assemblies would effectively provide characteristics for the installation of urban pedestrian bridges, and facilitate the understanding of installers involved in the process. With the implementation of standards, coordination between firms will also improve to achieve safer pedestrian bridges.
All interested stakeholders are invited to review the proposal, which includes a listing of relevant external international organizations to the development of the work. Please submit comments to Steve Cornish, ANSI senior director of international policy ([email protected]), by close of business on March 25, 2016. Based on the input received, the ANSI ISO Council (AIC) will then be asked to approve an ANSI position and comments to be submitted to ISO before its May 5, 2016, deadline for voting on this proposal.
ANSI has published an explanatory information document outlining the process used to develop U.S. positions on issues and activities under consideration by ISO and IEC.