New trends in the architectural design of footbridges feature an unprecedented slenderness, especially when these are located in the urban environment. For this reason, static analyses and a design towards the ultimate limit state have proven inadequate in many circumstances, and the main objective in the structural design is becoming that of assessing the serviceability limit state through dynamic analyses. On the other hand, the key issue of dynamic analyses is the availability of reliable models for the structure and for loads, and in the particular case of pedestrian action the lack of commonly accepted models for walking, running and jumping has become the weak link in the whole structural design process. In a first stage of the present work, vibration measurements were taken on a recently built cable‐stayed footbridge, whose second vibration mode was excited by runners. As a second step, a dynamic loading model for the vertical component of the running‐induced force was developed, which was used for the finite element analyses of the footbridge. Finally, tuned mass dampers (TMDs) represent a quite mature technology for reducing the resonant response of flexible structures, but their effectiveness is heavily dependent on the tuning ratio. In the case of footbridges, pedestrians can act as a significant part of the vibrating mass; thus, varying the vibration frequency, which makes it difficult to properly tune the damper frequency. Semi‐active TMDs can be looked at as passive devices able to adjust their dynamic parameters according to a given control logic. A physical description of a control algorithm is given in the paper, and its performance is discussed. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.