Dr Rob Heywood FIEAust, RPEQ has a sustained interest in the risk-informed management of transport structures and is actively engaged in using bridge and heavy vehicle monitoring data to close the loop between assumptions and observed performance when optimising heavy vehicle access over bridges. He brings over 50 years of experience as a structural engineer across consulting, academic, and public sector roles. Since 2010, Rob has collaborated with the Queensland Department of Transport and Main Roads (TMR) to better understand the capabilities and risk-informed assessment of its bridge assets, and since 2020, with the Department of State Growth. He is a founding director of FMA Engineering Services and a co-author of the Bridge Assessment Guideline: Heavy Vehicles published by Austroads in 2025. Rob is also providing technical support for the development of the National Automated Access System (NAAS), a web-based system allowing industry operators to determine acceptable routes for nominated heavy vehicles.
