Monash University
Probabilistic infrastructure decisions.
Led by Colin Caprani at Monash University, the Structural Safety and Performance Group works where bridge engineering, probability, monitoring and infrastructure performance meet — developing the methods, software and field practice that keep critical infrastructure safe, open and effective. We turn uncertainty in loading, condition and consequence into decisions that can be understood and defended.
The team on-site at night, monitoring a superload movement.
Research that reaches the field
From uncertainty to better infrastructure decisions
We combine probability, measured behaviour and engineering judgement with the needs of asset owners.
In service
Heavy-vehicle permits at national scale
Our structural analysis engine powers HVSAPS, automating bridge and culvert assessment for heavy-vehicle permits and reducing approvals from months to days.
See HVSAPS ↗In the field
Keeping critical superloads moving
Monitoring, reliability assessment and operational advice enable 570–640 tonne transformer and generator moves across ageing bridges.
Explore monitoring →Into practice
Design rules with more value
Reliability-based U-Trough design work extends usable spans, reduces downstream disruption and informs the next generation of bridge standards.
Explore reliability →What we do
Four connected capabilities
Each addresses a different part of the infrastructure decision, and they are strongest in combination.
Traffic loading & extreme events
Turning weigh-in-motion and traffic data into realistic lifetime bridge load effects.
Structural reliability
Making safety, uncertainty and consequence explicit in assessment and design decisions.
Monitoring & data-informed assessment
Using measured structural behaviour to improve decisions about real assets.
Dynamics & serviceability
Understanding vehicle–bridge and human–structure interaction where performance matters to people.
Open research
Methods people can inspect and use
Software is part of the research output: from bridge-deck modelling and model calibration to monitoring and structural analysis. The group’s public code now has a single home.
Explore @ssp-research ↗Research leadership
Methods, standards and public practice
Group work connects to bridge-loading standards, the Joint Committee on Structural Safety, AS 5100, public infrastructure practice and open engineering software.
Current members
The team
PhD candidates
Samadhi is working on bridge structural health monitoring methods that use real-time sensor data from moving loads to understand bridge response under operational traffic.
Read profile →Fatemeh works on bridge traffic loading and reliability assessment, with particular attention to how model error affects decisions about existing bridges.
Read profile →Joshua studies how people perceive structural vibration while moving, helping improve vibration serviceability assessment for structures used by ambulant occupants.
Read profile →Yordanos is developing self-diagnosing monitoring approaches that use Bayesian reasoning to detect faults and categorise outliers in structural health monitoring systems.
Read profile →Michael investigates data-driven approaches to course assessment, using educational data to better understand learning, feedback and assessment design.
Read profile →Postdoctoral researchers
Akbar works on probability-based bridge assessment and its connection to Australian bridge standards, translating reliability methods into practical assessment tools.
Read profile →Shiyi researches heavy vehicle-bridge interaction, modelling how multi-body vehicles and bridge structures influence each other during crossing events.
Read profile →Zaid develops machine-learning approaches for value-of-information questions in monitoring, helping decide when sensor data changes infrastructure decisions.
Read profile →Ziyi works on automation and robotics for civil structures, connecting sensing, inspection and robotic systems to structural performance assessment.
Read profile →Plus visiting scholars and final-year project students each year.
Alumni — celebrating their work
Doctoral graduates
- Shihab Khan — now engineering data scientist for major infrastructure owners (LXRP, Queensland Rail) · PhD 2022LinkedIn ↗Website ↗
A comprehensive value-of-information framework for quantifying SHM benefits - Mayer Melhem — now Lead Engineer, Load Rating · PhD 2020LinkedIn ↗Monash ↗
A structural reliability approach for the management of heavy-vehicle access on highway bridge networks - Jun Wei (Justin) Ngan — now Research Fellow, Monash University · PhD 2019LinkedIn ↗Monash ↗
Vibration serviceability of pultruded GFRP sandwich-panel floor systems - Shaohua Zhang — now Bridge / Structural Analytics Engineer · PhD 2019LinkedIn ↗
Intermediate strain-rate behaviour of pultruded GFRP - Ehsan Ahmadi — now Engineering Manager | Industrial Vibration-Acoustic Control Research & Consultancy | Chartered Structural Engineer · PhD 2018LinkedIn ↗Scholar ↗
Human–structure interaction: experimentation and modelling for vertical vibration - Alessandro Lipari · PhD 2013LinkedIn ↗
Micro-simulation modelling of traffic loading on long-span bridges
Former postdoctoral researchers
Masters graduates
Interested in a PhD or research collaboration in bridge loading, reliability or monitoring?Get in touch →