Principal Bridge Engineer, 20 years
CrossSpan Engineering · Brisbane, QLD · 20 years experience
About
Bridge design and assessment specialist with twenty years across road, rail, and pedestrian structures in Queensland and northern New South Wales. Principal engineer on three recent heavy-vehicle route upgrades including pier-cap strengthening and deck-replacement staging plans. Regular expert reviewer for rail-bridge capacity assessments under AS 5100 and AS 5100.7. RPEQ; Fellow IEAust; member Concrete Institute of Australia.
Expertise
Sector Experience
Languages
Qualifications & Registrations
Academic Qualifications
Master of Engineering Science, Structural Engineering
2008University of New South Wales
Bachelor of Engineering (Honours), Civil Engineering
2005University of Sydney
Professional Registrations
RPEQ
#56789
Board of Professional Engineers Queensland
CPEng
#CPE-2010-3312
Engineers Australia
Chartered Engineer
#CEng-2011-445
Engineers Australia
Experience
Principal Bridge Engineer
2018–PresentCrossSpan Engineering
Leads bridge assessment and design practice.
Senior Bridge Engineer
2012–2018SMEC
Bridge design and assessment for TMR and Queensland Rail.
Bridge Engineer
2006–2012Maunsell (now AECOM)
Bridge design for state road network projects across NSW and Queensland.
Project History
Bridge Load Rating Program - State Road Network
2025Dept of Transport and Main Roads · Transport & Infrastructure
Led the structural assessment and load rating of 35 timber and concrete bridges.
Projects / Case Studies
Standout projects from Michela's career, with the challenge, approach, and outcome for each.
Pier-cap strengthening for a heavy-vehicle route upgrade
2024Queensland Transport and Main Roads · Government & Public Sector
Lead bridge engineer, strengthening designHands-on
Strengthening design for a three-span concrete road bridge to carry PBS Level 3 loading.
Challenge
Bridge assessed under AS 5100.7 to have insufficient pier-cap shear capacity at the revised loading.
Solution
Developed an external post-tensioning scheme with supplementary shear-stirrup encapsulation; staged the works to preserve a single lane of live traffic.
Outcome
Strengthening completed in four weekend closures; post-upgrade proof-load testing confirmed design assumptions.
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