Robert Westgate

Papers

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About

Robert Westgate is a civil engineer specializing in structural health monitoring and the behavior of long-span bridges under extreme and environmental loads. His research focuses on understanding how major infrastructure responds to heavy vehicle traffic and changing conditions, using field measurements to validate structural performance. Westgate’s most cited work, "Suspension bridge response due to extreme vehicle loads" (2013, 18 citations), documents the real-time monitoring of the Tamar Suspension Bridge during the passage of a 269-tonne trailer, capturing tower deflections, deck movements, and cable tension changes—a rare, full-scale test of a bridge under exceptional loading. His earlier study, "Wireless monitoring of the longitudinal displacement of the Tamar Suspension Bridge deck under changing environmental conditions" (2011, 12 citations), demonstrates how temperature and wind alter bridge behavior, emphasizing the need to separate environmental effects from damage signals. By combining wireless sensor technology with rigorous field campaigns, Westgate provides critical data for bridge management and safety assessment. His work is essential for engineers designing resilient infrastructure and for researchers developing smarter monitoring systems.