Founders' Honors 2022
Congratulations to the 2022 Founders' Honors Recipients
Founders’ Honors, chosen individually by Bentley Systems’ founders, are presented to a small number of exemplary projects, individuals, and organizations which particularly inspire us in our company’s mission of advancing the world’s infrastructure while sustaining both the global economy and environment.
Founders' Honors
Arcadis
Automating Rail Bridge Design
Location: United Kingdom
Project Playbook: LumenRT, OpenBuildings, OpenRail, ProjectWise
Image Credit: Arcadis
Project Summary
Providing multidiscipline design services across the United Kingdom’s rail network, Arcadis initiated a project to automate engineering solutions for renovating common footbridges and underbridges. They wanted to provide more reliable data early in the design process to optimize the entire project lifecycle and tried several technological approaches. However, these processes presented file compatibility and coordination issues across disciplines. Arcadis needed a user-friendly, flexible 3D modeling solution to streamline and automate bridge engineering workflows.
Leveraging OpenBuildings and ProjectWise, Arcadis developed automation techniques that allowed for rapid 3D modeling of typical bridge elements, reducing modeling time from two weeks to minutes. Working in an open, connected environment with a user-friendly interface eliminated the need for file conversion, optimizing change management and allowing teams, stakeholders, and suppliers to engage early in the design stage. Having more reliable data early improves cost estimation, facilitates carbon analysis, and enables identification of potential constructability issues. Deploying the automated solutions on subsequent projects is expected to reduce modeling time by 95%.
China Highway Engineering Consulting Corporation, China Communications Construction Company Uganda Branch, Uganda National Roads Authority
Design and Build of Kotido-Kaabong Road in Uganda
Location: Kotido, Kaabong, and Karamoja, Uganda
Project Playbook: ContextCapture, iTwin, LumenRT, MicroStation, OpenBridge, OpenRoads, OpenRoads ConceptStation, ProjectWise
Image Credit: China Highway Engineering Consulting Corporation, China Communications Construction Company Uganda Branch, Uganda National Roads Authority
Project Summary
Uganda National Roads Authority (UNRA) initiated the 68.5-kilometer Kotido-Kaabong Roadway project dedicated to rural revitalization and development of the tourism economy in northwest Uganda. Located in a wild nature preserve, the project presented survey and construction challenges, compounded by multidiscipline coordination amid a tight schedule. UNRA required the project team to submit digital BIM deliverables in accordance with British standards. Realizing that their traditional design methods were insufficient, the team needed an integrated digital platform capable of whole process management.
Leveraging ProjectWise, iTwin, and Bentley’s open modeling applications, they established a connected data environment, performing collaborative digital design and integrating multiple data formats, improving data sharing efficiencies by 50%. Using ContextCapture to deliver a 3D reality model of the environmentally protected project space reduced survey time by 25 days and saved USD 250,000. The digital solution provided 3D renderings of the project plan, improving visualization and external communication efficiencies by 60%.
Florida Department of Transportation
ORD and OBM Item Type resource development for Automated Quantities
Location: Tallahassee, Florida, United States
Project Playbook: OpenBridge, OpenRoads
Image Credit: Florida Department of Transportation
Project Summary
To ensure productivity through digitization, Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) established a team to update standard workflows and develop new digital tools to meet state requirements for documenting project quantities for cost estimation and asset management. The team faced challenges configuring the various structure quantity tools, including item types and report definitions. They needed an open, integrated technology solution to streamline and automate the new quantity processes.
The team selected OpenBridge and OpenRoads, using their item type features as the foundation to standardize and build custom applications that would read project data from the design files and process the data to generate reports required for road and bridge quantity documentation. The new digital FDOT quantities takeoff manager and estimated quantity reporting tools automate and standardize quantity data, eliminating plan sheets for all new design and improvement projects. The new digital workflow is expected to significantly reduce the time and effort required to document project quantities, estimated to save USD 3 million annually.
Hatch
iPas ShareCenter
Location: Canada
Project Playbook: iTwin, ProjectWise, SYNCHRO
Project Summary
As one of the top design firms in the world, Hatch has completed several complex infrastructure projects across more than 150 countries. To stay on top of their large project portfolio, they realized that they needed a coordinated approach to project delivery. Therefore, they sought to create a platform that enabled efficiency, self-sufficiency, and collaboration across the entire organization.
Hatch worked with developers to create iPas ShareCenter, an online engagement portal for integrated information management. Based on the Bentley iTwin Platform, of which Hatch is an early adopter, this portal allows everyone in the organization to access granular-level data to help coordinate enterprise-level initiatives, making them data centric. In addition to the Bentley iTwin Platform, Hatch utilized ProjectWise for review and visualization and SYNCHRO for advanced work packaging. By using Bentley applications to develop this portal, Hatch team members have an improved understanding of their supply chains and what project materials are needed for each project. This data-centric approach has saved, and will continue to save, Hatch time and costs across their entire project portfolio.
Italferr S.p.A
RM-FI High Speed Line – Survey of the Borratino Viaduct
Location: Reggello, Toscana, Italy
Project Playbook: ContextCapture, iTwin, iTwin.js, OpenRail, ProjectWise
Image Credit: Italferr S.p.A
Project Summary
Located along the Arezzo-Florence rail line, the Borratino Viaduct spans 1,350 meters. Italferr was tasked with developing a structural monitoring system to determine existing and potential structural damage. However, they faced challenges surveying the structure while keeping it operational, as well as managing the voluminous captured data. They wanted to generate a 3D model to perform structural analysis and determine optimal placement of sensors for digital real-time monitoring, enabling proactive management and maintenance. Therefore, they needed comprehensive reality modeling and a collaborative digital twin platform.
Leveraging ContextCapture, ProjectWise, and the Bentley iTwin platform, Italferr generated a 3D reality mesh and digital twin of the existing viaduct. Bentley’s applications reduced modeling times and provided a connected digital environment to analyze static and dynamic bridge behavior and identify optimal placement of digital sensors for real-time condition monitoring. The digital twin solution facilitates targeted, cost-effective maintenance intervention and will monitor about 1,500 infrastructure assets over a 10-year period, estimated to save EUR 70 million.
Jacobs
Jacobs and Howard University
Location: Washington, DC, United States
Image Credit: Jacobs
Project Summary
Jacobs is partnering with Howard University under Jacobs Equity and Advancement Program (JEAP), a scholarship and student engagement program to provide mentorship and monetary support to Black STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics) education. This program is a part of the larger, Jacobs’ Action Plan for Advancing Justice and Equality, an initiative that builds on Jacobs’ existing global inclusion and diversity strategy.
Jacobs, through the JEAP program, collaborated with Bentley Education’s project FOCUS (Fostering Opportunities for Colleges and Universities in STEM) to provide technology support to Howard University’s Civil and Environmental Engineering department. Jacobs’ donated laptops enabled the senior class of civil engineering students to train on Bentley’s infrastructure engineering software and leverage that learning to enhance their capstone projects. Jacobs’ contribution gave students the access to connect with technology through Bentley applications, empowering the next generation of engineers with a skill set, ready to lead.
Kaunas University of Technology
Kaunas Digital Twin
Location: Kaunas, Lithuania
Project Playbook: ContextCapture, iTwin, iTwin.js, LEGION, LumenRT, MicroStation, OpenBuildings, OpenCities
Image Credit: Kaunas University of Technology
Project Summary
To help build, sustain, and develop a community focused on smart cities and infrastructure, Kaunas University of Technology partnered with other organizations to develop a digital twin of the city’s built environment, with an emphasis on the university campus. Modeling was time consuming, so the team wanted fast and accurate data capture and processing technology. Previous CAD-based applications lacked speed and interoperability. Therefore, Kaunas University needed an integrated technology solution capable of quickly processing multisourced data.
Leveraging ContextCapture with OpenCities Planner and iTwin, they generated a reality model of the city and campus and built a digital twin. Bentley’s applications facilitated multidiscipline integration and saved time while accurately modeling the area. The solution provided virtual tours of the existing university infrastructure and digitized the MLab building project. Working in the iTwin platform enabled the team to augment the new building’s digital representation with live IoT data to analyze indoor climate conditions, helping optimize energy consumption.
National Highways
Complex Infrastructure Programme – A303 ProjectWise and iTwin Deployment Pilot Project
Location: Salisbury – Stonehenge, Wiltshire, United Kingdom
Project Playbook: ContextCapture, iTwin.js, Orbit 3DM, ProjectWise
Image Credit: National Highways
Project Summary
The A303 Stonehenge tunnel is part of a corridor improvement scheme to alleviate severe route congestion and conserve the Stonehenge World Heritage Site. National Highways undertook a review of business requirements, supply chain processes, and technology solutions to improve information management. Previously, engineering data was siloed and National Highways received it through the supply chain, making data difficult to review and interrogate. National Highways needed digital engineering information management to maintain data fidelity and organize information.
National Highways piloted ProjectWise and iTwin to exchange and manage design data on the A303 project. The integrated digital solution provided a collaborative, web-accessible platform that resulted in a 50% more efficient data federation process and a 70% more efficient data exchange process. Bentley applications enabled National Highways to use supply chain data more proactively to better understand costs and risks, allowing for more timely and informed decisions to support better outcomes for the built asset.
Phocaz, Inc.
CLIP for Highway Characteristics
Location: West Melbourne, Florida, United States
Project Playbook: iTwin, iTwin.js, MicroStation, OpenRoads, ProjectWise
Image Credit: Phocaz, Inc.
Project Summary
To help Florida’s Office of Transportation Data extract and share road characteristics from design drawings more efficiently, Phocaz initiated a project to digitize and automate this process across disciplines. They initially used a CAD-based approach, but it proved slow and limited, resulting in erroneous interpretations of some road elements. To differentiate between road elements, enable broad accessibility, and expand data usage capabilities, Phocaz wanted to integrate advanced technologies and needed an open, user-friendly digital platform.
They selected iTwin as the basis for their CLIP application, integrating machine learning and artificial intelligence technology to interpret design elements and report on various drawing features. Previous manual reviews of design drawings took days; however, using CLIP to automate design data extraction accelerated queries and data capture to mere seconds. Working in Bentley’s cloud-based platform simplified accessibility and improved collaboration, removing cross-discipline data silos and streamlining design data for use by highway maintenance and management teams. The integrated technology solution has significant potential for future applications.
Quattrone & Associates
Mallory Apartments – Fort Meyers, Florida
Location: Fort Meyers, Florida, United States
Project Playbook: OpenFlows StormCAD
Image Credit: Quattrone & Associates
Project Summary
Mallory Apartments is an affordable housing complex for low-income families in Fort Meyers. The project was under construction when developers identified a conflict during connecting a reinforced concrete pipe (RCP) from one of the three originally designed stormwater structures with the existing master stormwater network. The initial proposed remedy would have pushed construction back over six months and cost tens of thousands of dollars. Quattrone & Associates suggested rerouting the entire building’s stormwater system with two instead of three connections; however, it needed to be accomplished with the already purchased piping material.
Quattrone selected OpenFlows StormCAD to model and analyze the site’s stormwater layout, allowing them to select RCP sizes and lengths that matched the purchased material. Using Bentley’s hydraulic modeling application, they were able to reroute the stormwater system with two structures, while re-using all the existing piping. The solution saved the owner and contractor at least USD 10,000 and avoided a more than six-month potential construction delay.
Sarawak Energy Berhad
Modernizing Bakun Hydroelectric Plant with a Digital Twin
Location: Bintulu, Sarawak, Malaysia
Project Playbook: ContextCapture, iTwin, iTwin.js, LumenRT, MicroStation, OpenBuildings, OpenPlant, OpenUtilities, PlantSight, ProjectWise
Image Credit: Sarawak Energy Berhad
Project Summary
To help become a digital utility by 2025, Sarawak Energy initiated a digital twin pilot project at its Bakun Hydroelectric Plant. The project presented challenges in generating intelligent 3D plant models, given the lack of accurate as-built drawings and limited accessibility, compounded by slow network speeds, large data files, and compatibility with third party applications. Sarawak needed integrated, collaborative modeling technology to generate the digital twin.
Leveraging ContextCapture and MicroStation, they generated high-resolution 3D reality models, reducing the time to develop the as-built designs by 70%. Integrating Bentley’s open 3D modeling applications, PlantSight enabled better visualization of assets and seamless integration with third party platforms. The digital twin solution supports remote plant operations, reducing the need for onsite staff by 30%. Sarawak expects operations and maintenance costs savings by integrating the digital twin with asset performance solutions. The successful pilot demonstrates the digital twin as a crucial component to improve plant reliability and efficiencies.
Silo AI
Silo AI Flow for Pipeline System Optimization
Location: Helsinki, Uusimnaa, Finland
Project Playbook: iTwin, iTwin.js
Image Credit: Silo AI
Project Summary
To improve the performance, reliability, and energy efficiency of Finland’s water and district heating networks, Silo AI developed a smart, data-driven asset optimization service for city pipeline operators. System operators need to prioritize maintenance renovations, predicting and pinpointing areas where leaks are most probable. However, scattered and disconnected data systems and sources present challenges when developing systematic pipeline maintenance prioritization, resulting in significant renovation debt. To help address these issues and provide a holistic visual overview of network health, Silo AI needed an integrated, user-friendly digital platform.
Silo selected the Bentley iTwin platform to visualize and analyze data from multiple data sources in a connected, easily accessible, digital environment. Using the platform reduced visualization efforts by 50% and significantly shortened the time needed to deliver the AI solution for leakage predictions and flow optimization. As a result, they decreased their network supply temperature by three degrees, improving energy efficiency while decreasing fuel consumption. Network operators can increase ROI through pipeline system optimization, budgeting future maintenance and network investments.
WSP
Unity Place Delivered with Optimized Design by WSP Using Innovations from Bentley
Location: Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, United Kingdom
Project Playbook: PLAXIS, RAM
Image Credit: WSP
Project Summary
Located in Milton Keynes, Unity Place will be the new headquarters for Santander Bank, consolidating four existing office buildings into a state-of-the-art facility. It will be designed and constructed as a green, efficient space, achieving excellence in environmental sustainability and impact on well-being. Covering 84,000 square meters on an existing car park site, the sustainable building project presented architectural, geotechnical, and structural engineering challenges. WSP provides multidiscipline engineering services from conception through completion and realized they needed integrated structural and geotechnical modeling and analysis applications to determine sustainable building solutions.
WSP selected PLAXIS and RAM, simplifying design and streamlining workflows to meet the construction budget and timeline while achieving sustainability goals. Using Bentley’s applications, they opted for a concrete solution that saved 16,000 tons of concrete and GBP 1.206 million in material costs. The integrated technology reduced design time, saving an additional GBP 20,000, and facilitated innovative structural solutions that already exceed 2030 carbon targets. The project sets a benchmark for sustainable design of commercial new builds.
WSP USA
Interstate Bridge Replacement Program
Location: Portland, Oregon and Vancouver, Washington, United States
Project Playbook: ContextCapture, gINT, iTwin, iTwin.js, Leapfrog, LumenRT, MicroStation, OpenBridge, OpenBuildings, OpenCities, OpenGround, OpenRail, OpenRoads, OpenUtilities, Orbit, ProjectWise, ProStructures, Sensemetrics, SYNCHRO
Image Credit: WSP USA
Project Summary
The Interstate Bridge Replacement Program (IBR) will replace the aging bridge across the Columbia River with a modern, seismically resilient structure that provides improved mobility for people, goods, and services. WSP is the general engineering consultant and wanted to implement digital twins throughout the lifecycle of the project. Faced with coordination challenges engaging with contractors, the public, and government entities, WSP needed an integrated digital delivery platform.
They selected the Bentley iTwin platform and ProjectWise, creating a structured framework and information management processes that support BIM transportation strategies and the development of digital twins.
Phocaz, Inc.
CLIP for Highway Characteristics
Location: West Melbourne, Florida, United States
Project Playbook: iTwin, iTwin.js, MicroStation, OpenRoads, ProjectWise
Image Credit: Phocaz, Inc.
Project Summary
To help Florida’s Office of Transportation Data extract and share road characteristics from design drawings more efficiently, Phocaz initiated a project to digitize and automate this process across disciplines. They initially used a CAD-based approach, but it proved slow and limited, resulting in erroneous interpretations of some road elements. To differentiate between road elements, enable broad accessibility, and expand data usage capabilities, Phocaz wanted to integrate advanced technologies and needed an open, user-friendly digital platform.
They selected iTwin as the basis for their CLIP application, integrating machine learning and artificial intelligence technology to interpret design elements and report on various drawing features. Previous manual reviews of design drawings took days; however, using CLIP to automate design data extraction accelerated queries and data capture to mere seconds. Working in Bentley’s cloud-based platform simplified accessibility and improved collaboration, removing cross-discipline data silos and streamlining design data for use by highway maintenance and management teams. The integrated technology solution has significant potential for future applications.