Bentley Systems

In September 2015, Philadelphia hosted the Roman Catholic Church’s triennial World Meeting of Families. It marked Pope Francis' historic first apostolic visit to both the United States and Cuba. City officials estimated the event would attract more than 20,000 pilgrims from 100 countries to the City of Brotherly Love for a public Sunday mass anticipated to draw upwards of one million congregants to the Benjamin Franklin Parkway. In preparation, they proposed closing 25 miles of highways in the Philadelphia area and converting a 4.7-square-mile area of the city into a vast vehicle-free pedestrian zone. At the time, this type of street closure arrangement had never been attempted. AEROmetrex, an Australian digital aerial mapping company, along with Bentley colleagues and volunteers, captured thousands of ground-level digital images, including facades, street views, and the interior of the Cathedral Basilica of Saints Peter and Paul, where the pope held a private mass. Some 28,000 photographs were fed into Bentley software to create a reality mesh from which one square mile was refined—a digital twin of Center City Philadelphia. This allowed designers to add 56,400 temporary facilities — the event’s infrastructure — directly into the virtual model. The production team was also able to simulate the movement of vast crowds within the pedestrian zone and vehicle flows outside it, to ensure mobility within the city and smooth traffic around the road closures. Three days before the outdoor mass, a video representing a simulated flyover of the city made possible with a digital twin, helped officials finalize plans for the memorable Papal visit. #flashbackFriday #Bentley40Years

#TBT: In 2012 Bentley announced a partnership with Crossrail to provide collaborative BIM tools for Europe’s largest construction project at the time. Crossrail rolled out Bentley ProjectWise software to all Tier 1 contractors and launched a Crossrail/Bentley Academy to help train the supply chain. The project would ultimately involve some 5 million documents, 450,000 drawings, and 660,000 assets of varying relevance to the nearly 10,000 contributors permitted to access different data sets. Since opening, and now known as the Elizabeth Line, the completed project has become the UK's fastest-growing railway with more than 350 million journeys. With 118 kilometers of track, including 42 kilometers of twin-bore tunnels linking 10 new stations. The rail network connects Heathrow Airport with the commercial heart of London in Oxford Street and the business hubs of the City of London and Canary Wharf. Bringing an extra 1.5 million people within 45 minutes of central London and serving upwards of 200 million passenger trips per year. ICYMI, check out this blog featuring Crossrail and other epic engineering projects. Link in comments. #engineering #infrastructure #throwbackThursday #Bentley40Years

Dear Reader, here's your latest edition of The Bentley Brief. Find out about Bentley turning 40, acquiring Cesium, and being recognized in Washington. Also learn about London's digital twin, 10 global iconic projects using digital models, 3 millennia of design technology innovation, and a model of the Moon.

Want to see the incredible power of engineering in action? From the towering heights of the Himalayas to the depths of the Thames River, Bentley software has been at the forefront of some of the world's most ambitious engineering feats. Take a look at some of these remarkable projects. Link in comments. #infrastructure #engineering #Bentley40Years

Check out this discussion about the evolution of tools for design and construction. Greg Demchak, VP of Bentley's Emerging Technologies Group shares his thoughts on how digital twins, emerging technologies, and AI are poised to disrupt the AEC industry. ??? https://bit.ly/3TA0sH0 #digitaltwin #generativeAI #technology #engineering #construction #infrastructure Alex Karim

Brisbane, Australia, is undergoing a massive transformation, driven by ambitious infrastructure projects, a rapidly growing population, and preparations for the 2032 Olympic Games. The Cross River Rail is at the forefront of this transformation. The multi-billion transportation project aims to connect the city's two halves, currently separated by the Brisbane River. This new railway line includes constructing 5.9 kilometers of twin tunnels beneath the Brisbane River and Central Business District, with 6 new stations – 4 underground and 2 on the surface, plus upgrades to 6 existing stations. It will provide much-needed relief to Brisbane's existing rail network, which is nearing capacity. More than just a transportation project; it's a catalyst for economic growth and urban revitalization. Cross River Rail is expected to create thousands of jobs and boost tourism. The multi-billion project started construction in 2019 and is due to be operational by 2026. Full story here: https://bit.ly/3qyA2tU [??? H/T to The B1M] #digitaltwin #rail #transportation #construction #engineering #infrastructure

What does it take to cycle 3,000 miles across the U.S.? Katie Aguilar, a geospatial engineer at Seequent, the Bentley subsurface company knows the answer. Earlier this summer, she and her teammates crossed the RaceAcrossAmerica finish line together in pursuit of breaking a Guinness World record. Find out how the team trained for this extraordinary feat while managing work and personal life. Along the way to setting records, the women also raised money for Inspiring Girls International, an organization that partners aspiring young girls with female role models. Hit the link in the comments to read this story of courage, resilience, and adventure. #womeninengineering #raceacrossamerica #raam

United in passion, motivation, and innovation, Bentley and our colleagues champion a culture of impactful giving and local support to uplift our global communities. Which of the following organizations have Bentley and our colleagues supported through the years? 1. Engineers Without Borders 2. AASHTO's STEM Outreach Solutions 3. Class of Your Own 3. Enactus 4. Project Scientist 5. All of the above, plus many more #Bentley40Years

The Semantok Dam in East Java, Indonesia is the longest dam in Southeast Asia. Located in the Nganjuk District, the enormous dam has a crest length of 3,100 meters and can accommodate 32.6 million cubic meters of water with a pond area of 365 hectares. It provides clean water for approximately 143,000 residents. The Nganjuk District experiences heavy annual rainfall, resulting in frequent flooding due to poor rainwater infiltration in the Semantok River upstream. The Coordinating Ministry for Economic Affairs of Indonesia initiated the development of the USD 87.9 million Semantok Dam to help reduce the impact of flooding on the area. The dam, now operational, reduces flood discharge from 822 cubic meters (per second) to 574 cubic meters and ensures water availability in both rainy and dry seasons. Additionally, the dam irrigates 1,900 hectares of agricultural land, significantly boosting rice production, and contributing directly to the increase of agriculture yields for farmers and residents. PT. Hutama Karya (Persero) tackled the project’s unique geotechnical design challenges – including incorporating sandy soil as fill material, reducing excavation, and improving safety – and construction tasks that began in 2017. The team used Bentley software to perform reality modeling and construction simulations saving an estimated USD 1.8 million in rework and 183 days in the construction schedule for the project. [Images: View of rice fields in Indonesia. Different aerial renderings of Semantok Dam. Soil fill analysis to evaluate various designs to meet the slope safety requirements for construction and operations.] #cleanwater #engineering #geotechnical #infrastructure #dams #watermanagement #construction #indonesia #Seequent

Experience skyscrapers and subterranean structures like never before with an immersive 3D experience. Developing infrastructure digital twins got a big boost with our recent acquisition of 3D geospatial powerhouse, Cesium. Greg Demchak, our VP of Emerging Technologies Group shares how engineers and developers create data-driven digital twins that align 3D geospatial data for infrastructure. Link in comments. #digitaltwins #geospatial #3D #3DTiles #data #engineering #infrastructure