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Tag: Bentley Systems

  • Bentley acquires Plaxis, SoilVision for infrastructure workflows

    Bentley Systems, a global provider of comprehensive software solutions for advancing infrastructure, has acquired Plaxis, provider of geotechnical software, based in Delft, Netherlands.

    Bentley has also agreed to acquire soil engineering software provider SoilVision, based in Saskatchewan, Canada.

    The acquisitions, with Bentley’s market-leading borehole reporting and data management software gINT, serve to make Bentley a complete digital source for geotechnical professionals.

    With the acquisitions, building information modeling (BIM) advancements can be extended to the essential subsurface engineering of every infrastructure project.

    Projects necessarily begin with geotechnical surveys and sampling, captured with gINT for versatile documentation and reporting.

    Next, professionals perform engineering related to soil properties, soil behavior, and groundwater flow using SoilVision’s SVOFFICE applications, supplemented by Plaxis’ offerings.

    Then, soil-structure interaction is analyzed through Plaxis’ design, simulation, and engineering software (for example, PLAXIS 2D, PLAXIS 3D).

    The new opportunity, by way of digital workflows enabled through Bentley’s comprehensive modeling environment, is for geotechnical applications to be integrated with Bentley’s structural applications (such as STAAD, RAM and SACS) for unprecedented geo-structural engineering performance.

    As changes may occur in owner requirements, structural strategies or site conditions (continuously surveyed through UAVs and Bentley’s ContextCapture for reality modeling), geotechnical analysis could be continuously applied for improved outcomes, as managed through ProjectWise collaboration services.

    For today’s infrastructure demands, geotechnical considerations are coming to the fore.

    Urbanization, for instance, drives growth both vertically and underground, with emphasis on the capacity of foundations and tunnels. And new infrastructure projects of every type depend upon constructed dams, embankments, dikes, levees and reservoirs to improve their resilience.

    Moreover, new asset types such as offshore wind turbine structures require new geotechnical analysis capabilities, in this case to be accomplished with Plaxis’ forthcoming MoDeTo software.

    Because infrastructure assets are crucially linked to subsurface environs, they are vulnerable to geo-environmental risks including seismic activity, subsidence and weather impacts. Leveraging new digital workflows which incorporate real-time monitoring and analytics during infrastructure operations, geotechnical professionals can play the increasingly valuable role they deserve in achieving geo-environmental resilience.

    “My colleagues and I welcome our new teams from Plaxis and SoilVision, which have in common a zeal for applying science for better engineering practice,” said Greg Bentley, Bentley Systems CEO. “Dr. Ronald Brinkgreve from Plaxis and Dr. Murray Fredlund, founder of SoilVision, exemplify this. I believe that every geotechnical engineer has benefitted from Plaxis’ continuous advancement, in scope and quality, of tools for their discipline to add value. With a professional and dedicated management team led by Jan-Willem Koutstaal, Plaxis has become one of the most successful software businesses I have ever seen.”

    Bentley added, “While most infrastructure engineering disciplines converged around intuitive 3D models, geotechnical applications seem to have followed a less graphically intensive development path, and so have remained isolated from cross-discipline workflows. This ‘disconnected’ mindset prevailed even while Plaxis, SoilVision, and gINT mainstreamed 3D innovations. Our BIM platform’s comprehensive modeling environment will finally embrace the geotechnical profession in digital workflows for every infrastructure project and asset.”

    Tony O’Brien, global practice leader for geotechnics for Mott MacDonald, said, “PLAXIS is one of our core analysis tools being used across our global geotechnics practice. When used by experienced specialists, PLAXIS can analyze many of our most complex ground-structure interaction problems. In Bentley’s hands, we have high expectations that we can accomplish more through digital workflows made possible through integration of PLAXIS technology with Bentley’s comprehensive modeling environment—workflows that are compatible with Mott MacDonald’s commitment to connected thinking and solving complex infrastructure challenges.”

  • Bentley Systems to celebrate Year in Infrastructure in October

    Bentley Systems’ Year in Infrastructure 2018 Conference will be held Oct. 15-18 in London at the Hilton London Metropole.

    Bentley Systems is a global provider of comprehensive software solutions for advancing infrastructure.

    Presented by Bentley Institute, the conference is a global gathering of leading industry executives and prominent thought leaders in the design, construction and operations of the world’s infrastructure. The theme of this year’s conference is “Going Digital: Advancements in Infrastructure.”

    The conference features nearly 70 speakers and more than 50 informative sessions, including keynotes by leading industry experts, interactive workshops, forums, panel discussions and product demonstrations. Attendees can visit the Technology Pavilion, which features exhibits and presentations from Bentley Systems and its strategic partners Microsoft, Siemens, Topcon and Bureau Veritas.

    On the first day of the conference, Bentley Institute will host Digital Advancement Academies, featuring presentations and interactive discussions with subject matter experts who provide insights and best practices in their areas of expertise including reality modeling, BIM strategy and constructioneering.

    The conference also includes the selection and announcement of the winners of Bentley’s Year in Infrastructure 2018 Awards (formerly known as the Be Inspired Awards), which honors the extraordinary infrastructure projects by users of Bentley software throughout the world.

    During six industry-focused forums featured during the conference — Buildings and Campuses, Digital Cities, Industrial Infrastructure, Rail and Transit, Roads and Bridges, and Utilities and Water — more than 55 awards finalists will present their projects to independent panels of jurors, more than 100 members of the press, and conference attendees.

    From those presentations, winners are selected by the jurors, and will be announced at the conclusion of the conference on Oct. 18 during an evening ceremony and gala.

    Aret Garip, technical director for WSP, attended Bentley’s conference last year in Singapore to represent WSP’s One Blackfriars project in London, which was chosen as an awards finalist.

    “The conference has been truly inspiring and educational,” Garip said. “It’s a great event to learn about the latest tech in engineering design software and an opportunity to meet the creative, intelligent people who develop new tools to make it easier for us to design buildings.”

    In October 2019, the Year in Infrastructure Conference will return to the Marina Bay Sands Expo and Convention Centre in Singapore.

  • Topcon, Bentley Systems kick off Constructioneering Academy

    Topcon Positioning Group and Bentley Systems announced the kick-off date of their collaborative Constructioneering Academy initiative. The first session is scheduled for Feb. 13 in Livermore, California.

    Topcon and Bentley have joined efforts to provide opportunities designed to allow construction industry professionals to learn best practices in constructioneering, a process of managing and integrating survey, engineering and construction data, to streamline construction workflows and improve project delivery.

    “The courses are designed in a dialogue format to allow Topcon and Bentley personnel to interact directly with attendees to cater the experience for their specific questions and demands,” said Ron Oberlander, senior director of Topcon Professional Services. “The future of construction automation continues to move forward with constructioneering digital workflows, which make the work of surveyors, engineers, and construction professionals automated, continuous, and continuously more valuable, throughout project lifecycles and beyond completion.”

    “Topcon and Bentley’s federated constructioneering technologies enable firms to gain unprecedented digital visibility and insights into their project outcomes, as compared to traditional construction workflows. Attendees of our Constructioneering Academy will learn how their organizations can improve project delivery by leveraging constructioneering technology, methods, and best practices to execute their projects more efficiently, monitor construction performance and progress, and reduce project costs,” said Vinayak Trivedi, Bentley Institute vice president.

    The Constructioneering Academy will continue with additional sessions throughout learning centers located worldwide designed to reach industry professionals with hands-on training in real-world scenarios and workflows.

    To register, visit constructioneering.com.

  • Topcon announces connectivity enhancements with Bentley Systems

    Topcon Positioning Group announces advances in its direct communication between the Bentley Systems design applications and the Topcon suite of software solutions with the release of MAGNET 4.3.1.

    The MAGNET Enterprise Data Manager is designed to allow operators to directly access Bentley ProjectWise data with MAGNET Field, MAGNET Office or MAGNET Enterprise applications.

    “The updates are part of our commitment to working with third-party software applications, such as the Bentley offering, to provide efficient data exchange and a seamless workflow environment,” said Jason Hallett, Topcon vice president of global product management. “When connected to MAGNET Enterprise from MAGNET Field, you can directly upload and download data from ProjectWise, allowing surveyors or machine control model-builders upload or download iModels or other project file types.”

    The integration is designed to simplify data transfer from design to field, with the unique ability to read and import only the data users need for their projects.

    “It builds upon our industry-first ability to offer ‘round trip’ iModels — sending them directly to field operators who can use and update them directly on the jobs site, and then send the updated iModels from the field back to Bentley ProjectWise,” Hallett said.

  • Cesium Consortium offers virtual globe

    Bentley Systems has been named a co-founder of the new Cesium Consortium, along with Analytical Graphics Inc. (AGI).

    The Cesium Consortium is an open-source, browser-based virtual globe, first developed by AGI in 2011 for the aerospace and defense communities.

    Cesium streams massive datasets through a browser to desktops, tablets and smartphones for geospatial viewing. The consortium will collaborate on a roadmap to accelerate and support the requirements for building infrastructure modeling.

  • Topcon, Bentley Systems integrate Magnet 4.0 and ProjectWise

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    Topcon Positioning Group and Bentley Systems have announced a new level of direct communication between Bentley’s design applications and Topcon mobile work force products with the upcoming Magnet 4.0 release.

    With the direct communication from Magnet Enterprise to Bentley’s ProjectWise, users of Topcon’s family of Magnet and 3D-MC software solutions can, while working in the field, access or receive i-models created by Bentley’s OpenRoads design modeling technology.

    Furthermore, the survey data and as-built conditions captured by Topcon’s field devices can be brought back into Bentley’s design applications using the same Magnet to ProjectWise direct connection.

    Topcon_Bentley_man-at-desk-W“The direct connection to Bentley’s ProjectWise in Magnet Enterprise allows project managers to distribute i-models directly to their Topcon field devices,” said Jason Hallett, Topcon vice president of global product management. “With this drag and drop functionality, i-models from ProjectWise easily move from the Magnet Enterprise Data Manager to your mobile work force.”

    The integration will allow for direct import and export of i-models in Magnet Field and Magnet Office products.

    “With the simplified workflow from ProjectWise to machines with a Sitelink3D connection from Magnet Office or Enterprise, updated models can be quickly sent to a machine, reducing the chance of rework and ensuring the most current data can be sent to project teams,” Hallett said.

    With the upcoming release, users will be able to deliver any Magnet project files as i-models into ProjectWise for the purpose of capturing “as constructed” conditions of infrastructure projects.

    Dustin Parkman, Bentley vice president of product development, said, “We are excited to offer the industry-first ability to ‘round trip’ i-models. Soon operators will be able to send i-models directly to their mobile work force, who can consume the models, update them directly on the job site, and then send the updated i-models from the field back to ProjectWise with selected data (points, point lists, layers library) directly to an i-model.

    “The integration between ProjectWise and Magnet Enterprise has opened up endless new possibilities for construction-driven engineering workflows using OpenRoads and Magnet Office,” Parkman said.

    Magnet 4.0 is expected to be available in late June with additional upgrades and functionality for users.

  • Bentley reality modeling helped with Pope’s Philadelphia visit

    Screenshot from EDM Productions documentary.
    Screenshot from EDM Productions documentary.

    When Philadelphia welcomed Pope Francis during his September visit, Bentley Systems’ 3D reality modeling tools helped the event company plan the multi-faceted event, including the anchor event of the Eighth World Meeting of Families Congress.

    In planning this massive and multi-faceted event, production company ESM Productions needed to coordinate with Philadelphia’s many public services, as well as the U.S. Secret Service, Pennsylvania state agencies, and the local Philadelphia Catholic Diocese. This coordination was made more effective through Bentley’s reality modeling technology, as well as services provided by a legion of Bentley colleague volunteers.

    ESM had witnessed firsthand Bentley’s new reality modeling capabilities at a Bentley event that they produced, and was struck by its significant potential to accelerate their planning of the pope’s visit to Philadelphia.

    Upon learning of this interest, Bentley Systems CEO Greg Bentley invited Bentley colleagues (and retirees) to donate their time and talent to a “pro bono” effort on the part of Bentley Systems to help assure its headquarters region’s successful hosting of the pope and the unprecedented number of expected visitors.

    Some 30 colleagues participated in exploring how reality modeling could expedite the design and engineering of substantial temporary facilities for this highly visible, fast-tracked project, while supporting the extreme security workflows required.

    “We wouldn’t be chosen to produce world-class events unless we did them well, and we do them well because we innovatively apply the appropriate and most effective technologies,” said Scott Mirkin, co-founder and executive producer of ESM Productions.”The minute we saw Bentley’s reality modeling in action, we knew it could provide breakthrough benefits — but given the exceptionally tight deadlines, we had limited time, in our own right, to experiment with it.”

    Bentley colleagues offered their support and applied Bentley’s reality modeling, enabling the event organizing team to ensure that one of the country’s largest public events was executed successfully.

    “In the end, we experienced dramatic risk reduction, better decision making, exceptional timeliness, and greater efficiency,” Mirkin said. “The goal we set with Bentley to test the applicability of reality modeling as a mission-critical event planning technology was completely validated, and we are now planning to offer this new value to our clients going forward.”

    ESM Productions was so impressed by the benefits of reality modeling, the company is creating a documentary highlighting its use and outcomes, Mirkin said. See a preview below.

    Bentley’s reality modeling process involved three steps:

    Capture reality. Bentley’s ContextCapture software was used to build a highly detailed, photo-textured 3D “reality mesh” model from 28,000 digital photographs, with unprecedented geometrical accuracy. Base imagery was provided by Pictometry, high-resolution aerial photography was taken by helicopter by AEROmetrex, and ground footage was captured by Bentley volunteers — including building facades, street views, and the inside of the Cathedral Basilica of Saints Peter and Paul.

    Engineer in context. The highly precise 3D model was populated with 2D and 3D maps and designs, resulting in a 28 GB dataset. The dataset was used to communicate the details for the 56,400 temporary structures, main and secondary stages and event seating, 33 miles of security barricade perimeter, special U.S. Secret Service security requirements, impact of local road closures to pedestrian traffic flows, and more.

    Enliven the engineered environment. Bentley’s LumenRT software was used to add motion and additional content to simulate the expected operational experience, a great help to decision makers. The team added moving people in crowds, vehicles flowing in traffic, dynamic sunlight conditions, and seasonal trees and plants.

    “This was a highly public and complex project, with many stakeholders and an impossible timeline. We got involved right in the middle of it,” said Buddy Cleveland, a recently retired Bentley senior vice president who led the Bentley team. “The papal visit required effective planning for the construction and management of temporary facilities and utilities amidst a busy urban infrastructure.”

    Bentley created a comprehensive, highly detailed 3D model of Philadelphia that was visually realistic and dimensionally accurate, and then seamlessly integrated that model with engineering models produced by its tools. “Both ESM and Bentley are very grateful to our partners, Pictometry and AEROmetrex, who stepped up to provide the base imagery, aerial imagery, and processing with ContextCapture to create the initial reality mesh,” Cleveland said.

  • Bentley Systems offers new sewer and stormwater products

     

    StormCAD from within OpenRoads.
    StormCAD from within OpenRoads.

    Bentley Systems’ latest infrastructure products are now available. They include SewerGEMS, SewerCAD, StormCAD and CivilStorm V8i (SELECTseries 5) products for the analysis and design of wastewater and stormwater systems. All of the V8i (SELECTseries 5) sewer and stormwater products can be used as stand-alone products, or be run on CAD and GIS platforms.

    They can also now be used from within the V8i (SELECTseries 4) versions of OpenRoads-based products — combining 3D design and hydraulic analysis capabilities in the same platform. The resulting comprehensive civil solution eliminates the need for extra import/export steps or file conversions, Bentley Systems said.

    “The integration of Bentley’s OpenRoads civil design functionality with the advanced capabilities of Bentley’s storm and sewer analysis products will be a huge benefit to productivity and quality for our highway drainage design workflows,” said Chris Haines, senior civil engineer and PAR-BIM technical lead, Drainage and Utilities, Parsons.

    Terrain model elevations on profiles.
    Terrain model elevations on profiles.

    “With these new releases, the automated hydraulic design functionality of our sewer and storm products can be effortlessly combined with the 3D physical design and terrain modeling capabilities of Bentley’s other civil products,” said Gregg Herrin, Bentley Systems director of product management, hydraulics and hydrology. “From an information mobility standpoint, this has a direct and substantial positive impact on roadway, site and municipal work where hydraulic engineering is just one part of a much larger project.”

    Bentley’s SewerGEMS, SewerCAD, StormCAD and CivilStorm V8i (SELECTseries 5) products provide the following capabilities:

    • Ground elevations from terrain models may be used during automated design runs to consider “cover” along a pipe’s length, improving decision making related to system design.
    • Terrain model elevations can also now be added to profiles, improving the resulting visualization and the user’s understanding of the physical network.
    • New low-impact development (LID) elements are now available, making it easier to model a wider range of controls for stormwater management.
    • With the new lateral link element, engineers can include lateral pipes in their hydraulic analysis without creating “fake” elements where the laterals connect to the main pipe.
    • Easy access to the Bentley Communities professional networking site is embedded within the applications, facilitating communications between users and Bentley’s hydraulic modeling experts.

    Users of any of these SELECTseries 5 releases now benefit from the products’ support of MicroStation V8i (SELECTseries 3), OpenRoads V8i (SELECTseries 4), AutoCAD 2015 and 2016, and ArcGIS 10.2 and 10.3 (SewerGEMS only), giving them the ability to model from within the latest MicroStation, OpenRoads, AutoCAD or ArcGIS version.

  • Bentley Systems Acquires SITEOPS for Site Engineering

    Panther_Center_3_SITEOPS-W

    Bentley Systems, Inc., a company dedicated to providing comprehensive software solutions for sustaining infrastructure, has acquired Blueridge Analytics, provider of SITEOPS – a site design optimization “software at your service.” SITEOPS uses cloud-based computing techniques to empower site development professionals to move beyond engineering to “optioneering,” which enables the exploration of engineering alternatives and their costs. This substantially improves the choices considered for any site development, including commercial, industrial, institutional, campus, and residential projects.

    Blueridge Analytics is based in Charlotte, North Carolina.

    SITEOPS enables civil engineering professionals, real estate developers, and land planners to:

    • perform site configuration simulations that fully assess millions of layout, parking, grading, and drainage options for a site within hours instead of spending months evaluating a handful of options,
    • produce preliminary cost estimates and conceptual designs faster,
    • optimize site designs through advanced optioneering, and
    • minimize overall costs while ensuring engineering quality.

    Users of SITEOPS include Stantec, Horrocks Engineers, Langan Engineering and Environmental Services, Timmons Group, and WSP.

    “During the past few years we’ve been tracking SITEOPS technology and its performance in order to authoritatively validate its breakthrough capabilities,” Bentley Systems CEO Greg Bentley said. “Feedback we’ve received from engineering teams and owners has substantiated SITEOPS’ tremendous potential in enabling site development teams to deliver new value to owners. Through the power of site optioneering, owners can be confident that their engineers have considered the best choices and arrived at the most cost-effective solutions for the constraints of their respective sites. Hence, I’ve become convinced that site engineering should no longer be done any other way.”

    “To date, the development of SITEOPS technology has focused on continuous improvement to conceptual designs,” said Mike Detwiler, formerly president and CEO of BLUERIDGE Analytics and now Bentley vice president of SITEOPS product development. “Now, within Bentley’s comprehensive portfolio, SITEOPS’ BIM advancement can contribute throughout project delivery. Accordingly, an initial priority will be to complete the end-to-end workflows that Bentley is uniquely able to offer — from site development through detailed design and construction modeling.”