Going Digital: Bentley Completes Rollout of its CONNECT Edition Application Portfolio, Fully Enabling a Comprehensive Modeling Environment for Infrastructure
17 October 2017
SINGAPORE — The Year in Infrastructure 2017 Conference — Bentley Systems, Incorporated, a leading global provider of comprehensive software solutions for advancing infrastructure, today announced the completion of its CONNECT Edition application portfolio for design, analytical, construction, and asset performance modeling of infrastructure. The CONNECT Edition’s comprehensive modeling environment supports aligned digital workflows across applications for all project delivery disciplines, directly meeting the challenges presented from the most demanding infrastructure projects.
At Bentley’s The Year in Infrastructure 2017 Conference, held this year in Singapore, the Bentley product keynote presentation showcased digital workflows for digital cities newly enabled by the full CONNECT Edition application portfolio. Featured were four interdisciplinary vignettes on the design, construction, and operation of road, rail, water and wastewater, and airport infrastructure. These project vignettes illustrated the intersection and interdependence of civil, utility, building, and plant applications, and the digital workflow collaboration between interdisciplinary teams made possible by the CONNECT Edition portfolio, to deliver complex and multi-faceted projects.
Roads
Dustin Parkman, vice president, civil and reality modeling, presented CONNECT Edition digital workflows for a road project, from its conception through construction. He began by bringing engineering-ready digital context into OpenRoads ConceptStation, starting with highly precise reality meshes of the underlying terrain prepared using ContextCapture and streamed into the application through ContextShare. He then brought in orthophotos, digital surface models, and point clouds to use in combination with detailed surveying data. With this digital context, he rapidly created an interactively costed conceptual design. Then, moving to OpenRoads Designer for detailed design, he incorporated the digital context and geometry from the conceptual design, along with the bridge designed in OpenBridge Modeler CONNECT Edition and the geotechnical data for the substrata along the bridge footings and piles. He was then able to analyze the actual segmental bridge elements, ensuring form, function and structural integrity as he designed the roadways and other structures. Mr. Parkman then demonstrated a digital workflow for construction, through federation of ProjectWise CONNECT Edition and Topcon’s Magnet Enterprise cloud services, showing the OpenRoads design driving an autonomous paving machine. He concluded by showing Topcon drones capturing imagery of the completed highway, bringing that data via Topcon’s MAGNET Enterprise through ContextCapture Cloud Processing Serviceto create an as-constructed reality mesh for use in the new AssetWise road network management, maintenance, and inspection workflows.
Rail
Jeremy Shaffer, vice president rail solutions, announced Bentley’s new OpenRail solution, taking a rail project from planning through performance. He emphasized the importance of progressive assurance of operational requirements at the project outset, and of systems engineering as the framework for digital workflows for project delivery of complex rail systems. Mr. Shaffer began with conceptional design, bringing ContextCapture created digital context into OpenRail ConceptStation and leveraging digital components from Components Center to interactively design a section of track. Then he used AECOsim Station Designer to design a complex, multi-faceted rail station. The station was seamlessly coordinated with the detailed civil design, created with OpenRail Designer, to provide a view of the overall scheme and an optimal blend of form and function. Platform, facilities and road and parking changes were performed in parallel with bridge, tunnel, track, electrification, and signaling design, all taking advantage of the CONNECT Edition’s comprehensive modeling environment, to ensure delivery of a fully functional station. Mr. Shaffer then introduced Navigator Web, first exploring in a zero-footprint browser a large 3D model of the designed station and track for design and construction review, and then later interactively examining the 3D model for an operational inspection. He concluded by reviewing the new ConstructSim Completions cloud service for commissioning and mechanical handover, underscoring the importance of delivering the digital engineering models and digital context of the railroad for operational use in AssetWise.
Water and Wastewater
Robert Mankowski, vice president, asset performance, began his session using the CONNECT Editions of WaterGEMS and SewerGEMS to simulate the behavior of a water distribution network and a wastewater collection system to show how engineers can rapidly evaluate thousands of planning scenarios to identify optimal improvements to meet the future needs of the city. Focusing next on treatment plants, Mr. Mankowski introduced OpenPlant Modeler CONNECT Edition, which leverages digital components from Components Center for multi-discipline digital workflows, and used Navigator Web to interactively query a large and complex 3D OpenPlant model with just a web browser. He then demonstrated new AssetWise capabilities purpose built for water and wastewater operators to capture asset activities or interventions, including CCTV condition surveys, sanitary sewer overflows, pipe cleaning, and more. Owners can use this data combined with spatial and network analytics to make analytically and data-driven decisions for more targeted and optimized OPEX and CAPEX spending. He also announced that AssetWise now leverages machine learning services from Microsoft Azure to help owners find structure in their data, identify anomalous behavior, and predict future outcomes based on past performance. Finally, he showed how real-time sensor data combined with simulation models that will help operators forecast future system behavior to improve decision making and reduce costs.
Airports
The vignette on airports was presented by Andy Smith, Director Product Management, Design Modeling. Mr. Smith explained how the CONNECT Edition’s multi-discipline digital workflows are ideally suited to resolve land use, engineer the airfield, design the terminal, and support facility operations. Mr. Smith began by bringing in engineering-ready digital context of existing site and building conditions using ContextCapture. He created master and land use plans for the airport, demonstrating Bentley Map CONNECT Edition’s ability to combine GIS and BIM data. He then used OpenRoads Designer for detailed engineering of the runways and storm water management. Turning to the terminal itself, he used AECOsim Building Designer CONNECT Edition’s GenerativeComponents to explore innovative and unique building forms, the chosen structure then physically modeled and analyzed using STAAD CONNECT Edition. Design review was conducted with Navigator Web, where Mr. Smith interactively explored large complex models in a browser. The final design was then brought to life with stunning realism, using AECOsim Building Designer and its now included LumenRT functionality.
Bhupinder Singh, Bentley Systems’ chief product officer said, “Going digital is exemplified by aligned interdisciplinary digital workflows. Complex projects such as airports or railways require detailed coordination, particularly between horizontal and vertical infrastructure. The alignment of track, for example, has direct bearing on the design and structure of a rail station. The CONNECT Edition's applications meet these requirements, as we illustrated in the vignettes presented today.”
When upgrading from V8i versions to CONNECT Edition applications, users face no change in file formats. And thereafter, as CONNECT Edition applications are auto-updated, BIM advancements are continuous and never disruptive.
“We are excited to now offer the full portfolio of CONNECT Edition applications and to provide a connected data environment scalable to even the most complex of projects. By adopting the CONNECT Edition now, users can immediately take advantage of digital context, digital components, and digital workflows across the infrastructure lifecycle for on-time project delivery and better performing assets,” Mr. Singh said.
Update on Bentley Application Support Policies
With the scheduled availability of its full CONNECT Edition application
portfolio, Bentley Systems’ technical support for pre-V8i versions of
applications will end on January 1, 2019. The V8i generation of
applications was introduced in 2008.
Users can be assured that Bentley Systems’ technical support, and support in ProjectWise, for V8i versions of applications will continue until January 1, 2021.
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