The partnership of technology company Bentley Systems and engineer WSB announced recently is designed to show contractors how best to take advantage of modern digital-twin workflows, said Andy Kaiyala, vice president of construction technology and controls at WSB. The firms are joining to help contractors deploy Bentley's Synchro platform on major road, rail and other large-scale infrastructure projects.
"Nobody gets there in one step, that's not where the market is today," Kaiyala said at the announcement of the partnership at CONEXPO-CONAGG 2023, March 14-18, in Las Vegas. He adds that Synchro provides a platform for both engineering and construction decisions and aims to get them to a place where they're comfortable using digital twins to inform both.
The Minneapolis-based WSB and Bentley need to be able to walk with contractors along that journey to digital-twin workflows, says Kaiyala. WSB is supplying Synchro users with input on developing project models and moving beyond the design stage to the bidding process and delivery. The goal is to bring the value of digital delivery to the people actually building the project, Kaiyala adds.
Bentley said the partnership allows it to bring design-side technology and know-how to contractor customers that are not yet fully invested in building out project digital twins.
Kaiyala adds that analysis of a representation of a physical asset in a digital space before an excavator bucket touches the ground brings that value to construction. He said the earlier a contractor starts on project life-cycle management, the better equipped it will be to take advantage of the tools and opportunities looking at the entire asset life-cycle presents.
