Bentley Systems 2026 Year in Infrastructure: key takeaways for project engineers
Reviewed by Joe Ashwell
First reported on Geoengineer.org – News
30 Second Briefing
Bentley Systems has opened submissions for its 2026 Year in Infrastructure (YII) Awards, recognising projects that use its infrastructure engineering software portfolio, including PLAXIS, OpenRoads, and iTwin, across transport, energy, water, and building assets. The awards, building on a 20‑year programme, will honour digital twin deployments, 4D construction modelling, and advanced geotechnical simulations that improve design, construction sequencing, and asset performance. For practitioners, the event signals continued emphasis on model-based workflows, interoperable data environments, and quantified project outcomes rather than purely design aesthetics.
Technical Brief
- For owners and EPCs, the awards framework effectively codifies expectations for traceable, data-centric delivery on complex infrastructure programmes.
Our Take
Bentley Systems’ 2026 event will land after a run of product moves such as its acquisition of Talon Aerolytics and Pointivo’s drone/AI assets, signalling that future YII award submissions may lean heavily on reality capture and asset analytics workflows rather than traditional CAD/BIM alone.
Within our 38 Software stories, Bentley appears frequently in asset-performance and analytics contexts, so practitioners can read this event as a showcase not just for design tools but for end-to-end digital twins spanning inspection, condition assessment and lifecycle optimisation.
The two-decade legacy of the YII awards means long-term users of Bentley platforms can benchmark how quickly AI- and drone-enabled inspection (as seen in the OpenTower iQ and Blyncsy ecosystem) is being normalised into mainstream infrastructure engineering practice by 2026.
Prepared by collating external sources, AI-assisted tools, and Geomechanics.io’s proprietary mining database, then reviewed for technical accuracy & edited by our geotechnical team.
