Bentley Systems identifies a digital twin as a digital representation of a physical asset, process, or system, which includes the engineering information that allows us to understand, model, and analyse its performance. Its relationship to the physical asset and its ability to instantaneously reflect any changes are where the digital twin provides its value.

This data is only a twin if we continue to synchronise and maintain a digital chronology over a lifecycle. It is how Bentley's users are addressing a digital twin: by implementing a continuous feedback loop of information from their project sources to one singular source of information-the digital twin. They can easily do this by using an open source library that is designed so it can integrate with other systems.

Throughout the lifecycle of a project, data has always been the key element in keeping things moving forward throughout the various design, bid, and construction stages to the eventual handoff to the owner-operator. Digitising the data in the form of a digital twin gives project stakeholders a competitive advantage by enabling them to make quick and informed decisions based on real-time data accessible at anytime from anywhere. A trend being seen across the industry is that digital twins are becoming more widely accepted and being implemented on construction projects.

Users of Bentley's design and construction software are already onboard with the digital twin concept, with many a few years in to use. In a recent development project of an urban expressway in Nanjing, Jiangsu, China, JSTI Group chose to implement Bentley's BIM solutions because they integrate 3D reality models, GIS, and other digital solutions within a single construction management platform.

With a digital twin application and real-time rendering simulations, they enhanced decision-making and increased design efficiency by 15%, discovering 56 design errors. They also reduced time spent on construction planning, coordination, and inspection by 30%, eliminating design changes and shortening construction time by 132 days. Overall, they saved CNY 8 million with digital twin technology.

You may ask how these project savings happen? During the many construction stages of a project, a digital twin can deliver a constantly updated source of information to the entire team. The data flow between office and field is stored and easily accessed from one location, including asset tags, maintenance records, inspection records, and work planning details.

Teams can take both design and reality models and turn them into 4D or 5D construction digital twins. This work enables the transformation of workflows, such as model-based planning, with the real-time progress tracking from the field. Execution workflows, such as machine control earthworks, can be automated. Teams can leverage the model to access and capture real-time compliance and performance tasks or data to make better, faster decisions that keep projects in control in terms of cost, schedule, quality, and safety.

Researchers in the UK have utilised ContextCapture reality modeling to create a 3D model for the digital twin of the University of Cambridge's West Cambridge campus. Within the construction industry, the use of unmanned aerial vehicles has increased dramatically around the world. They are replacing traditional methods, such as LiDAR and laser scanning, which requires a lot of manual effort.

Their growing use is also increasing the number of data points on a construction site due to processing aerial footage versus aerial LiDAR. People can fly unmanned aerial vehicles daily, track progress, and quickly compute information, such as earthwork volumes or daily site progress.

With visualisation and reality model software, such as Bentley Systems' LumenRT, the integration into digital twin technology allow visualisation and simulation aspects to no longer be a separate process. In the past, if you wanted a simulation, it was done in a different format. Tens of thousands of dollars were spent creating a video simulation of a snapshot in time that could only be sent out as a video. Now, reality modeling software reads the digital twin and creates interactive animations and simulations.

With LumenRT, these animations are tied into the project schedule in the 4D model. They are quickly updated as the digital twin updates and are now part of mainstream workflows. This cuts back on the time and human effort needed to support a project, while getting better quality information. Users are quickly seeing the value in this software.

Another new emerging trend for the construction space is AI/ML. Some construction software companies are exploring how these advanced capabilities can benefit contractors and construction projects. One example is the control media indexing service by Bentley's SYNCHRO. This service leverages AI and machine learning (ML) to index the job site photos, allowing anyone to find a photo based on date or time, location (geospatial position), or context (form data and photo description). It also provides a custom-trained construction AI/ML classification of the photo's contents. Users can search for any text in a photo, such as equipment tag or photo objects like cranes, grade stakes, traffic cones and utility covers.

Conclusion
Adoption of digital technology among engineers and contractors still has plenty of room for growth. Companies that are already implementing BIM workflows may find it easier to take the next step and transition to digital twins. Bentley see a lot of excitement around the digital twin and the ecosystem that feeds information to it, and believe that if organisations have yet to embrace it, it is important to know that the migration toward digital solutions is vital and inevitable.

A recent survey conducted by Dodge Data and Analytics showed that less than one third of the US civil engineers and contractors who responded were using reality capture, model-driven jobsite automation and digital twins. This compares with 50% or more from companies outside of the US. It is, however, estimated that the global digital twin market will grow from USD 3.1 billion in 2020 to USD 48.2 billion by 2026, with an average CAGR of 58% in that period, according to a report from MarketsandMarkets.

Bentley Systems see great potential for the construction industry to evolve-and technology is the primary catalyst. With the hype continuing to increase around the digital twin, and more opportunities being realised by the construction technology solution providers, we believe that digital twins will play an integral part in moving the industry forward.

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