The demands of rebuilding U.S. infrastructure continue to grow. FMI Corp.’s 2025 Civil Infrastructure Construction Index shows the first quarter 2025 index increased to 57.7% from 50.3% in the fourth quarter of 2024. This marks the 10th quarter of expansion. Still, there are challenges. 72% of respondents indicate current backlog levels are either higher or consistent with backlogs at the end of 2023, and that nearly 40% of respondents report they have insufficient personnel to meet their 2025 backlog demands.
Today’s construction and engineering firms need to deliver these infrastructure projects quickly with fewer workers, all while infrastructure projects continue to become more complex. The good news is technology can help.
For this article, let’s take a deeper dive at one of the 2025 Constructech Top Products winners, Bentley Systems’ SYNCHRO 4D, which helps to demonstrate exactly how these complex construction projects can be delivered. The digital construction delivery software helps teams better plan and track projects, combining 4D construction simulations with model-based planning and scheduling. Teams can plan, optimize, and track projects in a digital environment, ensuring greater certainty and fewer risks in construction.
What makes this product so unique is the solution can help stand out in bids with 4D simulations and can help make proposals more compelling. 4D visualization gives teams a competitive edge by enabling them to demonstrate to clients precisely how complex projects will be executed and proving their ability to deliver efficiently – making proposals more compelling and credible than traditional 2D documentation and static schedules.
Customers are finding significant success with the technology too.
Consider the example of SEPA (South Eastern Program Alliance). The Victoria government wanted to solve the ongoing challenge of rail networks inevitably crossing paths with roads. To address this, the government initiated a program to remove 85 level crossings within the state. SEPA is a joint venture consisting of the Level Crossing Removal Project, Metro Trains Melbourne, Laing O’Rourke Construction, and Jacobs Groups Australia.
SEPA recognized that creating a 4D model would enable the joint venture to visualize the project as well as gain a clear understanding of the construction process and to anticipate any issues. A combination of drones and iTwin Capture allowed the team to create a digital twin. Once the digital twin was made, SYNCHRO was called into action to link the project schedule to the digital twin, adding the 4D element.
The 4D model empowered the team to develop construction staging plans 71.5% faster than with 2D diagrams, and compared with traditional methods of interface checking, the construction simulation improved visibility of the project by 50% and lowered the risk of clashes by 75%. The Surrey Hills project was finished in 93 days, keeping traffic disruptions to a minimum.
Here at Constructech, we have been talking about digital twins and BIM (building information modeling) for years. We know scheduling and 4D models are key to ensuring a complex project is delivered quickly. It is exciting to see the technology at work in infrastructure, helping to rebuild our cities, roads, bridges, energy, waterways, and other critical infrastructure. The future is looking bright and more resilient as technology continues to lead the way.
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