American multinational software development firm Bentley Systems has revealed that its new 3D modelling application, OpenRoads Designer CONNECT Edition, will be available for early access from 1 December this year.

OpenRoads CONNECT Edition is the successor to Bentley’s InRoads, GEOPAK, MX, and PowerCivil brands, and can be used for developing roadway projects from conceptual design through construction.

Bentley Systems chief product officer Bhupinder Singh said: “OpenRoads CONNECT Edition is the culmination of three decades of Bentley leadership and experience gained from thousands of roadway projects around the world.

"OpenRoads CONNECT Edition is the culmination of three decades of Bentley leadership and experience gained from thousands of roadway projects around the world."

“We have conscientiously preserved concepts and continuity from GEOPAK, InRoads, and MX but the BIM advancements in OpenRoads Designer CONNECT Edition are so compelling that we and our users are excited to now take full advantage of this next-generation in roadway design software.”

OpenRoads Designer combines conventional engineering workflows for plan, profile, and cross-sections with 3D parametric modelling to enable the model-centric creation of all design deliverables.

It supports a wide range of aspects of a detailed roadway design including survey, geotechnical, drainage, subsurface utilities, terrain, road, and roadway furniture among others.

With the inclusion of reality meshes, point cloud, and other geo-coordinated data sources, it provides continuous context of real-world conditions throughout the design and construction lifecycle.

Furthermore, the road designs that have been developed using OpenRoads Designer benefit from BIM Review through OpenRoads Navigator, which enables visualisation and review of 3D designs as well as status visibility.