Utah Department of Transportation Wins 2005 BE Award; Electronic Plan Room Named Top Project in ''Civil: Managed Environment'' Category

EXTON, Pa.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--July 5, 2005--The Utah Department of Transportation, which is responsible for more than 6,000 miles of highways, has won a 2005 BE Award for its Electronic Plan Room project. The award category was "Civil: Managed Environment."

The BE Awards of Excellence, which are selected by an independent jury of industry experts and presented at an evening ceremony during the annual BE Conference (www.be.org), honor the extraordinary work of Bentley users improving the world's infrastructure. These projects set benchmarks for their industries, and showcase the imagination and technical mastery of the organizations that created them.

The Utah Department of Transportation (UDOT) was looking for a cost-effective way to deliver plans and specifications to contractors via the Web. After investigating a number of options, it decided to create its own Electronic Plan Room (EPR) based on Bentley's Digital InterPlot, using existing standards and a minimal amount of customization.

According to UDOT project manager Greg Herrington, the new EPR is meeting the department's needs and expectations. Says Herrington, "Bentley technology has proven to be a cost-effective, capable, scalable solution for UDOT's business needs. We see a long-term, mutually beneficial relationship to continue for years to come."

Through its new Web delivery system, UDOT has been able to realize savings of more than $100,000 a year, largely from reduced printing costs. And the department is realizing additional benefits from having all bidding information online, which has broadened the base of contractors, subcontractors, and vendors that can participate in the department's projects.

At the same time, the EPR has generated savings of more than $500,000 a year for the department's contractors. Some of the cost reductions resulted from the elimination of courier pickups of plans at UDOT, but most are from reduced printing costs.

The EPR has also helped UDOT enforce compliance with its excellent set of CADD standards, which, up to now, it has found difficult to police. In the first six months, the new system brought the department to nearly total compliance with its CADD standards since, with the required use of Digital InterPlot, UDOT can positively define the resources to be used.

Contractors have reported that compliance with CADD standards has led to greatly improved bids because sets of plans are uniform statewide. In addition, compliance benefits UDOT's electronic archive and the department's ability to reuse design information and component features.

Very recently, UDOT added ProjectWise to its EPR system. Now it can deliver DGN files and civil design information directly from the EPR to a contractor on demand.

For more information on UDOT's winning project and on all of the other 2005 BE Award projects, visit www.be.org/2005beawardwinners.

About the Utah Department of Transportation

The Utah Department of Transportation is about more than roads, repairs, and maintenance. Its mission is "Quality Transportation Today, Better Transportation Tomorrow."

It is responsible for more than 6,000 miles of highways - roughly 15 percent of the state's total highway road system of about 40,700 miles. This responsibility includes snow removal, signage, bridges, repairs, building, and maintenance as well as the Traffic Operations Center with live camera coverage for monitoring road conditions, accidents, and safety. For more information, visit http://www.dot.state.ut.us/index.php.

About the BE Conference

The BE Conference (www.be.org), which consistently scores a 99 percent attendee satisfaction rating, is a once-a-year learning opportunity for Bentley users and their managers offering professional training, technology updates, keynotes, and best practice sharing. At these sessions, attendees better themselves, better their organizations, and better the ways they can improve the world's infrastructure.

To pre-register for BE Conference 2006, go to www.be.org/preregister.

About Bentley

Bentley Systems, Incorporated provides software for the lifecycle of the world's infrastructure. The company's comprehensive portfolio for the building, plant, civil, and geospatial vertical markets spans architecture, engineering, construction (AEC) and operations. With 2004 revenues exceeding $300 million, Bentley is the leading provider of AEC software to the Engineering News-Record Design 500 and major owner-operators.

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Bentley, the "B" logo, BE, BE Awards of Excellence, Digital InterPlot, and ProjectWise are either registered or unregistered trademarks or service marks of Bentley Systems, Incorporated or one of its direct or indirect wholly-owned subsidiaries. Other brands and product names are trademarks of their respective owners.