World Tunnel Congress 2025 (WTC) industry leaders reached a powerful consensus; integrated ground models—powered by innovative digital solutions—are at the heart of smarter, more resilient infrastructure projects.
A thought-leadership report by Oana Crisan
Executive summary
Infrastructure projects worldwide face unprecedented challenges: Tighter budgets, accelerated timelines, sustainability mandates, and increasingly complex underground conditions.
Yet amid these pressures, data-driven technologies are transforming how project leaders understand, visualise, build and manage infrastructure.
By leveraging three-dimensional visualisation, cloud-based collaboration, and real-time monitoring, project teams are bridging communication gaps and making better, faster decisions.
This report draws on thought-leadership from leading geological and geotechnical experts pioneering integrated approaches that connect ground data to infrastructure decisions.
Their experiences reveal how advanced modelling capabilities deliver measurable value – reducing risk, optimising designs, enhancing collaboration, and building client trust in some of the world’s most challenging infrastructure projects.
Key findings
From niche to necessity: Three-dimensional geological modelling has evolved from a specialised service to an essential component of modern infrastructure delivery.
Visualisation as the lingua franca (common language): Digital visualisation bridges critical communication gaps between geologists, engineers, clients, and other stakeholders.
Lifecycle integration: The most successful projects integrate geotechnical insights from conceptual design all the way through construction and maintenance.
The human-technology balance: Organisations that balance technical innovation with a deep respect for fundamental engineering principles achieve the greatest return on investment.
The connected future: The next generation of infrastructure will be defined by the convergence of disciplines and the integration of real-time monitoring data with dynamic digital models.
Weil discuss how Seequent’s software tools are helping overcome the many complexities in mapping Vienna’s underground
From modelling request to project standard: the Vienna metro extension
When Jonas Weil and his team at iC consulenten began supporting the Vienna metro extension in 2011, geological modelling was viewed as a specialised add-on. Today, it’s a standard project requirement – a transformation that reveals how fundamentally the industry has changed.
The geological models didn’t, ‘just model the ground …they supported decisions.’ — Jonas Weil, Associate Geologist and Partner, iC consulenten Ziviltechniker GesmbH.
This shift occurred because geological modelling delivered clear, quantifiable value. The models informed critical decisions at every stage: excavation method selection, groundwater management, settlement risk assessment, and structural design.
One of the project’s unique challenges was managing the sheer volume of information and stakeholders. The geological complexity also presented hurdles.
While challenges like groundwater and gravel could be mitigated against, the team had to contend with ‘lenses and thin layers of sand and gravel in the sediments … it’s very hard to trace the layers from borehole to borehole’.
To overcome these challenges, Weil’s team used Seequent’s innovative 3D modelling solutions.
‘The model was developed in Leapfrog, starting in Leapfrog Mining in the very early days, then we used Leapfrog Geo, [and] finally Leapfrog Works,’ Weil said. ‘We actually experienced the whole history of this product.’
The team also utilised the cloud-based collaboration platform Seequent Central for communication and client exchanges. The integration of data into a single source proved invaluable.
‘The biggest benefit is that a big amount of information is compiled in a single source and you can look at these thousands of boreholes in one place.
You can make 3D interpolations, which cannot be done with traditional methods, and you have this amazing viewer capacity. You can share it in 3D with the client, in the desktop viewer and, also with Central.’
The Vienna metro project demonstrates how geological modelling has evolved beyond static visualisation to become a dynamic decision-support framework that lives and breathes with the project, creating a continuous thread of geological understanding that informs each phase.
See Bogusz discuss the critical nature of cross-disciplinary communication in the full video interview
Integrated data: Bridging the discipline divide
A consistent theme emerged across the WTC Industry expert interviews: as projects grow more complex, the interfaces between disciplines have become both more critical and more challenging to navigate.
‘Communication breakdowns often occur at interfaces, particularly when design changes are introduced. Something that they [one person or team] might consider dangerous, others without specialiszed knowledge might not be aware of.’ — Dr Witold Bogusz, Geotechnical Expert and Standardisation Leader.
This challenge is particularly acute in the complex urban developments of the United Arab Emirates, as explained by Dr Marwan Alzaylaie, Senior Manager of Geotechnical Engineering at the Dubai Development Authority.
‘There is often a disconnect between geotechnical input and structural assumptions,’ he said. ‘Structural teams may overlook critical aspects like soil-structure interaction or rely on oversimplified ground parameters.’
WTC Industry leaders revealed that the solution lies in creating shared visual environments in which geological complexity becomes accessible to all.
- 3D-model viewers as a go-to reference: They [the team] had it on their desk. ‘Whenever groundwater or excavation issues came up, it was their go-to reference,’ said Weil.
- Integrated data platforms: ‘Platforms like [Bentley] OpenGround Cloud are a step forward, centralising borehole and testing data, and making it accessible across teams,’ said Alzaylaie.
- Digital twins for holistic impact: Teams can, ‘Highlight in digital format which are the carbon hotspots in all the lifecycle of the infrastructure,’ Federico Foria, Innovation and Sustainability Ambassador, ETS, said. This visibility allows teams to understand not just technical risks, but environmental and social impacts as well.
A photo from WTC 2025
From data to decisions: Balancing technology and expertise
In underground infrastructure, uncertainty is inevitable, but it can be quantified, visualised, and managed. However, industry leaders at the WTC consistently emphasised that technology must complement, not replace, fundamental engineering judgment.
‘Data is the foundation of sound geotechnical engineering. Inaccurate or incomplete data early in a project can lead to costly redesigns and unexpected risks later,’ said Alzaylaie.
Achieving this balance requires a commitment to fundamentals and a healthy scepticism of a ‘black box’ approach.
‘AI doesn’t care about ethics. You cannot blame someone else for the ownership as a professional,’ Foria said. ‘They need to feel that ownership.’
This balance is most critical when cultivating the next generation of engineers. The WTC experts interviewed were unanimous in their advice, identifying a clear need to ground digital fluency in real-world experience and first principles.
A mandate for the next generation
- Get your boots dirty: ‘Spend time on site and observe the ground,’ urged Alzaylaie. ‘First-hand exposure will deepen their understanding of how soils behave and how design translates into reality.’
- Master the fundamentals: ‘Be a geologist, not just a modeller,’ warned Weil. ‘If their geological understanding is wrong, their model is useless, no matter how sophisticated it looks.’ Foria agreed: ‘Return to basics – they need critical thinking.’
- Understand the ‘why’: ‘It’s not enough to follow code or run simulations,’ Alzaylaie said. ‘You must grasp the underlying assumptions, site limitations, and construction logic behind each solution.’
- Be a communicator: ‘A lot of times engineers are doing amazing things, but people don’t know about it,’ said Foria, highlighting the need to break down silos.
The future: Convergence, connectivity, and continuous learning
Looking ahead, industry leaders envision a future defined by greater integration between disciplines, technologies, and data sources.
‘Ground modelling, hydraulics, structural design, all talking to each other, …will help synthesise the data. But it’s the human insight, the engineering judgment, that remains at the centre,’ Foria said.
The ultimate goal is a state of true connectivity.
‘The integration of real-time monitoring data with numerical models is transformative,’ Alzaylaie said. ‘When sensor feedback is linked to geotechnical models or digital twins, you can continuously update predictions and improve the reliability of both design and construction strategies.’
Conclusion: The path forward
- The insights from these industry leaders give clear direction for infrastructure organisations. Success no longer hinges on excellence within a single discipline, but on the ability to connect them. Organisations that thrive will be those that: Integrate geological modelling early, treating it as an essential decision-support framework.
- Invest in visualisation capabilities that create a common language for all stakeholders.
- Champion a culture that balances digital innovation with fundamental expertise.
- Build the next generation of engineers who combine digital fluency with deep domain knowledge.
As Foria reminded us, successful infrastructure is not just about the software, but ‘how it changes collaboration’. By embracing integrated approaches to ground modelling, organisations can build not only better infrastructure, but also stronger teams, more sustainable solutions, and the trust that forms the foundation of any successful project.
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ABOUT THIS REPORT
This thought-leadership report was written by Oana Crisan, Senior Product and Industry Marketing Manager at Bentley Systems. It combines insights from a series of interviews she conducted at the World Tunnel Congress 2025 and virtually with the following industry leaders:
- Jonas Weil, Associate Geologist and Partner at iC consulenten Ziviltechniker GesmbH [read interview]
- Federico Foria, Innovation and Sustainability Ambassador, Head of Geotechnics, Geology and Hydraulics, and Head of R&D at ETS [read interview]
- Dr. Witold Bogusz, Geotechnical Expert and Standardisation Leader, formerly at Jacobs, now at Bechtel Corporation [read interview]
- Dr. Marwan Alzaylaie, Senior Manager of Geotechnical Engineering, Dubai Development Authority, and Adjunct Faculty at Heriot-Watt University Dubai [read interview]
The integrated approach discussed in this report is enabled by the connected digital workflows from Bentley Systems and Seequent, The Bentley Subsurface Company.
This process begins with the centralised management of all geotechnical data in a cloud-based environment, creating a single source of truth. From there, teams create dynamic 3D-subsurface models that accurately represent the ground conditions. These geological models are then integrated directly into a comprehensive design environment. This allows the tunnel’s structural components and alignment to be detailed in full context with the subsurface, while also sharing this ground intelligence with connected civil design applications for bridge, rail, roads, drainage, and site works to ensure project-wide consistency. This unified model informs advanced geotechnical analysis, allowing engineers to simulate complex soil-structure interaction and validate performance, ensuring subsurface intelligence is consistently carried from investigation through to construction.