Bentley’s Digital Twins Cuts NYC Floodgate Design Time from Days to Minutes

• 13 November 2025
• Uncategorized @km
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New York City is deploying cutting-edge technology to accelerate its multi-billion-dollar coastal resiliency strategy. The project is leveraging Bentley Systems’ digital twin technology to dramatically cut design time and stress-test new defenses.

Engineer Roni Deitz, Global Director of Climate Adaptation at Arcadis, is leading the charge on projects spurred by the devastating impact of Superstorm Sandy in 2012. Her team is responsible for designing and delivering critical infrastructure, including the 2.4-mile East Side Coastal Resiliency (ESCR) project.

The challenge of building new infrastructure in a dense, centuries-old city like New York is massive. To overcome this, Deitz’s team turned to Bentley Systems’ digital twin technology, which creates a precise digital 3D replica of the actual physical assets.

The utilization of digital twins yielded immediate and transformative results on the ESCR project. The technology allowed the team to standardize and automate the design of 18 crucial floodgates.

The digital platform cuts the time required to design each floodgate from an estimated 30 hours down to a mere 30 minutes, all while boosting quality and consistency.

Besides, 3D models were also vital for ensuring maximum resilience. Engineers used the twins to simulate and understand how the gates would withstand various pressures and impacts, including the unlikely, yet necessary, scenario of a multi-ton New York City garbage truck—afloat in a storm surge—slamming into a gate.

“They need to be designed to withstand those loads and those impacts,” said Deitz. “We’re not only designing for waves and for storm surge, but we’re designing for how this infrastructure is likely to operate in a dense city like New York.”

While the flood protection is necessary, the concept is also focused on creating public benefit.

“It’s about infrastructure that works on sunny days, that creates safe public spaces, that creates community assets, that ultimately, I hope, improves the quality of life for people who live and visit these areas,” said Deitz.

With the aid of advanced digital engineering tools, New York City is not just building higher; it is building smarter to ensure the city is protected and resilient for generations to come.

• Digital Twin
• Bentley Systems
• East Side Coastal Resiliency