Digital Twins and Drones Slashing Bridge Recovery Times in Kentucky

• 17 March 2026
• Construction Focus
• 71 Views

Emerging technologies are transforming how disaster-stricken areas rebuild, with Kentucky recently demonstrating that “digital twins” and aerial surveillance can reduce infrastructure recovery timelines from months to mere hours.

Following devastating floods in 2022, the state leveraged its Bridging Kentucky initiative to bypass traditional, slow-moving survey methods. By deploying drones and 3D laser scanning, engineering teams captured high-resolution data of damaged structures without the need for manual, on-site measurements that typically take weeks.

The centerpiece of this high-tech recovery is digital twin software. This technology creates an exact, cloud-based virtual replica of a physical bridge, down to the individual rivets.

These models allow engineers to collaborate on repairs in real-time from anywhere in the world. The survey time for damaged bridges has fallen by approximately 90%. Thus, the project cost has reduce nearly by half.

Beyond speed, the technology is being used to “over-engineer” replacements for long-term resilience. New bridges are designed using these digital models to be wider and stronger, ensuring they can accommodate modern emergency vehicles and school buses—capabilities many 50-year-old structures lacked.

These updated assets are built with a projected 75-year lifespan, shifting the focus from “patching” infrastructure to creating data-driven, permanent solutions. Kentucky’s tech-forward approach is now being featured as a national model for urban and rural resilience in the “Built to Endure” guide, co-authored by organizations including Bentley Systems and Microsoft.

• Technology and Engineering
• Bentley
• Digital Twin
• Bentley Systems