Industry awards that set the benchmark for excellence across the world’s most critical infrastructure assets are now open for entries.
Infrastructure engineering software company Bentley Systems has opened submissions for the Year in Infrastructure event and YII Awards programme, which recognises digital innovation in how infrastructure is designed, built and operated using Bentley software. Submissions will be accepted until 3 May 2026 and the successful finalists will invited to present their projects at the Year in Infrastructure event in Singapore in October.
“Originally, the Bentley awards recognised designers who used 3D technology to drive efficiency,” said Monica Schnitger, founder, president and principal analyst of Schnitger Corporation. “Now they assess how massive projects are building and leveraging rich data assets to create value throughout the entire lifecycle of a project – from initial financial decision-making through to design and construction.”
Over the past two decades, more than 5,500 of the world’s most significant infrastructure projects have participated in Bentley’s awards programme. Past winners have included landmark projects such as the digital twin for structural monitoring of St. Peter’s Basilica in Vatican City, the Seine Nord Europe Canal in France, the Thames Tideway Tunnel in the UK, Sydney Airport in Australia, the Beijing Zhangjiakou highspeed railway in China, the Ontario Line subway in Canada and EchoWater, one of the largest agricultural water recycling facilities in the United States. These projects demonstrate how digital innovation delivers measurable economic, environmental and societal impact.
Cate Lochead, chief marketing officer at Bentley Systems, said: “Around the world, infrastructure professionals rely on Bentley software to design, build and operate infrastructure that is more resilient, efficient and sustainable. The YII Awards celebrate real world results from teams that are innovating in areas that include ground informed design, connected data and AI. It is important to promote this work as best practice as these achievements set a new standard for what’s possible across the infrastructure ecosystem.”
Submissions are evaluated by independent panels of industry experts based on digital advancement and quantifiable results, including improvements in efficiency, cost performance, resilience and sustainability.
The YII Awards 2026 recognise excellence across the full spectrum of infrastructure disciplines and innovation, with categories including Bridges and Tunnels, Cities and Facilities, Construction, Energy Production, Geospatial and Reality Modelling, Project Delivery, Rail and Transit, Roads and Highways, Structural Engineering, Subsurface Modelling and Analysis, Transmission and Distribution, and Water and Wastewater. Finalist projects contribute to the industry through detailed project stories, digital playbooks and presentations shared as part of the awards programme.
Submission details
Opens: 18 March 2026.
Closes: 3 May 2026 at 11:59pm EDT.
Eligibility: Projects of any size or stage that use Bentley software.
Finalists and winners: Finalists will be announced in August 2026. All finalists will be invited to present their projects at the Year in Infrastructure event in Singapore from 6-7 October 2026, where category winners will be revealed.
For more information or to submit a project, visit the Year in Infrastructure website here.
