How BIM and sensors extend the life of critical infrastructure

A bridge rarely needs rehabilitation overnight. Materials age, loads change and damage develops over years. The challenge is to detect changes as early as possible and choose the right interventions within limited resources. Digital models and sensor data can help. They supplement conventional structural inspections with a body of data that can be kept up to date. This makes it easier to understand how a structure actually behaves, where it is changing and when intervention is needed.

Building Information Modeling is becoming increasingly important in infrastructure construction. For Germany's federal trunk roads, BIM is intended to be a standard process at Autobahn GmbH, DEGES and the state administrations acting on the federal government's behalf from 2026. The digital twin is explicitly part of the vision set out in the Master Plan for BIM on Federal Trunk Roads.

A digital model can help target maintenance more effectively and compare rehabilitation scenarios through simulation before work begins. Implementation remains challenging for existing infrastructure, however. Many bridges, tunnels and port facilities were built long before digital design methods were introduced. The necessary records of existing assets are therefore often inconsistent or incomplete, or must first be reconstructed digitally.

Infrastructure maintenance also involves numerous parties, including public clients, engineering firms and construction companies. Differing standards make collaboration harder. Extensive BIM framework documents are now available for federal trunk road construction, covering data management, client information requirements, BIM execution plans and the legal framework. Practical questions remain, however, about consistent asset records, interoperable systems and clear responsibility for data quality and updates. Adoption is still hesitant in many areas, partly because the initial effort of surveying and modelling existing assets should not be underestimated. At the same time, projects using BIM demonstrate that more efficient long-term management can make the investment worthwhile.

A major advance for maintenance

Integrating sensors into structures is an important step forward for infrastructure maintenance. Depending on the measurement method, sensors can continuously record strain, vibration, temperature or changes at known areas of damage. Combined with regular structural inspections and other asset data, this provides a more accurate picture of how a structure behaves under real loads. It supports targeted maintenance and a better assessment of remaining service life and actual maintenance needs.

Sven Assmann, Digitalisation Manager at Adolf Würth GmbH & Co. KG, sees considerable potential: 'Laser scanning and sensor technology make it possible to monitor bridges continuously. This helps target maintenance more precisely and avoid major rehabilitation work. Combined with BIM, these technologies create digital twins of structures that support better maintenance.' The technologies perform different roles: laser scanning captures a structure's geometry precisely at a particular point in time or in repeated surveys. Continuous condition monitoring is provided by permanently or temporarily installed sensors.

When modern monitoring systems show that a bridge needs rehabilitation, methods that minimise intervention are needed. Würth's RELAST strengthening system is one example. Special bonded anchor screws are retrofitted into the concrete to increase the shear and punching shear resistance of existing structures. The method is designed for applications including bridges, tunnels and underpasses and can also be used while they remain in operation.

Such strengthening can increase structural capacity and allow existing structures to remain in use without being replaced entirely. Würth currently states that RELAST can extend the service life of concrete structures by up to 25 years, depending on their condition and the strengthening design. These methods can therefore help target rehabilitation more precisely and keep existing infrastructure in service for longer.

What needs to happen next?

1. Apply data standards and interfaces consistently: A consistent data structure that remains usable throughout the life cycle is essential for sharing information between clients, designers, construction companies and operators. The BIM framework documents for federal trunk roads provide important foundations. What matters now is applying them consistently and ensuring that the systems used are interoperable.
2. Expand digital infrastructure: Collecting and processing large volumes of sensor data requires capable IT systems and a well-designed cloud architecture. Data quality, availability, interfaces and cybersecurity also matter, particularly when structural models and live measurements are combined into a digital twin.
3. Provide training and continuing professional development: Engineers, designers and other construction professionals need targeted training in digital methods to use BIM-based maintenance processes effectively.
4. Embed digital processes in procurement and operations: The main question is no longer whether regulations allow BIM in principle. The method is already intended as a standard process in federal trunk road construction. The challenge is to embed requirements for models, data handovers, responsibilities and subsequent use in procurement and project organisation so that the information remains usable after design and construction.

These developments also mark a shift in the discussion. It is no longer simply a question of whether BIM and digital condition monitoring can be used in infrastructure construction. Increasingly, the question is how models of existing assets, inspections and measurements can be connected to provide a reliable basis for maintenance decisions.

For ageing structures in particular, this combination can help use available resources more effectively: detecting damage earlier, prioritising interventions and strengthening structures where continued use makes technical and economic sense. BIM is not a cure-all, but it is an important tool for operating structures more economically and safely over the long term.