Maeda Corporation Wins 2005 BE Award; Research Laboratory Named Top Project in ''Building: BIM for Building Engineering'' Category

Business Wire, Sept 16, 2005

EXTON, Pa. -- Maeda Corporation, one of Japan's leading building and civil engineering contractors, has won a 2005 BE Award for its seven-story research laboratory project in Kita-ku, Tokyo. The award category was "Building: BIM for Building Engineering."

The BE Awards of Excellence, which are selected by an independent jury of industry experts and presented at an evening ceremony during the annual BE Conference (www.be.org), honor the extraordinary work of Bentley users improving the world's infrastructure. These projects set benchmarks for their industries, and showcase the imagination and technical mastery of the organizations that created them.

The goal of Maeda's project was to create the infrastructure for a new research facility without interfering with ongoing work in the laboratories. Critical to its success was the use of Bentley's MicroStation-based building information modeling (BIM) solutions as a tool to combine the project's function and space, and to efficiently manage the architectural design and production processes.

Said Maeda project manager Hirohiko Fujii: "The capability to assign many attributes to objects and maintain them provided us with a great advantage. The 3D models can be extended to diverse processes such as design, construction, estimation, and facility management. Since MicroStation and Bentley's BIM solutions support engineering-based workflows, they can be used to maintain models for architecture, facilities, and structures in integrated environments."

The design schedule was very tight, but Maeda used Bentley software's visualization functions to efficiently communicate with the client - ensuring the client's requirements and the project schedule were both met. At the same time, virtual simulation and real-time cost simulation allowed flexible and rapid confirmation of the exterior design.

The modeling efforts that formerly took eight months to complete only took two months with Bentley's BIM solutions, and the time required to create and modify drawings was dramatically reduced as well. In addition, the accurate models helped designers and subcontractors avoid duplication of work.

Bentley's BIM solutions improved the project workflow and contributed to reduced workloads for all of the designers. Moreover, it facilitated consistent data management in the production process - from design through construction.

For more information on Maeda's winning project and all of the other 2005 BE Award projects, visit www.be.org/2005beawardwinners. For more information on the Bentley products used in this project, visit www.bentley.com/en-US/Markets/Building and www.bentley.com/bim.> About Maeda Corporation

Maeda was established in 1919 and has become one of Japan's leading building and civil engineering contractors. The firm has a reputation for completing contracts with high-quality work and technical standards, all within short construction periods.

Maeda has extensive experience in civil engineering and building in the following areas: dams and power stations (hydro, thermal, and nuclear); railways, subways, tunnels, subterranean works, highways, and bridges; harbor, river, and levee works; reclamation, dredging, and land development; water supply, drainage, and sewage disposal systems; irrigation and water control systems; airports; schools, hospitals, and office buildings; residential buildings; stores; athletic and entertainment facilities; and factories and warehouses. For more information, visit www.maeda.co.jp/index_e.html.> About the BE Conference

The BE Conference, which consistently scores a 99 percent attendee satisfaction rating, is a once-a-year learning opportunity for Bentley users and their managers offering professional training, technology updates, keynotes, and best practice sharing. At these sessions, attendees better themselves, better their organizations, and better the ways they can improve the world's infrastructure.

To pre-register for BE Conference 2006, being held May 21-25 in Charlotte, N.C., go to www.be.org/preregister.> About Bentley

Bentley Systems, Incorporated provides software for the lifecycle of the world's infrastructure. The company's comprehensive portfolio for the building, plant, civil, and geospatial vertical markets spans architecture, engineering, construction (AEC) and operations. With 2004 revenues exceeding $300 million, Bentley is the leading provider of AEC software to the Engineering News-Record Design 500 and major owner-operators.

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