EXTON, Pa., Oct. 8 /PRNewswire/ -- Bentley Systems, Incorporated, the leading company dedicated to providing comprehensive software solutions for the infrastructure that sustains our world, will announce the winners of its 2009 Be Inspired Awards next week during its Be Inspired: Infrastructure Best Practices Symposium and Awards in Charlotte, N.C. The awards honor outstanding achievements in infrastructure and are judged by an independent panel of industry experts.

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Today, Bentley announced the winners of a new set of awards called Be Inspired Special Recognition Awards. The winners of these awards are uniquely innovative and visionary infrastructure projects and organizations that were placed into nomination by the Be Inspired jurors for achievements embracing multiple Be Inspired Awards categories. The nominees were then reviewed by a panel consisting of Bentley Systems CEO Greg Bentley, CTO and founder Keith Bentley, COO Malcolm Walter, SVP Bhupinder Singh, SVP Buddy Cleveland, and Jay McGraw, Group Publisher, McGraw-Hill Construction. The achievements being recognized include: Attaining Return on Innovation, Sustaining Our Society, Sustaining Our Environment, and Sustaining the Professions.

Greg Bentley said, "In reviewing this year's Be Inspired Awards, the jurors recognized that select nominations had distinguished themselves across a number of Be Inspired categories and, therefore, deserved to be placed in a special awards category. This new category acknowledges innovations in employing technology and implementing practices that best exemplify Bentley's mission of Sustaining Infrastructure. On behalf of all my colleagues at Bentley, I offer my hearty congratulations to these winners for their distinctive accomplishments in improving the quality of life for us all."

The winners of the 2009 Be Inspired Special Recognition Awards are as follows:

    --  Attaining Return on Innovation - KBR/EOS Oil & Gas Services Joint
        Venture, the North Rankin Redevelopment Project. This project best
        represents innovation in the use of technology and creative workflows to
        create value and deliver better-performing infrastructure with
        quantifiable results. Its goal is the recovery of low-pressure gas from
        the North Rankin and Perseus fields off Karratha, Western Australia. The
        project scope includes the design and construction of a second platform
        with gas compression facilities, low-pressure separators, utilities, and
        accommodations. The project team's use of Bentley's ProjectWise
        Lifecycle Server provided all stakeholders with access to real-time
        information via a portal dashboard, allowing enhanced decision-making
        and transparency between client and contractor. For additional
        information, visit 
www.bentley.com/Return-on-Innovation 

    --  Sustaining Our Society - Hatch Associates Pty Ltd, Adelaide Desalination
        Project. This project best demonstrates the power of infrastructure to
        benefit society by improving quality of life, promoting economic
        development, and increasing resilience against natural disasters or
        climate change. Its primary objective is the design and development of a
        100-gigaliter-capacity desalination plant urgently commissioned by South
        Australia Water following a long drought. The new plant will help the
        region supplement its fresh water supply, relieve the current burden on
        the existing rain-water catchment system, and allow water levels to
        regenerate. The project team employed Bentley's advanced 3D modeling
        applications to achieve an optimal and highly accurate plant layout and
        material take-off, as well as to visualize the plant's impact on the
        environment and local communities. For additional information, visit
        
www.bentley.com/Sustaining-Our-Society 

    --  Sustaining Our Environment - Olsson Associates, Antelope Valley. This
        project best illustrates how an infrastructure project can help reduce
        ecological footprint, increase biocapacity, and facilitate the wise use
        of nonrenewable resources. The City of Lincoln, Nebraska, the University
        of Nebraska, and the Lower Platte South Natural Resources District had
        identified three goals for Antelope Valley: community revitalization,
        storm water management, and transportation improvements. The project has
        created new and improved housing, parks, and recreation facilities;
        storm sewer improvements; and a roadway system designed for 2025 traffic
        volumes. In addition, by removing 50 acres of the university campus from
        the 100-year flood plain, a flood event will be contained to the banks
        of the new channel. Moreover, various low-impact development concepts
        were used throughout the project. The innovative use of Bentley's
        interoperable software resulted in enhanced data sharing and increased
        workflow efficiencies among design teams, clients, and other
        stakeholders. For additional information, visit
        
www.bentley.com/Sustaining-Our-Environment 

    --  Sustaining the Professions - Parsons Brinckerhoff (PB). This
        organization has demonstrated an exemplary commitment to sustaining the
        infrastructure professions through continuous learning, professional
        development, mentoring the next generation of infrastructure
        professionals, and providing an exceptional environment for learning.
        Its Professional Growth Network - an industry first - allows the firm's
        emerging professionals to directly shape the future of PB by enabling
        direct communication among peers and senior management. To date, it has
        yielded recommendations for PB's corporate strategy as well as
        improvements to the mentoring and new employee programs. PB also
        maximizes the value it creates from its Bentley training subscription by
        earning 50 percent of its Bentley Institute learning units online and
        using a virtual classroom for more than 80 percent of its live training.
        For additional information, visit
        
www.bentley.com/Sustaining-the-Professions 

About Be Inspired: Infrastructure Best Practices Symposium and Awards

The Be Inspired: Infrastructure Best Practices Symposium and Awards, taking place Oct. 12-14 in Charlotte, N.C., is Bentley's premier thought leadership and networking event for 2009. During this invitation-only symposium, the finalists of the 2009 Be Inspired Awards will present the best practices behind the successful realization of their projects. In addition, all of the leading practitioners who have gathered for this event will have an opportunity to participate in interactive roundtable discussions on the key issues driving the business and design of infrastructure. For additional information about the Be Inspired: Infrastructure Best Practices Symposium and Awards, visit www.bentley.com/BeInspired .