Bowesfield Riverside Community Project Named Top Project in "Civil Site Design" Category

EXTON, Pa. - March 15, 2007 - The Banks Group, a leading property development, mineral extraction, and land reclamation firm, has won a 2006 BE Award for its Bowesfield Riverside Community project. The company estimates that its use of Bentley 3D modeling solutions in this project has provided a return on investment of about 30 percent.

The BE Awards of Excellence, which are judged by an independent panel of industry experts and presented at an evening ceremony during the annual BE Conference, 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 design for the $175-million Bowesfield community project - an integrated sustainable development on the banks of the River Tees - converted an 80-acre brownfield site into a vibrant community with housing, office space, and retail businesses. The plan regenerated the degraded riverfront land and set aside 37 acres for a nature conservation area.

Said Philip Baker, planning director for The Banks Group, "Bentley software enabled the smooth transfer of data within a large, multidisciplined project team, with the added advantages of excellent visualization and fast modeling and analysis. This has been invaluable in the explanation of a complex project to a range of local community groups and authorities, and in the marketing of the site." The Banks Group team of 25 professionals involved in the planning, design, and project management for Bowesfield relied on Bentley software to coordinate the work of diverse disciplines - including landscape designers, architects, engineers, and planners.

Using MicroStation V8, The Banks Group sends, receives, and manages accurate data, even when it comes from external organizations that do not use Bentley solutions. Planners, land surveyors, design engineers, landscape architects, geologists, and environmental specialists alike can skip the file-conversion process, which wastes time and often leads to data degradation. The Banks Group uses Bentley software from the initial capture of land survey data through design to construction specifications.

Helping stakeholders see The Banks Group's vision for the Bowesfield community was a major challenge in maintaining project momentum. "The ability to communicate with professionals and lay people, internally and externally, using advanced visualizations has proved invaluable," said Peter Garrett, commercial development manager at The Banks Group. "Photorealistic images and flythroughs are readily understood and appreciated by everyone. Bentley solutions also enable the team to respond to feedback, quickly make design changes, and demonstrate how the input was incorporated in the plans."

Because the 3D models can be produced easily, The Banks Group began using them early in the planning and design process. The models became a natural part of the workflow, helping to speed up design and reduce abortive work by identifying problems sooner.

About The Banks Group

The Banks Group was founded in 1976 and currently employs more than 300 people. The company's main activities include property development and land reclamation, mineral extraction, renewable energy, and waste management. The Banks Group operates throughout the United Kingdom with regional offices in the Midlands, North East and North West of England, and in Scotland.

The company believes that "Development With Care" is central to the aims and objectives of its business. Its commitment to the local community is demonstrated by its striving for total satisfaction in all its dealings, in publishing and adhering to best practice policies, and especially in encouraging community participation in the projects.

www.thebanksgroup.co.uk

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 verticals spans architecture, engineering, construction (AEC) and operations. With revenues now surpassing $400 million annually, and more than 2400 colleagues globally, Bentley is the leading provider of AEC software to the Engineering News-Record Top Design Firms and major owner-operators, and was named the world's No. 2 provider of GIS/geospatial software solutions in a recent Daratech research study.

www.bentley.com

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