New and emerging technologies, such as drones fitted with sensors, BIM (building information modeling), autonomous vehicles and blockchain, to name a few, are being touted as keys to more productive and efficient operations, and in today’s low-return environment, eking out every bit of value from infrastructure investments is increasingly important.

While mass acceptance and usage of some new technologies may still be a ways off due to safety, regulatory or policy issues, they can impact infrastructure assets today. Autonomous vehicles, for example, are now used along with drones to support transportation and export infrastructure around mining sites, and are starting to be used for other civil infrastructure projects. At the same time, BIM technology is well on the road to becoming ubiquitous.

Improving productivity with an integrated BIM approach

AECOM surveyed 500 infrastructure professionals for its recent report The Future of Infrastr