By Rory Linehan, Director of Infrastructure Policy Advancement, Bentley Systems
As the United States marks our 250th anniversary, we have an opportunity not only to reflect on two and a half centuries of nation-building, but also to consider how we will build and modernize the infrastructure that will support the next 250 years of American prosperity.
In recent years, we have been investing in infrastructure at levels not seen in generations. The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) and other federal and state-level initiatives have unlocked trillions of dollars for transportation, water, and energy projects over the past few years. At the same time, ASCE's 2025 Report Card for America's Infrastructure awarded the nation's infrastructure its highest-ever grade of C, reflecting the progress while underscoring the need for continued investment.
Yet funding alone will not determine whether this generation of infrastructure succeeds. Our next challenge is productivity. The United States must find a way to deliver more infrastructure, maintain existing assets more effectively, and generate greater value from every public dollar invested.
Against this backdrop, the BUILD America 250 Act represents an important step forward. Introduced by the U.S. House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee in May, it represents an important evolution in U.S. infrastructure policy. The legislation seeks to pair long-term infrastructure investment with reforms that improve project delivery, encourage innovation, and help infrastructure owners achieve better outcomes.
While the bill is not solely about digital infrastructure, it may prove to be the most significant federal recognition to date that digital delivery, digital twins, and data-driven asset management are becoming essential tools to improve infrastructure productivity.
From an investment challenge to a productivity challenge
The productivity challenge facing infrastructure is difficult to ignore.
The Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond has documented a troubling long-term trend, U.S. construction labor productivity declined by more than 30% between 1970 and 2020, while overall economic productivity roughly doubled during the same period.
This is not simply an American problem. For example, between 2000 and 2021, the global average for construction productivity was only 1%. It’s just that the problem is particularly acute in the United States. Over the same period, American construction productivity declined by 2% annually.
This is reflected by the fact that, globally, over 90% of major infrastructure projects experience cost overruns, schedule delays, or both, and domestically, the U.S. transit maintenance backlog continues to grow despite record federal investment.
These challenges share a common theme. The sector is asking infrastructure to do more while relying on many of the same delivery models that have existed for decades.
Around the world, governments are searching for ways to deliver infrastructure more efficiently and maximize returns on public investment. Increasingly, digital delivery is emerging as one of the most promising solutions.
The importance of digital delivery
Digital delivery is often associated with building information modeling (BIM), reality capture, digital twins, connected data environments, and artificial intelligence. Fundamentally, however, it is about creating and using high-quality information throughout an asset's lifecycle.
BIM provides the digital foundation by creating structured information detailing an asset's design, components, and performance. Digital twins build upon that foundation by connecting those models to operational data, enabling owners to monitor performance, optimize maintenance, and make better investment decisions throughout an asset's life.
This distinction matters because infrastructure assets routinely operate for 80 years or more. Decisions made during planning and design influence construction, operations, maintenance, and, ultimately, replacement. Better information throughout that lifecycle reduces rework, improves collaboration, and increases productivity long after construction has finished.
Improved information also creates the high-quality data upon which emerging technologies, including artificial intelligence, depend.
The global landscape for digital infrastructure
Several countries have moved further and faster in establishing national frameworks for digital infrastructure than the United States.
Denmark mandated the use of BIM on state-funded projects as early as 2007. The construction authority of Singapore has implemented BIM on all the public projects since 2015. The United Kingdom introduced BIM requirements for all public projects in 2016 and subsequently launched the National Digital Twin Programme. More recently, Canada's Future of Infrastructure Group, in partnership with Bentley, released a roadmap outlining how digital twins could support national infrastructure transformation.
There is not a single model for success. Rather, countries are increasingly recognizing that digital delivery is becoming an essential capability for improving infrastructure productivity.
The United States is not starting from scratch. States including Texas, California, New York, and Florida have introduced BIM requirements or guidance for public projects. Federal agencies have also played an important leadership role. Since 2007, the General Services Administration (GSA) has required BIM on major federal building projects, and estimates its use has reduced rework by more than 30%. The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) is advancing a National Strategic Roadmap for BIM to digitalize highway project delivery and asset management. The initiative establishes a 10-year goal for state departments of transportation to transition entirely to BIM-based workflows.
Internationally, many of the U.S.’ peers have pursued coordinated national strategies to accelerate BIM and digital twin adoption across the public sector. The challenge for the United States is whether it can scale digital innovation consistently across thousands of public infrastructure owners through coordinated national and subnational actions. The BUILD America 250 Act begins to answer that question by establishing a clearer federal framework that supports digital delivery while preserving the flexibility for states and agencies to determine how best to implement it.
Why the BUILD America 250 Act matters
The BUILD America 250 Act will not solve America's productivity challenge on its own. Nor does it seek to create a national mandate for BIM or digital twins. For the first time, Congress is beginning to recognize digital delivery not as a standalone technology investment, but as an integral part of modern infrastructure delivery.
The legislation lays the groundwork by recognizing digital infrastructure within federal transportation policy, clarifying that existing federal funding can support digital delivery activities, continuing the Advanced Digital Construction Management Systems (ADCMS) grant program, encouraging digital engineering throughout project development and permitting, and directing further research into emerging digital technologies through the Transportation Research Board. Collectively, these provisions lower barriers to adoption and provide greater certainty for agencies seeking to modernize project delivery.
More importantly, they represent a subtle but important shift in federal infrastructure policy. Rather than focusing solely on how much infrastructure America builds, the legislation begins to recognize that how infrastructure is planned, delivered, operated, and maintained is equally important.
That shift matters because productivity improvements are rarely driven by a single breakthrough. They are achieved by giving infrastructure owners better information, better tools, and greater confidence to innovate.
Build America 250: Can it accelerate digital adoption at a state and local level?
While the BUILD America 250 Act begins to establish a federal policy framework for digital infrastructure, its success will ultimately be measured by whether states and local agencies implement these provisions into better project delivery and asset management.
With up to 90% of U.S. infrastructure owned and operated by state and local governments, digital transformation will largely be driven by the owner-operators responsible for planning, delivering, operating, and maintaining U.S. infrastructure every day. By providing greater policy certainty, clarifying the eligibility of federal funding for digital delivery, and continuing initiatives such as ADCMS, the legislation has the potential to accelerate the adoption of proven digital practices across agencies nationwide.
Across the country, leading agencies are already demonstrating what is possible. The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation has emerged as a national leader in model-based design and digital delivery, using 3D engineering models and digital workflows to improve collaboration, streamline design reviews, reduce rework, and enhance project delivery from planning through construction. Similarly, the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet is applying digital engineering and asset data to improve bridge management and lifecycle decision-making, demonstrating that the value of digital delivery extends well beyond project design into long-term operations and maintenance.
These agencies offer a glimpse of what broader adoption could look like. The BUILD America 250 Act will not replicate these successes overnight, but by providing a clearer policy framework and supporting greater investment in digital delivery, it has the potential to help more owner-operators adopt the technologies and practices that are already improving infrastructure outcomes today.
Building the foundation for AI
Artificial intelligence is rapidly becoming one of the most discussed topics in infrastructure. Yet AI is only as effective as the data that supports it. Digital delivery provides that foundation.
By creating structured, connected, and reliable information throughout the asset lifecycle, digital delivery enables AI applications, ranging from automated design reviews and predictive maintenance, to capital planning and risk management.
A McKinsey report estimates digital twins can improve capital and operational efficiency by between 20% and 30%. It further argues that technologies such as AI, IoT, drones, and advanced analytics become significantly more valuable when supported by high-quality digital infrastructure data.
The BUILD America 250 Act is not an AI bill, but it is important legislation that will help to establish the digital foundations upon which infrastructure AI can flourish to further enhance infrastructure productivity.
What comes next?
The BUILD America 250 Act awaits further congressional debate until the U.S. Senate produces its own transportation authorization package, which is required before a final reconciliation process can begin. The current surface transportation authorization is scheduled to expire on September 30, 2026, meaning Congress may ultimately need to consider an extension of current IIJA funding levels or interim measures as negotiations continue.
Regardless of the legislative pathway, the direction of travel is increasingly clear. Digital delivery will not solve the productivity challenge facing the sector. Permitting reform, procurement modernization, workforce development, resilient supply chains, and innovative financing will all remain essential. But digital delivery is one of the few reforms capable of improving performance across the entire infrastructure lifecycle, from planning and design through construction, operations, maintenance, and renewal.
As the United States celebrates its first 250 years, the BUILD America 250 Act offers an opportunity to begin laying the digital foundations for the next 250. Its lasting contribution may not be measured by the digital technologies it supports, but by the productivity it enables, helping America build, operate, and maintain the infrastructure on which its future prosperity depends.
This article was written by Rory Linehan, Director of Infrastructure Policy Advancement, Bentley Systems and presented by Bentley Systems as part of Bentley Systems' Innovation Partnership with ASCE.
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