Infrastructure spending push renews focus on digital oversight

The U.S. has authorized $1.2 trillion for infrastructure through the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, but Gregg Herrin of Bentley Systems says public agencies still lack enough visibility into the systems they are trying to repair. Herrin, the company’s vice president of water, argues that federal spending will be more effective if operators can track assets in real time and test risks before failures occur.

Herrin says much of the problem sits out of public view. He estimates that about 30 million miles of water lines, sewer systems, power cables and telecom networks run beneath U.S. communities, carrying services that residents often notice only when something breaks.

Recent failures have shown the stakes, according to Herrin. He points to the Francis Scott Key Bridge collapse, sinkholes at LaGuardia that delayed hundreds of flights, and levee failures in Hawaii that left communities exposed to flooding and lasting damage.

Herrin says the more common threat is slower-moving deterioration that builds inside daily operations. In his view, the costs often become clear only after systems are already under strain.

Water demand from data centers

Herrin cites Fayetteville, Georgia, as an example of what can happen when operators lack a full view of demand. He says a data center campus used nearly 29 million gallons of water over 15 months through two pipe connections that county officials did not know existed.

During that period, local officials were asking residents to conserve water because of severe drought conditions, according to Herrin. He says water pressure fell while officials lacked early warnings, clear insight into rising use, or a practical way to act before the system reached its limits.

Herrin says those pressures may increase as data centers expand to support artificial intelligence. He cites Environmental Protection Agency estimates that U.S. data centers used 17.4 billion gallons of water in 2023 and could use 73 billion gallons by 2028.

Data center growth in drought-stressed regions such as the American West could put local systems and communities under added pressure, Herrin says. He argues that real-time metering would have flagged the Fayetteville water draw before the reported 29 million gallons were used.

Digital twins and federal policy

Herrin says real-time alerts are not enough on their own. He argues that infrastructure operators also need predictive systems that can model failures and test scenarios such as drought, population growth or a new hyperscale data center.

One tool he highlights is digital twin technology, which uses virtual models of physical systems. Herrin says the 17th Street Canal pump station in New Orleans used a digital twin to support decisions during storms and help protect 635,000 people, along with assets, businesses and critical industries, from climate-related flooding.

Herrin says predictive tools depend on the quality and accessibility of the data behind them. Although operators collect more infrastructure data than before, he says it often remains split across disconnected systems, limiting their ability to see how networks are performing.

Policy is also part of the answer, according to Herrin. He says the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee advanced the BUILD America 250 Act during Infrastructure Week in Washington, D.C., and that the bill includes a digital infrastructure provision tied to federal transportation policy.

Herrin argues that digital delivery requirements could help public agencies adopt tools already used in parts of the private sector. He says greater visibility would also give taxpayers a clearer view of how federally funded projects improve reliability and resilience.

This story draws on original reporting from Fortune.