Bentley MicroStation
The CAD backbone behind roads, rail and utility networks
What it is
About Bentley MicroStation
MicroStation is Bentley's core CAD platform for infrastructure engineering, offering precise 2D drafting and 3D modelling used in transportation, utilities, water and plant design projects, often at national infrastructure scale. It underpins many of Bentley's specialist applications (OpenRoads, OpenRail, OpenPlant) and is widely used by government agencies and engineering consultancies working on large civil projects, where it competes with Autodesk's Civil 3D. It's known for handling very large, complex, multi-discipline drawing sets reliably.
What you can do with it
Capabilities
Produce precise 2D and 3D drawings for civil and infrastructure projects
Model roads, rail corridors, utilities and plant layouts
Collaborate across large, multi-discipline drawing sets
Integrate with Bentley's specialist OpenRoads/OpenRail/OpenPlant applications
Manage reference files and large-scale project drawing standards
How to learn it
Learning Resources
Complete Bentley Institute's official training courses and learning paths
Review Bentley's free LEARN platform tutorials
Study civil engineering degree courses that include MicroStation modules
Practise with Bentley's free trial licence on a sample infrastructure project
Pro Tip
MicroStation's reference-file and level (layer) system works differently from AutoCAD's — don't assume AutoCAD habits transfer directly, especially around workspaces and DGN vs DWG file handling.
Skills that use this tool
Roles that use this tool