TrustRadius Insights for OpenRoads Designer are summaries of user sentiment data from TrustRadius reviews and, when necessary, third party data sources.
Pros
Reliable Performance: Many users have praised the product for its reliable performance. They state that it consistently meets their expectations and performs well over time. Whether it's handling demanding tasks or running smoothly during extended use, users appreciate the product's ability to deliver consistent and dependable performance.
User-Friendly Interface: Several reviewers mention the user-friendly interface of the product. They appreciate how easy it is to navigate and use, making their experience enjoyable and hassle-free. The intuitive layout, clear menus, and responsive controls make it effortless for users to quickly access features and customize settings according to their preferences. This streamlined interface enhances overall usability and ensures a positive user experience.
Good Customer Support: Some users express satisfaction with the customer support provided by the company. They find the support team helpful, responsive, and prompt in addressing any queries or concerns. Whether through email, phone calls, or live chat, customers report receiving timely assistance from knowledgeable representatives who go above and beyond to resolve issues effectively. The quality customer support adds value to their overall experience with the product
We design highways. I feel ORD is a failure and it does not allow you to predicted time and cost. From my experience, you have a working model one day then the next day the model is corrupted upon opening. We feel we spend more time debugging and fixing problems than we spend on actual production. We open a model to preform a 5 minute task and due to ORD failures it will take 8 hours to get the model fixed before you perform your 5 minute task. In my opinion ORD is garbage. Stay away.
Pros
I feel ORD fails at being reliable.
I feel ORD fails at being useful
I feel ORD fails at controlling production time
I feel ORD fails at controlling production cost
Cons
Reliability
not corrupting work
having a UI that does not require a minor in computer science
Likelihood to Recommend
I have not found scenarios where OpenRoads Designer (ORD) is well suited.
We are using it for all the infrastructure (road) projects we work on. We use it for design, analysis, and plan production of the infrastructure projects from start to end of the design period.
Pros
Comprehensive Design and Modeling tool
Model Centric Plan production connecting 3D model to 2D Plans
Great tool for Digital Design Delivery to Construction
Great Clash detection with all proposed and existing features
Cons
Buggy at times and crashes
Requires a lot of training to use the tools effectively
Model management requires some work
Likelihood to Recommend
It is very suitable for any widening, reconstruction, or new road projects where we need to look at the different alternativeor alignments in 3D and then produce 2D plans using the 3D model
Not best for road projects with just milling and resurfacing as we wont be using the strong model-centric tools.
OpenRoads Designer is used at SMEC South Africa in the design and modelling of roads and highways projects. We use it to develop the entire design from concept through to detail design, plans production, and visualisation.
OpenRoads Designer is used almost exclusively by the Roads and Highways Function at SMEC, although we are trying to expand its usage into Urban Development and Construction & Pavements.
OpenRoads Designer addresses the issue of being required to develop multiple feasible design solutions rapidly without as much effort as a simple CAD package would require.
Pros
Integration with other disciplines. If one uses Bentley's companion products like OpenBridge Modeler or OpenSite Designer, there is no need to export any design information to other disciplines as the .dgn files can be directly referenced into other applications.
Visualisation - ORD comes bundled with a free version of LumenRT which produces amazing engineering and architectural renderings and can even be used in VR applications.
Design Environment. Being based on the DGN file format is brilliant - being able to have multiple models within a single file has so many advantages over the DWG file format.
Cons
This may only be applicable to South Africa, but training and product support definitely need a lot of improvement.
Some tools are over complicated and no simpler tool is provided. There is a bit of an obsession with preserving design intent to the point that making simple geometry edits is a really tedious task.
Usage of hardware. The software has mostly been programmed for single thread operations - so if you have 8 cores, only 1 will be used. It's a real shame of system resources to not use all of those cores to cut production time!
Drawing production - especially exporting drawings to DWG format is a massive pain.
Graphics Engine - seeing what game engines are capable of in their 3D working environments makes me wonder why all engineering software can't perform similarly.
Likelihood to Recommend
ORD is really focused on modeling of roads infrastructure projects, but includes a few design workflows that are in other disciplines such as stormwater and drainage design and site modeling tools for developments. This is really handy because you don't need a third-party application that you have to transfer your design files over to to carry on with the project. Including LumenRT for free with ORD is by far the most helpful feature because of the visualisation capabilities which most software does not include.
ORD is well-suited for what the name of the product says - designing roads. I wouldn't say there are any scenarios in road design that it is less appropriate for.
Due to client requirement for an Infra project to be done using the Bentley system, only some in the Infra team have picked up OpenRoads (with the rest still stay on Autodesk products). Though it took a fair bit of trying to understand the workings methods and environment of OpenRoads (especially for those transitioning from older versions), once familiar was quite helpful in speeding up modelling works. However adding linked geometric data (e.g. volume, area etc.), non-geometric data (e.g. material type, grade etc.) and "smart" structural openings to model components is still heavily manual and a pain when there's changes.
Pros
Creating linear models, since the app is based on alignment models and templates to extrude along the alignment.
Precise long section/profile along horizontal alignment. The app practically flatten the horizontal alignment for profile generation.
Template control. Though the template creation takes a bit of effort to create due to the point rulings. However when done right allows the model to be specifically modified with use of functions like super-elevation, point control, widening, parametric etc.
Cons
Creating data. Currently will need to create data tag (e.g. volume, length, material type, material engineering criteria etc.) of component manually. Some of the commonly use data in AECOsim should be preset in OpenRoads.
Ability to link geometric data values to geometric properties. Currently not linked (e.g. volume value, length value etc.) and had to be keyed in and/or changed manually.
Opening (eg. for MEP interface) creation and modification still manual. There should be a smart opening creation that would create openings at interface location and auto enclose the mesh opening so that the volume will take into account the opening(s) created.
Likelihood to Recommend
For any linear model creation that follows an alignment. Not suitable to vertical modelling like Buildings.
