Transport infrastructure is a fundamental cornerstone for mobility of the population and also functions as a motor for the economy. New digital methods along the value chain will be used to digitally support the process in the future, from the very first project idea, through tendering and construction to the maintenance of infrastructure projects. The four levers of digital transformation – data, automation, networks and access – will have a significant impact on this process in infrastructure construction. Networking of data sources and storage of data in off‐grid databases is already possible, a development which enables project participants to analyse the construction data, process it and at the same time use it as a documentation basis during the development phase and for later maintenance measures. Such a well‐founded digital database can be used to evaluate, optimize and completely document construction‐related processes. This paper deals with various digital application areas in infrastructure construction and provides an overview of digitalisation developments in this field.

The digitalisation of construction‐related processes will increasingly penetrate the individual development phases of tunnel construction projects (design, construction and operation). The digital transformation will affect all tunnelling processes through its four key levers: ”digital data, automation, networks and digital access“. Topics such as Industry 4.0, digital twins, Building Information Modelling or Lean Management will lead to a rethink in the construction industry. The constant use of data sources and the storage of data in independent databases is already possible. This makes it possible for the project participants to analyse collected construction‐related data, to process it and to make it available through an online portal. This results in the possibility to evaluate, optimize and document construction processes on a well‐founded data base. Complex construction management systems will be described with digital models, and the use of digital knowledge systems will support the decision‐making process for stakeholders. The fundamental philosophy of the New Austrian Tunnelling Method should not be called into question by standardised calculation algorithms and tunnelling software. In this contribution, visionary future trends are outlined for cyclical and continuous tunnelling methods, which should stimulate a controversial discussion.

The works contract for cyclic driving ÖNORM B 2203‐1 has made a significant contribution to the successful completion of numerous tunnel construction projects in the last four decades. As part of a required update in the industry, no reason was seen to change the set of rules of the present classification system and the essential principles of the existing standard. The focus of the revision has therefore been – on the basis of the experience of the last decades in the implementation of tunnelling projects – on the one hand in the analysis and rating of support elements and additional measures and on the other hand in the provisions of the standard for water implications. Through these updates, in good old tunnel construction tradition, cooperative project management on a high constructional level will continue to be ensured.

The successful management of big tunnelling projects requires the complete documentation of technical and financial data as well as their ongoing evaluation. The current study reviews the possibilities for digital documentation of tunnel construction with the subsequent integration of this data with an invoicing software. It suggests an implementation model, a building information modeling (BIM) project element list and a digital on‐site data recording tool for a workflow in New Austrian Tunnelling Method (NATM) projects. This digital resource enables central data management that improves and speeds up automated invoicing processes.