MAPPING WHAT LIES BENEATH
Using radar to find underground pipelines
Pittsburghers are famous for giving directions that go something like: “Go down to where the Isaly’s used to be and turn right.”
Mark Smith says outdated maps of underground pipelines buried decades ago are just as useless. They reference buildings, trees and other landmarks that disappeared long ago. That makes locating them difficult and expensive.
So, trying to find a century-old pipeline when new construction is being done on the property where it is located is often a hit or miss proposition, said Mr. Smith, chairman and CEO of Geospatial Corp.
The Buffalo Township company is trying to bring more precision to maps of natural gas pipelines, water lines and other underground infrastructure.
Relying on ground-penetrating radar — technology similar to that used by MRI machines — and other equipment, the company’s GeoUnderground software composes a 3-D map of underground pipelines.
Digital data from the maps precisely locates leaks and determines how serious they are. The Google Cloud-based data can be uploaded to the cell phones of field personnel, engineers and others.
Mr. Smith said the software is so easy to use “that we sometimes joke and call it GIS for dummies.”
“I believe there is an opportunity to create [underground] what Google created above ground,” he said.
He expects federal legislation enacted last year that imposed stricter requirements for mapping underground energy pipelines and managing data related to them will be a big boost for Geospatial. Filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission indicate the company, which employs 10, could use a lift.
A $1.2 million loss last year and a $532,936 loss in the first half of this year brought Geospatial’s accumulated deficit to $42.4 million.
The company collected