Inversa set to commercialize infrastructure scanning device

By Rebecca Penty, Telegraph Journal | original article

A Fredericton firm is commercializing a money-saving diagnostic tool for civil infrastructure just as governments attempt to rein in spending.

Inversa Systems Ltd. is ready to market a product that detects problems with roadway culverts and other infrastructure much like a medical CT or CAT scan.

The technology, called backscatter computed tomography, was recently validated through testing for the New Brunswick Department of Transportation.

According to the department, Inversa saved the province about $250,000 from its analysis of just one culvert, which led to simple repair work rather than a planned replacement.

The province faces a round of rehabilitations and replacements for the ageing culverts – conduits for water that support roadways.

And the existing situation was potentially made much worse by flooding thanks to a storm surge just before Christmas on coastal routes in southeastern New Brunswick.

Inversa has been developing a commercial product based on the idea of its CEO Jake Arsenault since the Moncton native took his PhD work at the University of New Brunswick to the New Brunswick Innovation Foundation for a first round of funding in 2004.

The technology Arsenault and his colleagues refined and readied for market can capture an image of the inside of any concrete, steel or composite object.

Now, Inversa is about to approach provincial and state transportation departments with its civil infrastructure solution.

The firm is also nearing commercialization for a similar tool that looks at fibreglass pipes used in the chemical process market.

And it's forming relationships with service companies and producers in the offshore oil and gas industry that make that market next in line, according to company president John Bowles, who spoke by phone in an interview Tuesday from St. John's, where he was meeting with industry players.

« The offshore market is prime for us and we're forming the proper partnerships to go commercial with that, » Bowles said.

The slower-moving aerospace sector – controlled by long-term military spending – is also on the horizon for Inversa, which is constantly doing research and development work to identify new targets for its patented technology.

« The business model works better the more applications we have, » Bowles said.

Inversa's small contract to assess six culverts for the New Brunswick Department of Transportation starting last summer was meant to get a better picture of problems with culverts scheduled for replacement, according to James Hoyt, the department's assistant director of design who heads up the materials and research section.

« Most of the culverts were installed in the '60s or '70s, » Hoyt said.

Analysis of the images Inversa captured showed that one culvert only needed small repairs.

Inversa's tool adds to a culvert inspection program by the department that Hoyt calls « thorough, » but not bullet-proof.

« The only snag is that inspection is mostly visible so you can't see what's behind the culvert, » he explained.

Inversa's scanning device could also identify whether repairs and replacements actually fix problems, since it's not always evident if water has washed away the soil and rock that supports the culverts, creating pockets.

« There could be large voids and the rehabilitation is not sufficient. You could do a rehab and the culvert could fail, » Hoyt said.

Bowles said the priciest part of replacing a culvert is the cost associated with closing roads, which creates traffic detours that might require expensive signs and having crew on hand to guide vehicles.

« It's about a 75 per cent cost savings if you can repair (the culvert) versus replace, » Bowles said.

In the busiest U.S. jurisdictions the company is targeting, cost savings could be up to $7 million for one culvert repaired instead of replaced, he said.

Inversa is eyeing the deeply buried, larger diameter culverts, which are more expensive.

« We're not talking about little culverts that run underneath your driveway. »