Exelon Demonstration

Laurel, MD. March, 2023

Intelligent Mapping, with excavation assistance from BTR, was tasked with mapping a six-inch duct for Baltimore Gas & Electric in Laurel, Maryland. This presented Intelligent Mapping an excellent opportunity to field test our 6" device in a real-world environment.

The demonstration run ran from the east side of Stephens Road (#1 on the map), approximately 750' west, adjacent to the next set of handholes (#2 on the map).

Engineering Map Run Start

Engineering Map Run End

Intelligent Mapping arrived at the worksite with the goal of mapping over 2,000' of the six-inch duct that ran from the east side of Stephens Road to near the Amazon data center to the west. IM was contracted to map a spare duct that was buried alongside four other electric/telecom ducts that were run through handholes along the same path.


In order to map the duct, Intelligent Mapping contracted with BTR to help excavate the ends of the duct. To excavate the safely and efficiently, a vacuum excavator was deployed so that the conduit carrying electricity was not threatened.

By locating buried marker balls that were near the end of the spare run of pipe the excavation team was able to easily unearth the pipe end at points #1 & #2.

Vacuum Excavation Hole #1

However, when working to unearth points 3 & 4 the team was unable to find the ends of the spare run of pipe. Intelligent Mapping is working with BG & E and BTR to return the job site with sufficient resources to find these pipe ends and install handholes for easy future access.

Unable to Locate Duct End at Point #3

Once the run of point #1 to point #2 was established, the run required preparation for the demonstration. This included vacuuming out the pipe, draining water from the excavation site, and pulling a sponge and brush mandrel through the pipe.

Flooded Excavation Area

Vacuuming the Duct


Once the duct was prepared for pulling the device. The end points were gathered with a Trimble R12i and the runs were created in the Intelligent Mapping application.

End Points

During the demonstration we were able to pull the device four times, going each direction twice. The Intelligent Mapping team was able to show the capability of the application and device to the Exelon and BG&E teams, answering questions, and make the case that the Intelligent Mapping can provide great value and ease to their quality control and as-builting process.

3D Run Preview

XY Position Graph

Depth Profile

Pipe Curvature & Bend Radius

Intelligent Mapping has presented and sent the run data to Exelon/BG&E for their own analysis and consideration. Intelligent Mapping looks forward to mapping the rest of the segments and continuing the conversation with Exelon.


After the demonstration, Intelligent Mapping went on to collect the survey data needed to create a surface elevation layer so that a depth of the pipe could be calculated.

Using the Trimble R12i mounted to a backpack, John Coleman set out to walk a grid over the path of the duct mapped with the Intelligent Mapping device. The terrain was highly varied, including a stream crossing, impenetrable brush & thorns, and wetlands; quality surface points were collected despite the rough terrain.

Path of the Intelligent Mapping Device in ArcGIS Pro

Collected Surface Points

In ArcGIS Pro, a TIN surface layer is created with the surface points from the R12i. An analysis can be performed using this layer to append surface elevation information to the IM device run data so that depth can be calculated by subtracting the pipe elevation from the surface elevation.

TIN Elevation Layer

Providing surface elevation will be a key deliverable that we can provide to our customers. Precise depth, in addition to precise duct location, will set Intelligent Mapping apart from the competition and will be key to our business moving forward.

Sample Depth Data



Thanks to John Schultz, Bobby Rigsby, Scott Brunson, & John Coleman from the Intelligent Mapping team.

Intelligent Mapping thanks BTR for their hard work with locating and excavating the duct.


Intelligent Mapping Operations

2023

Intelligent Mapping Operations

John Coleman

Engineering Map Run Start

Engineering Map Run End

Vacuum Excavation Hole #1

Unable to Locate Duct End at Point #3

Flooded Excavation Area

Vacuuming the Duct

End Points

3D Run Preview

XY Position Graph

Depth Profile

Pipe Curvature & Bend Radius

Path of the Intelligent Mapping Device in ArcGIS Pro

Collected Surface Points

TIN Elevation Layer

Sample Depth Data