Smarter Subsurface Intelligence with IQMaps

Getting a reliable understanding of what lies underground is often one of the hardest parts of utility investigations and site evaluation. When the subsurface is crowded or unclear, uncertainty becomes a real obstacle for planning and design.

IQMaps, developed by IDS GeoRadar, helps manage and reduce that uncertainty.This software application for advanced GPR data analysis, provides a fast interfacing between the user and the GPR data with real time processing, and 3D visualization that makes it easier to work through large datasets and confirm what is actually below ground.

A step by step workflow helps users review each swath of data and compare it with existing information to identify utilities or features that might otherwise be missed.

Langan’s Louisville, Kentucky team is part of an American firm with more than 50 years of experience and projects completed in over 100 countries. For this project, a two person crew carried out both survey and SUE activities, applying traditional survey practices alongside advanced utility investigation methods to deliver accurate and dependable results.

Navigating a complex industrial site with precision

The project involved Level B Subsurface Utility Engineering across roughly ten acres of an active distillery in Louisville. For a clearer understanding of the subsurface, Langan combined electromagnetic locating, traditional survey data, and GPR acquisition using the IDS GeoRadar Stream DP multi-array GPR system, powered by patented EsT technology.

Langan incorporated IQMaps directly into its established SUE and survey workflow, using the software as the central platform where all field and record information converged.
IQMaps proved especially effective in congested areas of the site, validating multiple field locates, highlighting utilities that EM locating alone could not confirm, and on larger datasets it consistently delivered the clarity needed to interpret complexity and strengthen the accuracy of the final utility map.

Overcoming interpretation challenges and strengthening confidence in the results

Field data collection progressed efficiently once the coverage strategy was established, but the real complexity emerged during post processing where the team needed confirm true utility alignments and determine which detections required further evaluation.

IQMaps streamlined this effort by unifying all inputs within a single, intuitive workspace that helped validate known utilities and reveal additional ones for a more confident understanding of the underground network.

Conclusions: a smart approach to Utility Mapping

“IQMaps proved critical to the success of our project” says Gus Silveira, Staff Surveyor II at Langan “It quickly became an intuitive workspace for reviewing each swath and its in‑depth analysis workflow strengthened our interpretation confidence.”

Langan’s work at the Louisville distillery demonstrated how IQMaps can strengthen the accuracy and confidence of subsurface investigations, particularly in environments where traditional methods alone fall short.

With IQMaps integrated into their workflow, Langan was capable of delivering a new utility map that more accurately reflected the true conditions of the site and supported the client’s planning and design needs, combining strong field practices with advanced post processing tools and setting the stage for continued improvements in interpretation and documentation of complex subsurface environments.

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