Introducing NEXTWave Rail™ as a risk management solution for railway infrastructure planning and maintenance
Unique risk analytic leveraged to evaluate culvert and track vulnerabilities of railway infrastructure
DENVER, Jan. 11, 2022 /CNW/ - Intermap Technologies (TSX: IMP) (OTCQX: ITMSF) ("Intermap" or the "Company"), a global leader in geospatial content development and intelligence solutions, today announced a new contract with a Class 1 North American railway company for flood and fire risk management.
There are seven Class 1 freight railroads in North America, each with revenue greater than $250 million. These railway companies are often confronted with large and unexpected expenses in repairing tracks that are washed out by flooding or obstructed and damaged by wildfire debris. Under the contract announced today, Intermap will provide flood and fire risk management along railway infrastructure through its NEXTWave Rail™ application.
Additional expense and safety hazards result if derailments occur from natural catastrophes. In April 2019, over two dozen Union Pacific train cars derailed due to weakened tracks caused by flooding in Fort Worth, Texas (source). Track damages can also impact the greater supply chain, as seen during the flooding in British Columbia in November 2021 (link). With Intermap's NEXTWave Rail application for flood and wildfire risk management, railway companies can plan and maintain culvert systems to help prevent washouts and implement wildfire mitigation strategies in high-risk areas near tracks.
To design a risk analytic for the railway sector, Intermap leveraged its expertise in flood management for the insurance industry, InsitePro®. The Company's new rail solution assesses railway culvert vulnerability by considering the location, size and age of the railway infrastructure, along with its proprietary elevation data and flood and fire models to provide a culvert vulnerability score through a single application. The vulnerability score will help railways prioritize which culverts require maintenance and when they need to be replaced without sending a team to do the assessment on-site. The culvert vulnerability analytic will support railways with insight into the topography and the frequency and severity of flood risk to decrease yearly cost from washouts and improve safety.
In March 2019, there were historic floods in the Midwest of the United States that resulted in BNSF and Union Pacific rail disruptions. The companies estimated that weekly rail volumes originating or starting out of the western U.S. were 12.5% lower for the week of the flood compared with the same period the previous year. In contrast, rail volumes originating from the eastern U.S. were 2.2% higher. Source
In November 2021, British Columbia experienced extreme floods and mudslides that damaged roads and railway lines and closed transportation routes for three weeks. It ranks among the costliest natural disasters in Canada's history, with damages of approximately $7.5 billion. Based on 2017 data that was extrapolated forward, it's estimated that $300-350 million worth of goods are traded between BC and the rest of Canada per day by rail and road. This means that the transportation disruption resulted in a loss of approximately $2-2.5 billion per week. This loss does not include the infrastructure damages, so the total cost of the disaster is much higher. Source
"Intermap's entry into the railway industry with this new contract will enable railway operators to assess and implement flood and wildfire risk mitigation strategies to prevent costly repairs and shutdowns of rail lines," said Patrick A. Blott, Intermap Chairman and CEO. "Leveraging our unique, patented technology and IP, Intermap is able to expand into new industries, like railway, where companies can benefit from Intermap's seamless, consistent and globally available elevation data and analytics to assess infrastructure with the same quality and accuracy across countries around the world."