The Story Of GPRs

The first vest worn by Matt Aston and GPRS field staff circa 2001.

The GPRS origin story cannot be told without a reference to this project – one that propelled GPRS towards its long history of growth. The Westin Hotel project in Detroit, Michigan provided GPRS with a steady revenue stream for several months, scanning hundreds of coring locations. This project likely would not have been a part of the GPRS story if not for an impromptu sales call in what would become the first “One More Stop.”

In the early days, large concrete scanning projects were a major part of the GPRS story. The Chicago Trump Tower project for Walsh Construction represented an opportunity for GPRS to begin to demonstrate its ability to complete large scanning projects with more than one Project Manager on site at a time.

GPRS added EM locators in 2007. This tool allowed GPRS Project Managers to locate utilities in and below concrete slabs, in addition to being used in combination with GPR for a more comprehensive locate.

Refineries can present enormous safety risks. GPRS was able to partner with the BP refinery in Chicago to locate subsurface voids prior to crane and large equipment deployment. GPRS has since partnered with BP in Toledo, Chicago, and many other refineries to locate voids and utilities.

By 2008, large concrete scanning projects had become a specialty for GPRS. When the Harbor Hospital was going through a large seismic retrofit, they needed to locate structural reinforcement quickly and accurately. GPRS Project Managers from across the US flew in to help on this project.

The Dominion Pipeline project in West Virginia represented one of the first opportunities for GPRS to perform a large-scale utility locate along a pipeline corridor. This Ledcor Group project allowed GPRS to formulate an approach to locating along major pipelines.

The introduction of GPS to our utility locating services improved communication, created the capacity for better deliverables, and increased efficiency on project sites.

Blattner Energy entrusted GPRS to perform utility locating services on one of their windfarms. This project gave the company the opportunity to locate utilities across expansive footprints, allowing us to develop a standard operating procedure for these types of projects.

The introduction of electromagnetic induction (EMI) gave GPRS Project Managers another tool for assistance when searching for subsurface anomalies, especially in areas where GPR is not effective. EMI provided the ability to locate underground storage tanks (USTs), buried drums, larger utilities, and other subsurface objects.

GPRS appears on CBS TV drama, CSI: New York, where Jason Wachter and Jim Cox played background roles as GPR technicians next to series’ leads, Gary Sinise and Melina Kanakaredes.

The Austonian, a 60-story building in downtown Austin, Texas brought in GPRS Project Managers from all over the country. Balfour Beatty cored approximately 800 cores without hitting a PT cable. This project became GPRS’ first major project in Austin and pushed us to hire and bring our first Project Manager to the area.

With the formation of our Sales Team, GPRS built on the core value of Growth Mindedness. This dedicated team continued GPRS’ incredible growth trajectory and allowed our field team to continue its focus on providing excellent customer service.

Rizzoli and Isles utilized GPRS’ Jamie Althauser as a GPR technician during its second season, sharing the screen with lead actresses Angie Harmon and Sasha Alexander.

Because GPRS had already established a national footprint, we were able to perform concrete scanning services at every Kohl’s location across the country. This Davaco project positioned GPRS as the only contractor capable of handling these nationwide, subsurface projects.

In pursuit of 100% subsurface damage prevention, GPRS decided to create a stronger training program to ensure the best results for our customers. This Training Team laid the foundations for Subsurface Investigation Methodology (SIM).

Safety, one of GPRS’ core values, became a pivotal team within GPRS. This Safety Team took on the responsibility of keeping field personnel and customers safe through training, best practices, and hazard awareness.

In 2017, we completed our biggest project to date — bringing in over half-a-million dollars for the Texas market. This cemented a relationship between Chevron and GPRS.

GPRS began conducting in-house repairs and creating CAD files at the corporate office in order to reduce costs and project downtime, allowing Project Managers to get back to servicing our customers more quickly.

GPRS added 3D modeling and mapping to our deliverable offerings.

Through our partnerships with both Encompass Inspections and Master Locators, we launched video pipe inspection (VPI). This new service line granted GPRS the ability to give clients information regarding the location and condition of their water and sewer infrastructure.

After our acquisitions of both NYLD Infrastructure and RadarView, additional services were added, including leak detection, drone imagery, road testing, and concrete inspection. With the introduction of SiteMap^®, our cloud-based map viewer and digital plan room, GPRS continued to widen the gap in 2021.

With the acquisition of TruePoint Laser Scanning, GPRS again exponentially increased its scope. Previously, GPRS focused on locating what is underground, but now can help our clients visualize both the under and aboveground. Through the addition of 3D laser scanning, GPRS can provide 3D point clouds, architectural scanning, as-built creation with 2-4 mm accuracy, and BIM (Building Information Modeling), including drone services, historical building scans, and even large-scale stadium scans that allow the NFL to add additional entertainment value via real-time Mixed Reality elements.

GPRS releases SiteMap^® (patent pending), our project & facility management application that provides accurate existing condition documentation to protect your assets and people. Accessible via computer, tablet or smartphone, SiteMap® allows for 24/7, secure access to, and sharing of the field-verified data collected by GPRS’ SIM and NASSCO-certified Project Managers.

The launch of SiteMap® leads to GPRS being featured in the “bible of the construction industry.” ENR covered GPRS’ origin, the services we provide and the value that SiteMap® brings to our clients. In the process, the publication helped increase our brand awareness with industry thought leaders.

To tailor SiteMap^® to meet every client’s individual needs, GPRS launches its full suite of SiteMap^® subscription tiers. SiteMap® Project allows you to take control of your team, your workflow, and the quality of your as-built information for the duration of your project. SiteMap® Pro gives you what you need to manage your infrastructure from anywhere by securing aggregated, mapped & layered data – from pre-planning through O&M and beyond – whether for one facility or among distributed assets. And SiteMap^® Team empowers your team to collect, upload, and securely share aggregated subsurface and vital as-built information, on any asset GPRS has scanned, to eliminate data bottlenecks, increase oversight & accountability, and put the people you trust in control when you need it most.

You can learn more about the different SiteMap^® subscription tiers by clicking here.

In 2020, GPRS began sponsoring Construction Safety Week, an annual event which sees the construction industry unite around the mission of ensuring every construction worker leaves the job site in the same condition they arrived to it. In our first 4 years hosting CSW events at job sites across the country, we educated 52,000 workers on safe equipment usage, protection from hazards, regular site inspections, risk assessments, and more.

Our commitment to Intelligently Visualizing The Built World^® above and below-ground to reduce damages, create accurate as-builts for any project, and provide industry-leading facility and project management tools was strengthened with the acquisition of Boston-based Existing Conditions. The company, in business for 27 years with its founder, Kurt Yeghian at its helm, has solidified its position as one of the premier 3D laser scanning and visualization firms for architects in the U.S., completing projects like the NYSE, Harvard University, and The Metropolitan Museum of Art, among others.

With this acquisition, GPRS enhances its position as the largest company in the nation providing full site data capture, and provides Existing Conditions with a national footprint.

“Existing Conditions operates with strong core values around ethics, safety, quality, and customer service. We are excited to collaborate with their management team to better serve our customers’ current and future needs.” – Matt Aston