State-of-the-art technology will be used to detect cracks or corrosion in industrial and civil infrastructure

It happened in a flash. As chunks of concrete gave way, the Laval overpass collapsed onto a highway linking the suburb to the Island of Montreal, crushing cars underneath.

The catastrophe left five people dead and led to a public inquiry into what caused the structure to give way and how a similar disaster could be prevented.

Now, three years later, a Fredericton-based company has developed a state-of-the-art technology that could be used to detect cracks or corrosion in industrial and civil infrastructure.

Inversa Systems Ltd., based at the University of New Brunswick, is developing an imaging technology that can take a picture inside any concrete, steel or composite object.

"It can quickly and economically detect anomalies in the structures that could lead to equipment failures," said Jake Arsenault, chief executive officer of Inversa Systems

The Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency, along with the National Research Council of Canada, announced Monday it will provide Inversa Systems with more than $670,000 to help develop and commercialize the imaging technology.

"The funding will help this company develop made-in-New Brunswick imaging technology," said ACOA Minister Keith Ashfield during the announcement at UNB's Head Hall. "This can be used by a wide range of industries to save time and money, both in Atlantic Canada and around the world."

Arsenault said once the technology is commercialized, it can be used for industrial inspection of petro-chemical and power generation facilities as well as civil infrastructure like overpasses and bridges.

"The technology is like a CAT scan for infrastructure that can be interpreted to determine whether maintenance of the structure or replacement is needed," he said. "The end-user of our technology would be big industry but our customers would be inspection companies."

John Bowles, the company's vice-president, said the technology could also become an essential tool for engineers evaluating the state of civil infrastructure.

"If a bridge has a piece of concrete falling off and there are rust stains," Bowles said, "we can determine where it's coming from under the surface without drilling or shutdowns."

The collapse of the Laval overpass is a perfect example of how the technology could be used, Bowles said.

"We can look inside the structure to see if the rebars (support rods) are placed properly or rotting," he said. "The technology can pick up on any disintegration without compromising the integrity of the structure through core sampling."

ACOA is investing $325,677 in repayable assistance to Inversa Systems to be used toward the development and commercialization of the imaging technology. NRC is providing $344,441 in both technical and business oriented advisory services.

In addition to civil infrastructure, the Inversa Sytems technology can be used like X-ray technology for heavy industry.

Arsenault says in a facility like the Irving Oil refinery, the technology would allow inspectors to check large pipes and chambers for corrosion or cracks without shutting down production.

"This could save companies millions," said Arsenault.

The 33 year-old CEO started the research during his engineering PhD at UNB.

"By the time I graduated in 2005 the start-up was already off the ground," he said.

Once Bowles, 28, graduated from his master's in engineering several months later, he joined the company as vice-president.

"We've got a fairly young company," said Bowles. "Everyone is in the 27 to 35 year-old range. People tell us we need to add some grey hair and we've done that through our board of directors and advisory panels."

Meanwhile although Arsenault is enjoying being at the helm of the tech company, he calls himself an entrepreneur at heart.

"If we want to scale up business I'm fine with bringing in someone else with more experience," he said. "What's important is that we grow the company and capture as much of the market we can."