Emprise and Bedrock Launch DOT SBIR to Advance Railroad Geohazard Risk Forecasting
September 17, 2025
Environmental engineering firm Emprise Concepts has partnered with Bedrock to kick off a new Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I contract with the United States Department of Transportation (USDOT). The project will focus on developing a geohazard susceptibility and risk forecasting tool for railroads, addressing one of the most pressing safety and infrastructure challenges facing the nation’s transportation system.
The Phase I work will focus on Alaska’s rail network. This 656-mile system is a vital economic and social lifeline with national security implications, moving more than half a million passengers and 3.5 million tons of freight each year. But the system faces continual threats from geohazards such as landslides, rockfall, avalanches, flooding, permafrost thaw, and other dynamic conditions that can cause disruptions or even catastrophic failures.
The new SBIR effort will integrate historical, real-time, and forecasted data into a monitoring and alerting system. By combining Emprise’s deep expertise in geotechnical/geological engineering and civil infrastructure risk with Bedrock’s multi-modal AI and remote sensing capabilities, the project will advance tools that help rail operators detect, forecast, and respond to hazards before they escalate into costly issues.
“We are excited to be partnering with Bedrock to explore how their technology, which has demonstrated success in other sectors, can be applied to the geohazards and geotechnical engineering sector,” said Noah Kimmes, Geological Engineer at Emprise Concepts and Principal Investigator for this SBIR effort. “SBIR efforts supporting R&D efforts like this are essential for the continued advancement of the civil engineering sector as a whole.”
Over the six-month Phase I effort, the team will:
Advance geohazard modeling using AI/ML to detect and forecast landslides, debris flows, and rockfall
Integrate satellite imagery, weather, and sensor data into real-time monitoring pipelines
Prototype predictive risk models that shift rail safety from reactive response to proactive prevention
Validate performance through historical case studies along the Alaska Railroad
“Transportation lifelines like railroads operate in some of the most geologically dynamic terrain on Earth,” said Kevin LaTourette, CEO of Bedrock Research. “This project brings together AI, remote sensing, and engineering expertise to better anticipate risks and deliver actionable intelligence where it matters most.”
This project builds on Bedrock’s mission to separate the signal from the noise in complex, high-stakes environments, and demonstrates how cross-sector partnerships can bring the best of AI and engineering together for national infrastructure resilience.