HEROW
Turning decades of infrastructure records into spatially connected operational intelligence.
A secure internal platform connecting historical infrastructure records, geospatial data, and present-day operational context.
Historical information became operational intelligence.
GDMS developed HEROW as a secure internal data management and geospatial platform supporting work performed for the Allegheny County Sanitary Authority.
The project brought together historical easement and right-of-way records, as-built drawings, structured database information, and geographic data that had accumulated across decades.
Rather than treating those materials as separate archives, GDMS created a connected information system that allowed historical property and infrastructure records to be viewed within their present-day geographic context.
The information existed. The connection didn't.
Historical infrastructure information existed across documents, drawings, databases, and geographic records. Understanding an easement or right-of-way required more than finding a document — it required understanding where that historical information existed in relation to current infrastructure and surrounding properties.
Connect the record. Connect the location. Connect the operation.
Collect
Gather historical records, drawings, database information, and supporting source materials.
Structure
Organize and normalize the information so records could be searched, related, and maintained.
Georeference
Position more than 200 historical as-built drawings within geographic space.
Integrate
Relate historical records and drawings to GIS data and present-day infrastructure context.
Operate
Make the connected information searchable, viewable, analyzable, and geographically explorable through HEROW.
The data became a system.
HEROW provided a purpose-built internal interface for searching, viewing, analyzing, and geographically exploring the resulting information.
The system was designed for controlled internal access and deployment through the organization's secure network and VPN environment.
Historical context. Present-day location.
Georeferencing allowed historical easement, right-of-way, and infrastructure information to be understood within current geographic space instead of remaining isolated inside documents and drawings.
One connected operational environment.
Instead of treating historical documents, database records, and geographic information as separate resources, HEROW connected them into one operational environment.
Users could move from a record to its geographic context and compare historical boundaries and rights-of-way against present-day infrastructure and features across a service area spanning 83+ municipalities.
Built years ago. Still defines how we build today.
HEROW established an approach that continues to shape GDMS: understand the information, understand the operation, connect the systems, and build technology around how the work actually needs to happen.