Monday, September 21. Northeastern United States. Within minutes, five major airports ground to a halt. Thousands of flights were cancelled, tens of thousands of passengers were stranded, and the economic damage quickly soared to billions of dollars. The reason: a single excavator bucket at a construction site in New Jersey accidentally struck a fiber-optic cable buried underground. This incident is not uncommon. Each year, such excavation accidents cost the American industry alone over 83 billion dollars. For decades, damage to underground infrastructure was considered "fate," a calculated risk simply priced into massive budgets. Until RodRadar arrived.
A revolution in the operator's cab: Turning the damaging bucket into a warning and preventing factor
The Israeli company RodRadar, led by founders Moshe Dalman and Yossi Gershon, decided to tackle the problem precisely at its point of origin: the excavator bucket itself. "The company's vision is: Zero Strike – zero damage to infrastructure," explains Moshe Dalman, the CEO. "We developed a unique radar solution, Live Dig Radar®, which is powered by advanced algorithms and machine learning systems. The radar is an integral part of the bucket and can identify any type of infrastructure in any type of soil, while overcoming extreme environmental conditions. The system provides accurate real-time information to the operator, allowing them to be cautious and prevent damage before it occurs."
Yossi Gershon, the company's Chief Strategist, adds: "We are transforming the bucket that causes damage and strikes – into a positive, warning factor, and a source of verified information. For the operator, it looks and works like a completely normal bucket, only it no longer causes harm. This is a true game changer in a field that hasn't seen technological innovation in decades."
How it works: 3 seconds that save millions in costs
What's special about RodRadar's technology lies in its ease of operation in the field:
1. Placement and scanning: The operator places the bucket on the ground and moves it for only 2–3 seconds.
2. Data processing:
As the bucket moves, the radar scans the ground beneath it and detects buried utilities in real time.
3. Immediate response: The data is streamed directly to the operator's cab, displaying a clear indication: whether there is infrastructure, its distance and its precise depth.
"The operator is no longer blind," Gershon notes. "He performs an accurate assessment and neutralizes the risk."
And how long does it take to learn how to operate the system? "One hour of training is all it takes. After that, any operator can use it with confidence.," Dalman promises.
Beyond damage prevention: The underground data revolution
Beyond preventing the immediate disaster at the moment of excavation, every operation performed with RodRadar's bucket generates a new and unprecedented asset: verified real-time underground information (Live As-Built Data).
Yossi Gershon: "Until today, the entire supply chain of the infrastructure industry - from municipalities and gas, electricity and water companies, to insurance companies and planners - relied on old, partial and outdated maps. We are changing the equation: every excavation with our bucket becomes a verified scan. We are not just selling a bucket or a radar, but building the most reliable and up-to-date database in the world on what is truly buried underground (Ground Truth). This information is streamed directly to clients' management and GIS systems, closing an information gap of decades."
Exclusive technology with dozens of patents
According to Dalman, the system's development took years and involved particularly complex engineering challenges, leading to the registration of 28 technological patents. "Soil is a very complicated matter; every change in it affects the ability to identify infrastructure," Gershon elaborates. "We had to develop a unique radar that could identify any infrastructure from a very close range. Furthermore, we had to embed sensitive electronics within a hostile and extreme environment: a 40-ton excavator scraping Earth generates severe shocks along with working in very harsh environmental conditions, and the system must withstand all of this."
No less of a challenge was the human interface. "We had to take all this complex information and make it accessible in real time to a person under high workload who is not a technology expert, in a fast, simple way that would not disrupt their work pace," Dalman explains.
Giant Caterpillar is already in: Meteoric growth in the global market
RodRadar was founded in 2013, began developing the smart bucket in 2016, and commercially launched it in 2024. Since then, the pace has only accelerated:
Millions of dollars in annual sales in the U.S., Europe and the Far East.
Strategic partnerships with mechanical equipment giant Caterpillar and construction technology company Trimble.
Leading end-customers such as Garney and Network Plus, some of whom are already purchasing hundreds of units.
Series B funding: The company is currently in the process of raising tens of millions of dollars for global expansion.
"The market understands that we are the operator's last line of defense, the safety belt that prevents disaster and shutdown," Gershon says.
Dalman adds: "At the same time, the product has become a green solution that protects the environment and dense urban infrastructure. Our clients save millions of dollars and receive a return on investment (ROI) of hundreds of percent. This is a tool the industry has been waiting for.."
The Israeli radar descends into the depths of the Earth
When the founders are asked why such a solution hadn't been invented until today, their answer is unequivocal: many mapping companies exist, but all operate above ground and not within the excavation process itself. RodRadar is the only one in the world that addresses the moment of truth - when the bucket touches the ground. "Israel is known worldwide for its advanced radar technologies in the air," Gershon concludes, "We are bringing these capabilities to the ground, or more precisely, underground. Our mission now is for the entire industry to understand and embrace the company's vision: Zero Strikes. There are millions of excavators working daily, completely "blind", around the world, regularly damaging infrastructure, even marked ones. Their encounter with us changes the world they knew. When our client sees a difference between 'before' and 'after,' they understand the magnitude of the change - and when they examine the balance sheet, they also understand the profit generated."
For more info: Rodradar.com
Partnered with RodRadar
