The article that I found is an interesting application to GIS. This describes how, in 1996, TransCanada used GIS to select the best route for an expansion pipeline. I found it interesting because this seems to be one of the first times this type of analysis took place using GIS. It's a route selection analysis very similar to what we did early in the semester in the other course with the corridor analysis. They set the project goals, which were threefold. First, minimize risk to public safety. Second, minimize environmental impact. Third, minimize construction and operation costs.
This particular project used information from already existing digital and map sources and interpreted imagery. They used GIS techniques to include “exclusions, constraints, and opportunities.” When minimizing environmental impacts, they weighted environmentally sensitive areas with heavier constraints. Collocations with already existing rights-of-way were weighted with lower constraints, so the GIS could label them as opportunities. They also weighted river and road crossings heavier, as that would increase construction costs. They also created buffers around urban areas to minimize the impact on the population.
Using these criteria, TransCanada developed several route alternatives. The GIS was able to provide the lengths of the routes and detailed crossings information. They also analyzed the impacts of the different criteria on the various alternative routes. Before selecting a preferred route, more data were gathered based on aerial imagery and ground-truthing. This method became a go to method for other entities for route selection, and it is very similar to scenarios we have seen in the other course.
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