Geo-environmental assessment to identify a least-cost road in Ghana

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Název: Geo-environmental assessment to identify a least-cost road in Ghana
Autoři: Kursah, Matthew Biniyam
Rok vydání: 2016
Sbírka: Monash University: Figshare
Témata: monash:130369, 1959.1/977120, Geographic Information System, GIS, Costs layer, Geo-environmental factors, Least-cost path, Thematic costs layer, Weighted overlay, collection(s) Applied GIS, Type journal article
Time: 2014, 1832-5505
Popis: Unlike many studies which simply generate least-cost paths, this paper develops a geospatial methodology for amalgamating many geo-environmental factors in order to determine the costs of construction for predefined or existing roads. The geo-environmental factors used were elevation, presence of watercourses, soil characteristics and land cover type. They were reclassified to cost values/attribute weights based upon their impact on road construction, and they were then combined, using the weighted overlay tool in ArcMap, to generate a thematic cost layer. The total construction cost for each road was then extracted from this layer using the Extract by Mask tool. Although the cheapest road was longer, it was less costly by 3.2%, mainly because of its higher elevation, avoidance of major valleys, suitable soils and less problematic land cover, all of which reduced the need for cut-and-fill and culverts. It is suggested, therefore, that government agencies adopt this powerful technique for reliable and well integrated road planning and assessment. Nevertheless, the method could be improved by including additional factors such as proneness to floods and access to people and socioeconomic activities.
Druh dokumentu: article in journal/newspaper
Jazyk: unknown
DOI: 10.4225/03/57e0b554c5399
Dostupnost: https://doi.org/10.4225/03/57e0b554c5399
https://figshare.com/articles/journal_contribution/Geo-environmental_assessment_to_identify_a_least-cost_road_in_Ghana/3840534
Rights: CC BY 4.0
Přístupové číslo: edsbas.917DFF07
Databáze: BASE
Popis
Abstrakt:Unlike many studies which simply generate least-cost paths, this paper develops a geospatial methodology for amalgamating many geo-environmental factors in order to determine the costs of construction for predefined or existing roads. The geo-environmental factors used were elevation, presence of watercourses, soil characteristics and land cover type. They were reclassified to cost values/attribute weights based upon their impact on road construction, and they were then combined, using the weighted overlay tool in ArcMap, to generate a thematic cost layer. The total construction cost for each road was then extracted from this layer using the Extract by Mask tool. Although the cheapest road was longer, it was less costly by 3.2%, mainly because of its higher elevation, avoidance of major valleys, suitable soils and less problematic land cover, all of which reduced the need for cut-and-fill and culverts. It is suggested, therefore, that government agencies adopt this powerful technique for reliable and well integrated road planning and assessment. Nevertheless, the method could be improved by including additional factors such as proneness to floods and access to people and socioeconomic activities.
DOI:10.4225/03/57e0b554c5399