Authors: Botan Majeed Ahmad AL-Hadad1&2
1Erbil Polytechnic University, Erbil Technology Institute, Erbil, Iraq
2Ishik University, Erbil, Iraq
Abstract: Optimization of highway alignment is a complex nonlinear combinatorial problem. The development of an optimum highway alignment within a study area has always been the case for transportation engineers. The wide search spaces have made the evaluation of thousands of alternative highway alignment solutions complex and expensive in terms of time and cost. Search overburdening is time consuming and may not guarantee optimum results. Thus the capability for specifying the fruitless areas may help reducing the wasted time and consequently producing better results. In this study a model for horizontal highway alignment optimization is built in two stages using GIS and GA. In the first stage, a cost model based on land use and alignment construction costs are embedded in a GIS model to narrow down the search space from the whole to a corridor. The second stage, the same GIS cost model are embedded in a GA model to search the corridor for optimum horizontal highway alignment. The alignment configuration of these two stages modeling is based on the notion of station point approach which was previously developed by the author. It is expected that search in narrower areas result in less candidate evaluation thus reducing the processing time and better results. Thus the focus of the search will fall on the optimality of the alignment more than consuming time searching forsaken areas. The results showed that time is no more wasted searching the whole study area and a GIS model is able to define a corridor where best solution is existed through which the GA model could establish an optimum highway alignment solution.
Keywords: Horizontal Highway Alignment, Optimization, Genetic Algorithm (GA), GIS
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