HIGHWAY ROUTE SELECTION USING GIS AND ANALYTICAL HIERARCHY PROCESS CASE STUDY RAMADI HITE RURAL HIGHWAY

Abstract

The process of choosing the best route is a complex method due to the large number of variables that should be taken into account when choosing the path in order to achieve the best results. Assessment of road projects against these variables is essential in both developed and developing countries, but it is a complex problem. This research aims to choose the optimal route by integrating a set of evaluation criteria in a structured framework based on Geographic Information System (GIS) using the Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP). This study taking into account social and environmental criteria and studying their impact on the choice of road route in detail, along with other criteria represented by engineering and economic criteria, traffic, and land-use criteria. The most important of these criteria are those related to engineering (structure safety, slope, and geology), environmental (agricultural land, hydrology, noise, air pollution, and faults), social (resettlement and population) economic (economical cost, tourism development, and trade-industry), traffic (comfort, accessibility, inter-modal harmony, traffic safety, and pedestrian) and land-use change. The study area is located in Anbar Governorate, western Iraq, between the cities of Ramadi and Hite. In this study, two-stages model were created to choose the most appropriate route between the cities of Hite and Ramadi. The first stage of the proposed model is the design stage, where alternative methods are developed and then designed using Civil 3D software. The second stage is the selection stage, where the two alternatives to the routes selected in the first stage are compared with the existing route development, and the most appropriate route is selected among them. The weighted linear combination (WLC) method was used to achieve the equivalent surface cost of all criteria. The results showed that the best route that has the least negative impact on the environmental, economic, and social aspects is the existing route development. The proposed method is efficiently applied and reduces time and cost with remarkable accuracy.