Case Study #2: Landscape Ice Road Suitability Assessment

NSDSS Workshop 4

September 19-20, 2012Fairbanks & Anchorage, Alaska

Motivation for the Case Study

• NSDSS Workshop #3 Held in Fairbanks, April 2011 Attendees asked for promising case studies to demonstrate

effectiveness and needs for improvement Among the suggestions: Possibility of ice road construction off

of potential permanent roads Potential road to Umiat is good example Key questions:

Is there water available for ice road construction? Would cost be feasible? Can we compare route alternatives versus each other?

Basic Assessment Concept

• Since we don’t know all the details, keep it simple• Plan regular spurs off of main road at regular

intervals• Do basic Ice Road Planning procedure for each spur

(Sullivan 2007)

Case Illustration

• Hypothetical road: Dalton Hwy – Kavik Camp – Coast

~47 mi; “Lake-rich” at ends, “Lake-poor” in middle

Case Illustration

Suitability analysis:

Ice road start points at 50,000 ft spacing

Each ice road 25,000 ft long

Lakes identified along corridor

Case Illustration

• Tool batch processes 10 ice road routes and displays properties of lowest cost routes for each road.

Case Illustration

Water haul distance changes dramatically along gravel road

2.2-3.9 mi

2.6-6.4 mi

34-36 mi

6.3-8.4 mi

~5 mi