Investigation of an AHP Based Multi Criteria Weighting Scheme for GIS Routing of Cross Country Pipeline Projects

Abstract

Pipelines are the most efficient, cost effective and environmentally friendly means of fluid transport [1]. When selecting the route of a cross country pipeline, the goal is to route it so that it has the greatest utility to the public while minimizing negative impacts to people and the natural environment. In order to accomplish this goal of addressing several factors, a large amount of location based information needs to be analyzed. Hence the manual routing processes are very tedious in nature. The advent of new techniques like that of Geographic Information System (GIS) has made the routing process of pipelines more systematic and effective. This work identifies the various factors which need to be considered while routing a pipeline in the Indian scenario. A GIS to represent the various factors and automatically route the pipeline has been developed. A main drawback in the system is the lack of a structured methodology to derive the relative preferences of the different factors affecting the route. To address this issue, an AHP based methodology was developed. The GIS and the AHP methodology have been tested on case studies in the Indian scenario.