GIS-based visualization for earth allocation in hydroelectric engineering

An optimal earth allocation is of great significance to reduce the project cost and duration in the construction of hydroelectric engineering. Based on previous studies, a new method of optimizing the dynamic system as a static one was presented in this paper. Linear programming was introduced to solve the optimization problem of earth allocation, and then Geographic Information System (GIS) technique was used to visualize the allocation results. With the 3D terrain model and entity model, the whole construction site model could be built. Based on this computer animation was implemented and utilized to intuitively demonstrate the earth allocation process, which is otherwise difficult to be understood by static results described in texts and tables. A case study in an actual hydroelectric engineering construction is presented to illustrate the proposed method and its capability, which also shows its validation and efficiency.