Graduate Thesis Or Dissertation
 

Chung, Woodam PhD.pdf

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  • Designing timber harvesting units is a challenging task. The task requires decision making on logging equipment, landing site, cable road profile, road location, and transportation system. Traditionally forest planners have done the task manually. However, the manual method makes it difficult to examine many alternatives and the harvest plans depend heavily on the experience of the individual planners. Furthermore, increased environmental concerns require more sophisticated planning procedures. Thus, it is challenging to find not only economically and environmentally "feasible" solutions but also "good" solutions by the manual method. Tools for detailed analysis and systematic evaluation of alternatives become essential for better planning of harvesting operations. This study develops a methodology with the purpose of assisting the planners in designing cable logging unit layout. The methodology combines a cable logging operation planning problem with a road network planning problem and optimizes them simultaneously. It incorporates modem computer software languages, Geographic Information System (GIS) technology, and optimization techniques that have become available during the last two decades. The methodology includes logging feasibility and cost analysis to evaluate alternative cable roads and yarding equipment. Once the feasible cable road alternatives are identified, the methodology formulates two cost minimization network problems. The networks represent variable and fixed costs associated with yarding and truck transportation activities to move logs from the stump to the mill. The methodology uses a heuristic network algorithm as an optimization technique to solve the network problems. One of the two cost minimization network problems is for cable logging operation planning and the other is for truck transportation planning. Each of the network problems is solved separately using the heuristic network algorithm while being connected to the other by a feedback mechanism. The methodology is implemented in a computerized model that can be used as a decision support system. The model is applied to an actual harvest area of 93 ha. A total of 40 candidate landing locations with 2,880 cable roads from 2 yarding equipment alternatives were evaluated. The model found 1,719 feasible cable road alternatives by conducting the logging feasibility and cost analysis. Two cost minimization network problems were developed. A total of 141,139 links and 1,926 timber parcels were developed in the network problem for cable logging paths. In the network for solving road location problem, a total of 95,904 links were developed to connect 13,522 grid cells included in the planning area. After 47.2 hours for 10 repetitions on Pentium HI 1 GHz speed desktop computer, the heuristic network algorithm solved these network problems and selected a total of 19 landings and 155 cable roads to harvest 8,064 m³ of logs from 1,926 timber parcels over the planning area. A total of 2.85 kilometers of new access roads were proposed as a part of the solution for this application. Overall yarding and road costs for timber harvest in the planning area was $416,675 ($5 1.67/m³). Although the exact solution could not be verified, the solution obtained with this methodology when coupled with sensitivity analysis can be considered as a feasible and good harvest operation plan for the management goals. By providing systematic and analytic tools, the computerized model presented in this study can be used as a decision support tool assisting the forest planners in designing timber harvest layout.
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