ENGINEERING
TECHNICAL
FIELD NOTES
TECHNICAL REPORTS
MANAGEMENT
DATA RETRIEVAL
PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT
INFORMATION
SYSTEM
VOLUME
_ield
....
I
NUMBER
7
Notes
Self-Closing Trail Gate
Lessons from Implementing Transportation
Analysis oMethods The National Forest Experience
Location Analysis of District Centers
Washington Office News
FOREST SERVICE
-
U
S
JULY
ma
U.S.DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
1978
UýS
ENGINEERING
Volume
Information
contained
10
FIELD
NOTES
Number
7
has been developed for guidance
of employees
of Agri culture-Forest
its
and its
Service
contractors
respon-sibility
of
the
United
cooperating
for
The
States
Federal
the
in
this
publication
Department
and State agencies.
interpretation or
use
The
Department
of this-information
of Agriculture
assumes no
by other than
its
own
employees.
of trade firm or corporation
names in this publication is for the information
and
of the reader. Such use does not constitute an official endorsement or approval
use
convenience
of any
product
of others
that
The
in
text
may be
the
be construed
or policy
except
not
States Department
as
represents
the
recommended
personal
exclusively
opinions
or approved
Because
by FSM references.
should
and engineering
technicians
intended
of Agriculture
to the exclusion
suitable.
publication
must not
engineers
by the United
or service
of the type
read
of the respective
procedures
each
of material
issue
FOREST SERVICE
DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Washington
D.C.
20013
in
however
for engineers.
U.S.
mandatory
the
this
author and
instructions
publication
publication
all
is
TRAIL
SELF-CLOSING
GATE
Ted Zealley
Gary PingeZ
Cleveland National Forest
trav-el
Region
5
are needed to fence off livestock
On many Forest Service trails gates
or to close
to delineate land ownership
within allotment boundaries
On trails specifically designated for foot and equestrian
trails.
that are specially designed to control vehicular traffic are
gates
essential.
Figure 1 provides the plans for a self-closing gate that can be adapted
Members of the Bonita Valley Horsemen
for use on all types of trails.
submitted the gate design which is not covered
of Bonita California
to the Forest
Service.
The Cleveland National
by patent or copyright
in use some of them have been in place
Forest has about 10 of the gates
2
years.
There are several important advantages
1.
to
the
design of this
gate.
a gate
easily and is self-closing.
Occasionally
self-close efficiently but this condition can be
corrected easily by attaching a coiled door spring to the
It
opens
may not
hinge post
2.
4.
gate
hinge.
fabri-cation
can be fabricated of easily-obtained materials using
gate
The pipe sizes can vary according
standard welding methods.
Materials and
and available materials.
to local needs
installation
costs are estimated at $120
excluding
for the unit illustrated but costs can be reduced if surplus
The gate must be constructed of steel
so
materials are used.
The
re-quire
opera-tion
that
3.
and
there
is sufficient weight
for
self-closing.
Gate hinges may
Maintenance costs for the gate are low.
lubrication with grease annually to ensure smooth
and painting may be required to control rust.
The
optional
traffic
and
bottom bar is a physical deterrent to vehicular
use.
a reminder that the trail is closed to such
1
FLANGE
4-10 3/4
3/411
i
2
1/4
ST.
0.
PIPE
D.
TYP.
8
BOTTOM BAR
OPTIONAL
3/16x1
1/2
ST. BRACE
-
ý\ýý1
A ýýýiýýf\ýýýýýi
rs
ti
CONC.
lei
\ýý
ýi/Iýýýýý\
FOOTINGS TO
iý
e
ý
0
i
%
ýý
SUIT
STOP FLANGE
JG1-211
L
wý.u
1/4
O.D.
GATE
2
45
ELEVATION
3/411-0
CUT
0
11
FIELD WELDS
TO
SUIT
SELF-CLOSING
DESIGNED
23 /811
I
TRAIL
GATE
BY JAMES MILLER
LYLE
WATSON AND KEN AUGUSTINE
D.
BONITA
HINGE
1/4
F.S.
Figure
VALLEY
HORSEMEN
BONITACALIFORNIA
DETAIL
DRAWN
1.
Plan for SeZf-Closing
2
BY A. AVERY
Trail
Gate.
1/22/76
NOTE
If the gate
is installed on trails normally open for
vehicular use at intersections of a trail and road or at
similar locations where vehicles can be driven to the gate
warning panels must be attached to the front and back of the
gate as required by the Manual of Uniform Traffic Control
Devices.
This
is especially
important if the
optional
bar
is installed.
Although this gate design is not a solution for all problems related to
unauthorized use of certain Forest Trails it is a practical approach
to resolving the particular points described.
3
LESSONS
FROM
IMPLEMENTING
THE
TRANSPORTATION
ANALYSIS
METHODS
FOREST EXPERIENCE
NATIONAL
Edward C. Sullivan
Associate Research Engineer and Lecturer
Institute of Transportation Studies
University
of California
Berkeley
pro-gram
ABSTRACT
for implementation of a continuing
paper reviews the features
to introduce improved analytical methods into the transportation
Most of the personnel
planning activities of the U.S..Forest Service.
intended to use the methodology have little prior professional experience
with operations research techniques
modeling or computer applications
This
to
systems
The program
activities
analysis.
to
implement improved
methodology
1.
Identify needs
2.
Develop methodology
3.
Train Transportation Analysis Specialists within the
4.
Conduct awareness-motivation
5.
Conduct pilot applications
6.
Provide
for
individual
following
incorporates the
improved methodology
agency
seminars
of methodology
consultation
and
technical
assistance
to
field personnel
7.
Maintain
8.
Institutionalize methodology
and
refine methodology
in
developed
previously
official agency
procedures.
This is an edited version of a paper presented at the November
annual meeting of the Operations Research Society of America.
4
1977
devel-opment
and evaluates the
paper describes the approach and lessons learned
An important
comparative effectiveness for each of these activities.
conclusion is that a key to successful implementation lies in the
of human resources within the organization.
This
pro-gram
Transpor-tation
of
Forest Service and the Institute of Transportation Studies
University of California are in the tenth year of a cooperative
to improve the agencys standard of practice in Planning
The desired outcome of the program
Systems for National Forests.
is the full implementation of improved methodology for network analysis
economic evaluation
and transportation decisionmaking at approximately
150 National Forests.
The
U.S.
the
at-tempts
con-sidered.
This is a review of the elements of the implementation program in which
that is as a
we look at the problem from a top down perspective
Service-wide effort to improve the performance of numerous--and quite
in the field.
Local innovations and
autonomous--operating offices
for improved planning are not directly
to reorganize locally
Thus in fact we are reviewing only a portion of the agencys
efforts
to effect
needed change.
Attempts to improve planning and analysis practice within the Forest
Service are examined in three dimensions.
First we look at the major
of
the
innovation
that
effort
is those aspects of the agency
targets
and
where changes
were felt to be
that affect
transportation planning
review
the
of
the
methodology
required.
Second we
components
program itself here we describe and critique the different
implemen-tation
ac-tivities
performed over the years in pursuit of the programs objective.
Finally we examine the nature of the In-Service organization created to
shape and manage the methodology implementation program.
The
major lessons
learned in the
course
of
the
program are listed in the
text.
TARGETS
OF THE
IMPLEMENTATION
PROGRAM
Transporta-tion
Within
the
Forest Service
have
systems
Planning
1.
2.
efforts
been
to improve methodology of
focused on three principal elements
Defining Service-wide standards of performance
expectations of Forest Managers
Providing appropriate and
and
usable analytical tools
5
raising the
3.
Training and motivating Forest staff
methodology and to do so properly.
to
utilize the
available
like that of others suggests
that these
three
elements
experience
essential
in
serious
effort
to
the
of
are
change
an agency
any
practices
In any large organization
the proportion
such
as the Forest Service.
of personnel at both management and staff levels who readily embrace an
innovation is small usually the individuals
who do so are the ambitious
Our
While these early innovators are important
upwardly-mobile minority.
establish successful examples of applying methodological advances
the improvements are
any momentum thus established will wither unless
actively institutionalized both in the expectations of management and in
the rules and procedures by which the organization functions.
and
to
em-ploys
uti-lize
Furthermore an organization such as the Forest Service invariably
numerous professionals in key technical
positions to whom changes
in approach and procedures do not come easily.
Again implementation
will wither unless such individuals can be motivated and trained to
the new methodology properly.
Characteris-tically
simplis-tically
The
the
sequence by which
duration and cost
the approach
illustrated
the
of
one
above
the
three
route
sees
elements are
to full
addressed
determines
implementation.
in government
is
-ý Train
linear
this
is
train-ing
organiza-tion.
Provide
Methodology
Staff
Institutionalize
Procedures
that sequence
a task group or consultant is commissioned to develop
seemingly needed methodology. If the methodology shows promise a
program is established to encourage its use throughout the
If applications by early innovators are successful
then
the use
of the new methodology becomes institutionalized through changes
to
handbooks and possibly
job performance requirements.
In
pro-cedural
were addressed in the Forest
sequence by which these three elements
Service program is not the traditional linear form but a more parallel
structure this is illustrated
The
Provide
Methodology
Institutionalize
Procedures
Train
Staff
6
coop-erating
in-volved
de-veloped.
The reason this somewhat unusual sequence was adopted lies essentially
in the ill-defined nature of the original problem.
That is the Forest
Service program began 10 years ago with only a general idea of the kinds
of methodology to be developed.
Neither the Forest Service nor the
universities at that time three academic institutions were
had a clear understanding of the specific methodology to be
However all were convinced that methodological improvements
were needed and were possible.
Thus the universities began to consider
systematically the merits of adapting to National Forests the
transporta-tion
and
planning and analysis techniques used elsewhere
intercity settings and of developing altogether
.suc
as
in urban
new approaches.
iden-tifying
develop-ment
pro-vide
partici-pate
The Forest Service
simultaneously began a training program for selected
the skills they would use in
personnel in order to develop
In addition
the parallel
specific needed methodology.
of methodology and trained individuals was seen as a way to expedite
and application of new methodology
the introduction
as well as to
within the organization a group that would be prepared to
agency
in institutionalizing
the
improved
procedures at
the
appropriate
time.
PROGRAM COMPONENTS
one can look upon the various activities of the Forest
retrospect
Service program as an integrated whole and assess the contribution of
each activity to the overall objective.
However it must be recognized
that earlier in the program not all activities were seen with this
To a great
extent the various activities were conducted
perspective.
efforts to expedite implementation.
as independent
In
pro-gram
Over thepast 10 years
activities
the
Forest Service engaged
for
improved methodology
in.
the
1.
Identify needs
2.
Develop methodology
3.
Train Transportation Analysis Specialists within
4.
Conduct awareness-motivation
5.
Conduct pilot applications
6.
Provide
field
following
the
agency
seminars
of methodology
individual consultation
personnel
7
and
technical
assistance
to
7.
Maintain
refine methodology
8.
Institutionalize methodology
and
in
developed
previously
official agency
procedures.
identi-fied
universi-ties
trans-portation
Most
of
these
activities
are still underway
each
is briefly evaluated
as
follows.
Identification of Needs.
Methodology needs for the program were
in various ways.
Initially personnel of the cooperating
the
played
major role using knowledge of the methodology for
to suggest analytical tools
planning applied in other settings
suitable
for
National
Forests.
possibly
Specific methodology development
work began when these suggestions were approved by a steering committee
of Forest Service and university senior staff.
Later in the program
of
the
committee
most
was replaced by Forest Service technical
steering
who
had
been
trained
in
the program itself.
monitors
In addition to
these
internal sources additional methodology needs were identified by
direct
and feedback from the field.
requests
re-sources
method-ology
mechanisms clearly produced useful methodology
would
it seems that the program
have benefittedfrom
devoting more
and attention to identification of needs.
Specifically
deficiencies in the field were generally judged by agency personnel
who were not the ultimate decisionmakers
i.e. the agency line officers
and university specialists not intimately familiar with the duties and
of
a consensus
of both these
Ideally
points
problems of the agency.
of
view is desirable.
In the early part
the program responsibility for
identifying needs rested largely with outside technical experts who were
not at the time very familiar with the territory.
This observation leads
In
retrospect
us
to
while
these
1
suffi-cient
ex-perts
LESSON
Careful attention should be given to defining methodology
consensus of the decisionmaking Zine officers and technical
experts that are intimately familiar with field-level duties and
Where such informed experts are not available
problems.
needs
by
resources
should be used to familiarize selected outside
manner which should involve considerable
direct observation of field conditions.
in
a systematic
universi-ties
the years a variety of methodology
was developed by the cooperating
and personnel of the Forest
most of this is identified in
Service
instances
the appendix.
In many
the methodology was produced by task
teams containing both Forest
Service and university personnel.
Development of Methodology.
for National Forest planning
Specific examples
Over
the traffic census
and the
techniques
vehicle
model for simulating
performance and operating costs
are
8
computer
5252629.
consid-erably
method-ology
in-tended
discussed later these working relationships were facilitated
Generally the results
by the unusual program organization.
these
joint endeavors were particularly satisfying which leads us
As
LESSON
2
of
to
Whenever
it is advantageous to develop
possible
effort of outside technical experts and the
Unfortunately without special commitment and
recipients.
this objective is extremely difficult to achieve.
organization
train-ing
pro-gram.
as
a
joint
As previously indicated
Training Specialists Within the Agency.
began very early in the program to provide in-agency specialists who
and
expedite implementation
could
help guide methodology development
participate later in the institutionalization of the new procedures.
ambitious
Generally the training consisted of assigning innovative and
technical staff from the field to a 2-year traineeship with the
individuals pursued graduate study in
During this traineeship
transportation engineering at Berkeley or in several cases at Stanford
To date
in on-going methodology development work.
and they participated
have
received
this
training.
20
specialized
people
approximately
pro-gram
activity have been considerable and diverse
of the
most successful component
single
perhaps
Trainees from
to the ultimate objective.
in terms of contributing
the program now practice as Transportation Planning Specialists in seven
of the nine Forest Service Regional Offices and at a number of National
The
fruits
of
this
training
constitute
and
the
devel-oped
in the use
These individuals have motivated and trained others
they have
advanced methodology and even more significantly
as a
This group serves
additional needed methodology on their own.
of in-agency expertise
allowing additional methodology
criticallocus
met
or
be
defined
and
in-house
through precisely specified
needs
to
with this we have
consultants.
In
connection
with
outside
contracts
Forests.
of
the
With regard to improving standards of practice one of
LESSON 3
can make is to expand the skills
investments
an agency
the best
its
horizons
own
Providing sabbaticals and
and
of
personnel.
educational
experiences in sufficient
other forms of extra-agency
to
this
end.
means
number are productive
con-ducted
Over the years program staff have
Awareness-Motivation Seminars.
2-week
of
1and
training sessions for Forest Service
a number
These
locations
in
the country.
various
ranged from
personnel at
of
to
closely-focused
a
methodology
variety
sampler sessions covering
traffic
census
such
as
with
sessions
dealing
single
techniques
training
methods.
9
subse-quent
pro-vided
tech-niques
ses-sion
First the
impressions develop regarding this part of the program.
seminars were fairly successful in reaching and improving
on Forest staffs however
practice of a number of early innovators
other
individuals were considerably less influenced.
Second the most
successful sessions were those that were closely focused and that
enough time to receive adequate training and practice in the
under consideration.
Third the lasting impact of a training
in
the
case
of
even
depends
a great deal on the
early innovators
related
measures employed.
Lasting impact was
closely to the
follow-up
Three
short
partici-pants
subsequent
in
follow-up
availability of specialists to assist and encourage
attempts to apply the new methodology. Another important
is the supervisors
insistence that the new methodology be
their
utilized.
Short training sessions by themselves seem to be of
LESSON 4
limited impact in implementing new methodology.
Even the most
which
is
effective training
closely focused cznd which provides
time to learn and practice specific skills must be combined with
effective follow-up through expert assistance and in the raised
expectations
of supervisors.
ob-jectives
ex-amples
Pilot Applications of Methodology.
In almost every case newly-developed
National Forest situation
methodology was first applied to an actual
These pilot programs had several
through a pilot implementation.
to de-bug techniques in real-life situations
to provide
for others
to follow and generally to advertise within the agency
that new techniques were available.
method-ology.
them-selves
some cases the pilot studies
were conducted by Forest Service field
staff with readily-available assistance from the developers of the
In other cases
the developers conducted the pilot studies
with help from field personnel in data collection and other
In
stud-ies
exer-cised
prin-cipal
Unfor-tunately
orga-nizational
matters.
In
general
the value of pilot
studies cannot be overemphasized.
resources for such activities are seldom adequate
as is
For the most part the success
of the pilot
patience.
conducted in this program was related to the degree of control
by the developers of the methodology. Where others had the
responsibility the frustrations associated with methodology
In this we
invariably interfered with the other objectives.
de-bugging
find
method-ology
5 Due to the frustrations of de-bugging pilot studies
generally should be performed directly by developers of
with field personnel in supporting roles.
LESSON
10
Field personnel trying to use the
Expert Assistance to Field Personnel.
newly-developed transportation planning methodology were able to receive
assistance from several quarters.
Initially the program staff at
assistance to field staff in applying the
Berkeley provided direct
method-ology
con-sultation
As use spread more and more
problems and conditions.
was provided by program trainees
who by then had returned to
positions as Transportation Specialists in the field.
to
local
profes-sional
The
Forest Service is somewhat unusual in the extent
staff is scattered in out-of-the-way places.
to which
its
There is little
risk
However an obvious
that most of them prefer it that way.
professionals in Forest Transportation Planning can easily feel
abandoned when problems arise in applying new methodology.
To a great
extent this risk has been averted by the ready availability and mobility
of expert
affected
help as well as relatively frequent contacts
among
individuals.
have not yet been sufficient to
Unfortunately
resources
do certain additional things that might have helped enormously such
as
establishing a stronger sense of community among Forest Transportation
Planning professions through a regular newsletter covering problems and
question
is that
accomplishments.
In
this
regard we have
LESSON 6
SuccesfuZ implementation of new methodology must be
built on a visible structure of available technical assistance
and support.
Support should include efforts to create a sense
of community among innovators so that implementation is
nur-tured
meth-odology
by
peer encouragement and approval.
origi-nal
ex-perts
Maintenance
and Refinement
of Methodology.
Obviously
any body of
In general it is
must constantly be maintained and improved.
this process.
necessary to set up well-structured mechanisms to guide
In the Forest Service program methodology maintenance and refinement
have been carried out thus far by the same unit that performed the
This unit is supplemented by the cadre
of trained
development.
The program is now being reorganized to
now working in the field.
perform these essential activities in a manner involving less diffusion
of
responsibility.
LESSON
7
Maintenance and refinement of previously-developed
methodology should be organized explicitly and independently
at approximately the time the methodology becomes available.
The alternative is a dilution of necessary maintenance and
refinement functions caused by distractions of further
of methodology coupled with the migration of these
functions to the dispersed user community.
devel-opment
11
institu-tionalized
It takes
Institutionalizing New Methodology.
a long time for innovations
in methodology
to be implemented to the extent
that they become
in
official
by incorporation
standards
procedural handbooks
and--as
appropriate--published job requirements.
However until this
full
cannot
be said to have occurred.
incorporation happens
implementation
Trans-portation
un-doubtedly
Service program institutionalizing new methodology is
underway through an effort to produce a Service-wide Handbook of
Planning practices in National Forests.
This handbook
will be in the works for some time to come as it undergoes
needed massaging to become acceptable.
Parallel efforts are also being
made to define job requirements that will insure the capability of all
Forest Transportation Planners to use the new standards
of practice and
to
their
While
individuals
in the
methodology appropriate
jobs.
many
Forest
Service are participating in these activities
it seems clear that
the timing has been accelerated by activities of this 10-year program.
Of particular importance has been the training of specialists
thereby
creating critical mass of influential and skilled personnel to
in institutionalizing the new methodology.
In
the
Forest
partici-pate
LESSON 8
Full implementation requires that methodology be
institutionalized in official procedures and job performance
the
Measures that will create within an agency
requirements.
will and the ability to accomplish this step can significantly
I
A most effective measure is to
expedite program
objective.
invest in expansion of horizons and skills of key personnel.
organi-zation
PROGRAM ORGANIZATION
A noteworthy feature of the Forest Service effort is its program
which seems to explain the unusual endurance of the program and
its flexibility to undertake a large variety of activities in pursuit of
program
objective.
The program has been conducted as a cooperative effort between the Forest
Service and several universities.
Within a series of generally
3-year
umbrella agreements specific annual work programs were established to
the satisfaction of the steering committee and/or the technical monitor.
and San Jose State
Originally the University of California Stanford
For its part the Forest Service established
University participated.
the Transportation Analysis Group
a special unit in Berkeley called
the sole mission of this unit was training
and development of methodology
TAG
Over
improve the practice of National Forest Transportation Planning.
years the TAG staff has numbered from six to fifteen professionals
over half of these
were usually field personnel assigned to Berkeley for
The TAG annual budget has averaged about $300000
2-year
traineeships.
of which 25 percent typically
was
allocated to activities at the
to
the
12
For their part-the universities have contributed time of
the amount
of which has varied considerably
overhead
to
the
annual
work plans.
from year to year according
universities.
senior staff
or
person-nel
af-filiation.
The central feature of the program is the close working relationship that.
this program organization has fostered between
the TAG staff and
at the universities.
Tasks
were assigned to individuals on the Forest
Service and university staffs as seemed appropriate
regardless of
The senior staff of the Forest Service and universities have
been able to make marginal adjustments easily to the annual work plans in
Such a degree of
response to evolving problems and conditions.
would have been impossible except
for both the considerable
commitment of Forest Service staff to the program and the
direct
flexi-bility
physi-cal
ill-defined
proximity of all
involved.
it seemp that the organization of the program was a very
In retrospect
effective mechanism for approaching the rather large and initially
This organization permitted work to proceed
program objective.
with a minimum of red tape and it served to provide the agency with a
cadre
of trained specialists well versed in the methodology being
developed.
An obvious question to ask is When is a special purpose organization of
this type no longer needed
As the in-house capabilities of the agency
desirable for the agency to adopt
expand. it is possible and in general
structured approach to purchasing the services
of
a more traditional
outside experts.
After almost 10 years of the development described
herein the cooperative program with the Forest Service is currently
evolving in this direction.
CONCLUSION
It
in
is appropriate to review and use the eight principal lessons
seeking to implement transportation analysis programs in the
learned
National
Forests.
The most successful program implementation
human resources within the organization.
13
is based
on
the
development
of
REFERENCES
1.
ON DEVELOPED
METHODOLOGY
M. Forest Service Road Surface Deterioration Study Part
Description of Field Program
Special Report Institute of
Transportation Studies
University of California
Berkeley
April
Anderson
A
-
1975.
2.
3.
J.
et.
al.
Link Investment Strategy Model - Users Guide
Research Report UCB-ITS-RR-77-4
Institute of Transportation Studies
of
June
1977.
University
California
Berkeley
Botha
J.
and E. Sullivan
Transportation Resource Decision Making
Buckholz
Institute of
Framework - Users Guide Research Report UCB-ITS-RR-5
June
of
Transportation Studies
University
California Berkeley
1977.
4.
5.
V.M. and E. Sullivan
The Prediction of Recreation Traffic
Served by National Forests. Presented at Western Association of
State Highway Officials Annual Meeting Portland Ore. June 1974.
DeKalb
U.S. Forest Service Vehicle
Della.-Moretta L. and E. Sullivan
Model.
Cost
Operating
Proceedings of Workshop on Lessening Energy
Waste in the Road-Tire-Vehicle-Driver System Institute of
Transpor-tation
Studies University
6.
7.
of
California
Berkeley
April 1976.
L.
Della-Moretta
Relating Operational Variables to
Presented at International Society for Terrain Vehicle
Regional Meeting Carson City Nevada October 1974.
TireWear.
Systems
Transporta-tion
Fire Protection Model on a National Forest
Fawaz M.
Network.
Institute of Transportation and Traffic
University of California
Working Paper 18 1972.
Berkeley
ITTE
Engineering
Forest Service Project
Evalua-tion
L.
8.
Gomes
9.
Hogan S. and
Study Part B
A Multicriteria Decision Making Framework for the
of Forest Road
Investment Projects
Special Report Institute
of
of Transportation Studies
University
California
Berkeley
February 1976.
Trans-portation
Forest Service Road Surface Deterioration
Anderson
Data Analysis
Special Report Institute of
of
December 1975.
Studies
University
California Berkeley
M.
-
14
10.
and
A.
J.
Okyere
Transportation Planning and
11.
12.
A
Re-search
Kanafani
Demand Model for Recreational
Technology
Kanafani
A. National Forest Travel
Record 408 1972.
1
Vol.
Survey
no.
Design
1
1972.
Highway
The Role of Network Analysis Techniques in
Planning Highway Research Record 408 1972.
Layton R.D.
Management
Travel
Resource
13.
Lessening Energy Waste in the Road-Tire-Vehicle-Driver-System
Institute of Transportation Studies University
Workshop Proceedings
of California
Berkeley
April 1976.
14.
Long
UCB-ITS-SR-77-2
J.
Studies
15.
Computer-Aided Timber Transportation Analysis
Five Case
Institute of Transportation Studies
Special Report
University of California Berkeley
February 1977.
Simula-tion
Ve-hicle
Modification
Model
16.
Oglesby
17.
Petropoulos
C.H. et.
al. The Effects of Horizontal Alignment on
Running Costs and Travel Times.
Program in
Stanford University
Planning
Rept.
EEP37 October 1970.
Engineering-Economic
Univ-ersity
Turnouts.
18.
and Evaluation
of a One-Lane Road
With Turnouts
Computer Sciences
Corporation December 1972.
D.P. Simulation of Traffic Flow on One-Lane Roads
Program in Engineering-Economic Planning
Stanford
EEP-35 January 197
Rept.
E.
Sullivan
Techniques
for
with
Layton and A. Kanafani
Transportation
Analysis
National Forest Planning.
Highway Research Record
R.
408.
19.
20.
21.
Sullivan
E. An LP Model for Estimating Recreation Tours on a
National Forest Transportation Network.
Presented at Fortieth
Conference of the Operations Research Society of America Anaheim
October 1971.
California
Net-works
Sullivan
National
E. Models for
Forest Highway
Recreational Traffic
Research Record 408
Estimation Within
1972.
E.
and M. Fawaz Optimal Geometry for Timber Access
Forest Service Project Technical Report
Institute of
Traffic Engineering
Transportation
of
University
California
November 1972.
Berkeley
Sullivan
3
a
Transporta-tion
A
22.
Sullivan
E.C.
Transportation Analysis Technique for Natural
Resource Management
Proc. International Conference on
Research
Bruges Belgium June 1973.
23.
Sullivan
Insti-tute
of
24.
25.
26.
E.
Transportation Studies
December
1974.
Sullivan
E.
Roads
TRB
Guide
University
of
Special Report
Berkeley
California
Analytical Planning Techniques
Special Report 160 1976.
for
National Forest
Sullivan
E. Vehicle Performance and Cost Model - Users Guide
Research Report UCB-ITS-RR-77-3
Institute of Transportation
June 1977.
Studies
University of California Berkeley
Traffic
Surveillance Handbook
Agriculture
27%
Network Analysis Users
draft
Forest
Service
U.S.
Department
of
1972.
Transportation Analysis Procedures for National Forest Planning
Special Report Institute of Transportation Studies University
California
Berkeley
July 1971.
of
28.
Transportation Analysis Procedures for National Forest Planning Appendices
Special Report Institute of Transportation Studies
University of California
Berkeley
July 1972.
29.
Wong
Compo-sitions
Transpor-tation
P.
et.
al. Methods
on Roads
for Estimating Traffic
Volumes and
Forests U.S. Forest Service
November 1974.
Berkeley
California
in National
Analysis Group
16
LOCATION
ANALYSIS
Z.
OF DISTRICT
CENTERS
Andrew Farkas
Economist
R-8
de-rive
Gen-erally
person-nel
INTRODUCTION
Policy requirements of the Forest Service and executive orders of the
President have mandated that investments in Government facilities must
the greatest possible economic return and must conserve energy.
in the economic life of a Ranger District Work Center the largest
most difficult cost to determine is the transportation cost of
to work sites.
By decreasing this cost compensation would be derived
from energy conservation and maximum economic returns.
Transportation
costs must therefore
be determined using a reliable and comprehendible
and
lit-eiature
method.
optimal location of industries abound in the academic
concepts involved may be applied to the location of work
centers.
Having only one work site on a Ranger District location of
to minimize transportation costs
would be simple.
The
the work center
work center would be located at the site where transportation cost would
zero.
equal
However when several sites pull at this work center
an analysis can be made to determine the location which will
transportation costs to all sites.
Studies
of
the
and
the
loca-tion
mini-mize
The
of
puZZ
trip
that
cost
work site exerts against the work center
is a function
number of trips to the site.
shows
that the
Theory
for the work center
is where the pulls balance.
each
and
optimum location
the
to-gether
con-sidered.
One method for determining the balance is to locate
a work center on each
work site and then calculate transportation costs to all other work
sites.
All costs to a work site from all other work sites are added
and this number total cost is assigned to the work site
See David
Smith Industrial Location
1971.
Analysis New York Wiley Inc..
M.
17
An Economic
Geographical
.Tota
These
cost contours are drawn.
contours
connect points of equal
lines.
value and are called isocost
In this case
they are total cost
isocost lines as compared to the more familiar single cost isocost lines
that indicate transportation costs from a single
point.
Once
total
cost
theoretical area
contours are drawn the least cost contour
surrounds the
where transportation costs are equal and at a minimum.
the
relevant portion of the contours
are at intersection points with
Where no road exists transportation costs
transportation network.
are
higher.
The
only
-first case
study of this method occurred on the James River Ranger
District of the George Washington National Forest.
The objectives of
the study were to
test a method of analyzing the transportation costs of
work trips and to delineate an area of the least transportation cost for
further site analysis of work center location.
The
for-mula
CASE STUDY ANALYSIS
The
location
the work
of
analysis
is based
center
on
the
following
n n
Cij
E
Z
Dij
Sij
Wa
Vc
2Tij
il jl
Where Cij
Vehicle
Vc
Travel
time
Distance
Tij
Total number
the
labor
cost
rate
transportation from a work center
every other work site j.
from
i
of
hour for average
per
between
Dij
Thus
of
to
operating cost/mile.
Average wage
Wa
S
Total costs
location i
to
i
and
number
of
crew members.
j
J.
trips
from
i
to j.
formula takes
into account total vehicle operating cost and
of work trips.
The first major step in deriving values for
the formula is to code the transportation network of the Ranger District
into links and nodes
The second
figure 1.
step is to determine the
and travel
times of the links.
The nodes
lengths
correspond to road
intersections and work sites.
Lastly average wage rates average number
18
1
92
d
fOd
106
h
\0
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10
43
105
XI
91
89
a6
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9
LEGEND
i
33M
23
32X
O
21
18
A-.
/31
Figure
1.
James River
George
Ranger District Transportation Network
Washington National Forest
ý
\
I D
E
T
N
1
A
E
L
1
11
E
crew members vehicle operating costs and the number of trips to
work site must be determined.
This information can be obtained
from District records estimated and projected over a reasonable time
of
each
period.
For
the
James
Study
River
the
following
Each work trip is a single
1.
Rangers
The
2.
work
site
Office
attracting
assumptions were made
destination
trip
to a work
fixed location
and
administrative trips.
is a
site.
is treated
as
a
owner-ship
3.
Operating
4.
Vehicle
costs
are assumed
operating costs
do
to be
not
the
same
in both directions.
include the monthly fixed
Only the equipment ownership rate is included since
former does not vary by usage.
Vehicle operating-costs do
rate.
the
vary by speed.
not
5.
Several nearby work sites may be represented by one node and
trips are not differentiated by resource or activity purpose.
6.
The
to
number
the
values
of
trips
to
a work
site
is not
affected by distance
site.
length and travel
time and the corresponding nodes
Link speeds
in miles per hour were calculated.
the average number of men in crews multiplied by the average wage
Using
rate per hour added
to vehicle operating cost
per mile a simple FORTRAN
from 5 to 55 miles/
program is used to calculate cost per mile for speeds
The
link
were put
into
of
a matrix.
timber transport model a linear programming transportation
determined the minimum distance links from each work site to
other work site.
The model multiplied link distances by each
every
links cost per mile and by number of trips to and from each work site2.
These
calculations resulted in a locations
total transportation cost
for work trips
to every other
site.
hour.
The
analysis
transportation cost calculations were made for two types of vehicles
two average numbers of crew members.
Costs were calculated from the
work centers record over the past 5-years of operation and converted
to a yearly-average.
Thirteen nodes were selected as points for mapping
The
and
and usual application of the timber model see
Cox and Peter Wong
Mathematic Approach for the Analysis of
Timber
Transport/Logging Systems for
Sale Field Notes ETIS 9 May
2For
the methodology
Wallace
1977
R.
pp.
A
3-9.
20
distribu-tion.
contours
on the basis of number of trips attracted and spatial
The mapping of the contours was performed by the TOPAS
package.
STUDY
FINDINGS
South-eastern
plot of the
centered on the
The
isocost lines
indicates
that the least
cost contour is
Covington where the Rangers Office is located
The present work center
figure 2.
site is located on the
side of Covington
and is within the least
contour.
Seemingly
this exercise only
quantified what was intuitively obvious.
The
to this procedure is knowing that the other
locations will minimize
the cost of transportation.
If the Rangers Office were not fixed
several alternative locations of the office could
shift the most
location of the work center
significantly and these locations
may not be so obvious.
advan-tage
effi-cient
town
of
acces-sible.
transporta-tion
area within the least cost contour
is in reality not equally
Although the contour shifts south of Covington
the
network in the south is minimal.
The contours
outward along
spread
the east-west Interstate Highway
through
Covington.
the best
Therefore
locations would occur in the Southern half of the city and along the
Interstate Highway.
Relevant factors for consideration in the final
site selection would be site specific
costs property ownership land
The
alter-native
con-tour
value
used
and site preparation costs.
construction
If decided that
locations must be considered that lie outside the least cost
then
the closest contour values to the alternative sites
may be
in present worth of costs analysis.
avail-able
visu-ally
CONCLUSIONS
resulted in an analysis technique that utilizes
programs and readily determined data.
The
technique
an area of optimal location which can be further
displays
analyzed
in detail.
The technique is flexible enough to consider administrative
and political requirements for location.
The
location
study
computer
21
WASHINGTON
NATIONAL
JAMES
RANGER
-
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FOREST
RIVER
DISTRICT
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eMCx
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93.e
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Figure
2.
ýc
Transportation Cost Study
ýe
Showing
x
ný.a
tea.
.
TotaZ Isocost Lines.
z.
Sub
y
/ý
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J
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-
.
a
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j
ýý
WASHINGTON
OFFICE
NEWS
OPERATIONS
Harold L. Strickland
Assistant Director
THE ENGINEER AND
GEOMETRONICS
A STEP IN
YOUR CAREER
Ser-vice
A daily need exists for maps and aerial photos which play a large part
in Forest Service Engineering and resource operations.
This need is
Geometronics groups exist
being met by a group known..as Geometronics.
Region in the Washington Office and at our Geometronics
Center GSC in Salt Lake City.
Their
task is to supply maps
aerial photos and other graphic products that fulfill the needs of
in
each
the
Forest Service.
Geometronics
and professional
currently employs 325 people in technical
of which approximately 60 are in a professional
positions Service-wide
series.
Most are dual discipline
i.e. the position may be held either
Over
by an Engineer 810 or a Cartographer 1370.
the past several
attrition--caused
retirements--and
by
years
vacancies--resulting from
promotions have diminished the professional Geometronics cadre at
and mid-level categories.
It has been necessary to recruit outside
the Forest Service to fill some of these vacancies
6 of the last 11
vacancies
engineer/cartographer
at the GS-11 and -12 levels
have been
filled from outside sources.
This situation being a major concern
the
Geometronics Leaders Workshop January 1978 listed it as an agenda item.
start-ing
a result it was decided to
Forest Service to give serious
in the Geometronics field.
As
encourage
thought
to
engineers currently in the
the opportunities which exist
oppor-tunities.
Geometronics
is an
It
interesting field that
involves
all
offers
excellent
career
aspects of surveying
mapping and geodesy.
producing the multi-colored administrative map
spectrum of
for road design bridge site
producing
large-scale special
maps
and
administrative
site
location
planning.
Although this work is now
of the Geometronics effort the field of Forest Service
a major part
is changing.
Automated systems are coming to the forefront in
It
covers
the
Geo-metronics
to
the
map production
and
graphic presentations
23
this
not
only
explores
graphics
but the equipment
methods and computer systems for gathering
and analyzing of this data.
manipulating overlaying
communi-cate
data
and
Based on advanced computer technology
it is now conceivable to
with a computer from a video display console.
For example the user
can instruct the computer
to display a map
graph of a planning unit
and then
further instruct it to display an area within the unit having
a certain type of timber ownership
and roads.
By using the same
con-sole.a
sale layout exploring alternative road systems
and the haul cost
construction costs can be initiated.
An administrative site can also
be planned by selecting various layouts
of utilities based on terrain and
soil conditions.
Upon selection of viable alternatives
the impact
on
the area can be analyzed by displaying each on an ortho-photo or
and
perspec-tive
satis-fy
The
are on the horizon but great
effort is required
Forest Service needs the only limiting factor in
this area is imagination.
The challenge of producing a product to
the managers requirements are varied and many-fold.
photo.
to
adapt
their
tools
use
to
plan-ning
mana-gers
Geometronics
should be considered as a rung in the ladder of career
The knowledge of Geometronics gained by spending a few
in
this
field will greatly enhance development as a Forest Engineer
years
and contribution
one can make in that position or as advisor to a
development.
team.
Geometronics
products are some of the basic tools usedby resource
Forest Service.
Without the involvement of the Engineer and
these
tools
cannot
be obtained
Cartographers
and without tools todays
decisions
cannot be made.
in
the
24
CONSULTATION
AND
STANDARDS
Walter E. Furen
Assistant Director
DAM SAFETY UPDATE
consid-erable
During this past
year
the
Forest Service
has
been
involved
in
a
in-tegrity
guide-lines.
com-pleted
amount
In April
1977
policies
of
activity
the
relating
to
the
safety
of
dams.
President directed departments and agencies to review
and practices that could
affect the safety and
The President also directed the Federal Coordinating
procedures
of
dams.
Engineering and Technology FCCSET to analyze
recommendations for Federal dam safety
agency reports
The final FCCSET review report
is scheduled to be completed in
November 1973.
The U.S.
of
Department
Agriculture USDA review was
in September 1977 and that final report was transmitted by the
Secretary to FCCSET.
Concurrently the Secretary directed each agency
and
an
action plan to correct identified deficiencies.
develop
implement
Council for Science
to make
and
to
Currently the Forest Service is taking action to correct the primary
deficiencies identified during the USDA review.
Interim Directives were
recently published in FS11 7500 to strengthen manual direction relating to
the design and construction review process the design criteria
and an
emergency procedures plan.
Regions have been directed to review field
practices to ensure compliance with correct policy and procedures.
The
final FCCSET report may necessitate some additional USDA action next fall.
non-federal
in-clude
In
to
December 1977
begin a 4-year
dams.
President directed the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
million effort to inspect approximately 9000
was a result of the disaster caused by the failure of
the
$70
This
dam near Taccoa Georgia.
The Corps inspection efforts will
non-federal dams classified as high hazard and selected moderate
hazard dams located on lands administered by the National Forest System.
Federal agencies are responsible for inspection of their awn dams.
a small
FSM
7500 Interim Directive No.
4 establishes policy for reevaluation and
safety inspection of dams owned by the Forest Service.
By September 1981
the assessment will be completed for all dams classified as high hazard
and select moderate hazard class
dams over
20 feet high for cases
A
25
Instruc-tions
in which
if failure occurred
appreciable damage to private lands and
improvements or public facilities and utilities would result.
for implementing the program should
be submitted to the Regions by
pro-posed
mid-summer.
and House have developed
support of dam safety both the Senate
legislation to supplement PL 92-367 National Dam Inspection Act.
This proposed legislation would provide
In
1.
Financial assistance to States for developing and
an effective dam safety program.
2.
Financial aid for training of State
3.
Guidance
to
the
States
through
dam inspectors.
a Federal
Dam
Board.
4.
5.
Reinsurance
on non-federal
pre-determined
of
a
of
a failure.
amount
dams
that
implementing
for all
may be
Safety Review
liabilities in excess
incurred
the
in
event
construc-tion
Close
coordination with States for planning
and maintenance of Federal dams.
design
includ-ing
6.
With
Loans
to
owners
for emergency repairs.
current emphasis on dam safety it is anticipated
most of the issues listed above will be passed.
26
that
a bill
TO READERS OF
FIELD NOTES
INVITATION
Every reader
is
a
potential
author of an
article
for Field Notes.
If
you
have
a
news
item or
accu-rate
short
article
you would
in
publication
Field
like
with
we
Service engineers
you
invite
Notes.
submitted to the
Material
to share
Washington
Office
for
publication
to send
it
be reviewed
should
for
by the
Washing-ton
respective
Office
Regional
informative and of
to see that
submitted may vary
however
short articles
Office
Field
should
Notes
is
the
list
ask
number
engineers
short
several
submitted to the
be
should
illustrations
original
of
pages
typewritten
several
material
All
your Office Manager
sent
Office directly
Service
or the
to your office.
retirees.
Regional
Copies
to
you
If
Information
of back
Region has an Information Coordinator to whom
and material for publication.
The Coordinators
questions
R-1
Melvin Dittmer
R-4
R-2
Royal M. Ryser
Juan Gomez
R-5
R-3
to
drawings
or
photos.
Forests and Forest
of copies
sentences
items are preferred.
all
is
Regional
all
are
not
currently
on the
Coordinator to increase
are also
issues
Station and
available
from the
Office.
Washington
Each
current timely technically
Service-wide
FSM 7113. The length
distributed from the Washington
Area Headquarters
mailing
or news
from
be typed double-spaced
and white
black
glossy
to
interest
material
the information
R-6
should
direct questions
concerning
problems to
USDA
Forest
Engineering
Staff
Telephone
L.
D.C.
should
submit both
R-9
Fred Hintsala
R-10
F.
WO
format editing
Service
Attn Gordon
P.O. Box 2417
Washington
personnel
are
Ted Wood
Jim McCoy
Kjell Bakke
Bob Bowers
R-8
Coordinators
field
Rm. 1108 RP-E
Rome
20013
Area Code 703-235-8198
W.
Baxandall
Al Colley
publishing
dates and other