Network Analysis

INTRODUCTION

The network analysis performed builds off the previous projects on silica mines in West Central Wisconsin. Although the booming silica industry generates revenue for the company and the county, there are also damages incurred. For this project, network analysis was performed to track the mileage of transporting silica from mine to rail for all mines that don't possess an on-site rail terminal. The nearest facility function was performed for each county and calculations were made to account for total mileage and cost of damage to roads by county.

METHODS

As posted in the python script post, a series of queries were made from DNR gathered data to select only active mines with no on-site rail transportation. From there, network analysis began (As shown by Figure 1) using streets from the ESRI Geospatial database, the silica mines created from script as the facilities, and the rail terminals as the incident. Next, the results were projected into a shapefile and intersected by county. Finally, a summary was made to calculate total mileage by silica transportation per county.

Figure 1: Workflow Model Used to Create Network Analysis on Silica Transportation

Lastly, a total cost to repair road damage was calculated based off of an imagined cost of 2.2 cents/mile. Figure 2 shows these results per county and are clearly arbitrary rather than based off collected research based on the clearly understated cost.

RESULTS

The network analysis performed found the nearest rail terminal in relation to each silica mine with no on-site rail terminal and calculated the distance and time required along the most efficient route as shown by Figure 2.

As shown by Figure 2 and more accurately in Figure 3, there are many mines that require significant travel distances to get the silica to the railroads for additional transporting.

Counties such as Trempealueau, Jackson, and Clark who have multiple silica mines and limited rail terminals are looking at additional costs. The counties should also be aware because it causes the wearing down of roads and traffic congestion. This is not ideal for both the company and the county and this pattern is significant enough for consideration when planning responsible silica mines in West Central Wisconsin.

Network analysis can be used in many capacities to maximize efficiency and plan responsibly. This hard data can be utilized quickly and gives insight into costs and efficiency that otherwise would not be available. This information can be used to make more informed decisions, improve efficiency, and be used as reference in the field.

SOURCES

Data from mines and rail terminals obtained by the Wisconsin DNR
Data from streets obtained from ESRI Geodatabase