Least-Cost Pipeline using Geographic Information System: The Limit to Technicalities

Increasing demand for water in Wapuli and its environ led to a proposal to construct a pipeline to link the town to an existing water plant. This paper developed a geospatial model incorporating multi-criteria analysis involving technical factors such as slope, landcover, watercourses, distance to roads and soil types to determine a least-cost path for the pipeline. However, the first least-cost path passes through a tiny sacred grove near Moadani dam, necessitating the generation of a second least-cost path by considering sacred groves as constraint. The result showed that the least-cost path avoided steep slopes, and runs through relatively levelled grounds. This analysis showed the importance of cultural factors in route planning. It is recommended that in route planning attention be given to cultural factors much in the same way as the technical factors.