From Corridor Selection to Earthwork: A Multi-Stage Framework for Automated Road Design via Steiner Trees and Convex Optimization
Abstract
Designing road networks for wind farms in complex terrain is a challenging task, especially under tight construction budgets. Traditional manual methods are time-consuming and may yield suboptimal results. We propose a structured three-phase optimization framework, TriPhase, to automate and minimize road construction costs from corridor selection to earthwork. Phase one formulates corridor selection as a Steiner minimum tree problem over a terrain-aware graph, incorporating slope and curvature constraints. In phase two, each road segment undergoes horizontal alignment optimization using a bilevel model, where a mixed-integer program evaluates vertical alignment costs. To ensure solver compatibility and performance, the model is reformulated explicitly for Gurobi. The final phase applies a network-wide convex optimization model to refine vertical alignment. Numerical experiments on real-world sites demonstrate up to 14% cost savings compared to industry-standard manual designs, validating the framework's effectiveness and practical relevance.
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BibTeX
@misc{vanjeenathammal2026from,
title = {{From Corridor Selection to Earthwork: A Multi-Stage Framework for Automated Road Design via Steiner Trees and Convex Optimization}},
author = {Paavai Manimaran Vanjeenathammal and John R. J. Thompson and Warren Hare and Yves Lucet},
howpublished = {arXiv},
year = {2026},
month = sep,
doi = {10.48550/arxiv.2609.19350},
eprint = {2609.19350},
archivePrefix = {arXiv},
url = {https://arxiv.org/abs/2609.19350},
note = {CC BY-NC-SA 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - UNPB
TI - From Corridor Selection to Earthwork: A Multi-Stage Framework for Automated Road Design via Steiner Trees and Convex Optimization
AU - Paavai Manimaran Vanjeenathammal
AU - John R. J. Thompson
AU - Warren Hare
AU - Yves Lucet
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/09/16
PB - arXiv
DO - 10.48550/arxiv.2609.19350
UR - https://arxiv.org/abs/2609.19350
AB - Designing road networks for wind farms in complex terrain is a challenging task, especially under tight construction budgets. Traditional manual methods are time-consuming and may yield suboptimal results. We propose a structured three-phase optimization framework, TriPhase, to automate and minimize road construction costs from corridor selection to earthwork. Phase one formulates corridor selection as a Steiner minimum tree problem over a terrain-aware graph, incorporating slope and curvature constraints. In phase two, each road segment undergoes horizontal alignment optimization using a bilevel model, where a mixed-integer program evaluates vertical alignment costs. To ensure solver compatibility and performance, the model is reformulated explicitly for Gurobi. The final phase applies a network-wide convex optimization model to refine vertical alignment. Numerical experiments on real-world sites demonstrate up to 14% cost savings compared to industry-standard manual designs, validating the framework's effectiveness and practical relevance.
ER -