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A Combinatorial Heuristic Approach for Solving Real-Size Machinery Location and Road Design Problems in Forestry Planning

Author

Listed:
  • Rafael Epstein

    (Industrial Engineering Department, University of Chile, Casilla 2777, Santiago, Chile)

  • Andrés Weintraub

    (Industrial Engineering Department, University of Chile, Casilla 2777, Santiago, Chile)

  • Pedro Sapunar

    (Forestal Arauco)

  • Enrique Nieto

    (Forestal Arauco)

  • Julian B. Sessions

    (Tektronix, Inc., Beaverton, Oregon)

  • John Sessions

    (College of Forestry, Oregon State University, Corvallis, Oregon 97331)

  • Fernando Bustamante

    (Forestal Bio-Bio)

  • Hugo Musante

    (Forestal Mininco)

Abstract

The location and operation of harvest machinery, along with the design and construction of access roads, are important problems faced by forestry planners, making up about 55% of total production costs. One of the main challenges consists of finding a design that will minimize the cost of installation and operation of harvest machinery, road construction, and timber transport, while complying with the technical restrictions that apply to the operation of harvesting equipment and road construction. We can model the network design problem as a mixed-integer linear programming problem. This model is fed with cartographic information, provided by a geographic information system (GIS), along with technical and economic parameters determined by the planner. We developed a specialized heuristic for the problem to obtain solutions that enable harvesting economically profitable volumes at a low cost. This methodology was programmed into a computer system known as PLANEX and is being applied in nine forestry companies that report important benefits from its use.

Suggested Citation

  • Rafael Epstein & Andrés Weintraub & Pedro Sapunar & Enrique Nieto & Julian B. Sessions & John Sessions & Fernando Bustamante & Hugo Musante, 2006. "A Combinatorial Heuristic Approach for Solving Real-Size Machinery Location and Road Design Problems in Forestry Planning," Operations Research, INFORMS, vol. 54(6), pages 1017-1027, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:inm:oropre:v:54:y:2006:i:6:p:1017-1027
    DOI: 10.1287/opre.1060.0331
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Rafael Epstein & Ramiro Morales & Jorge Serón & Andres Weintraub, 1999. "Use of OR Systems in the Chilean Forest Industries," Interfaces, INFORMS, vol. 29(1), pages 7-29, February.
    2. A. Balakrishnan & T. L. Magnanti & R. T. Wong, 1989. "A Dual-Ascent Procedure for Large-Scale Uncapacitated Network Design," Operations Research, INFORMS, vol. 37(5), pages 716-740, October.
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Antonio Alonso-Ayuso & Laureano Escudero & Monique Guignard & Martín Quinteros & Andres Weintraub, 2011. "Forestry management under uncertainty," Annals of Operations Research, Springer, vol. 190(1), pages 17-39, October.
    2. De Boeck, Kim & Decouttere, Catherine & Jónasson, Jónas Oddur & Vandaele, Nico, 2022. "Vaccine supply chains in resource-limited settings: Mitigating the impact of rainy season disruptions," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 301(1), pages 300-317.
    3. Mikael Rönnqvist & Sophie D’Amours & Andres Weintraub & Alejandro Jofre & Eldon Gunn & Robert Haight & David Martell & Alan Murray & Carlos Romero, 2015. "Operations Research challenges in forestry: 33 open problems," Annals of Operations Research, Springer, vol. 232(1), pages 11-40, September.
    4. Marta Mesquita & Susete Marques & Marlene Marques & Marco Marto & Miguel Constantino & José G. Borges, 2022. "An optimization approach to design forest road networks and plan timber transportation," Operational Research, Springer, vol. 22(3), pages 2973-3001, July.
    5. E. Abdi & B. Majnounian & A. Darvishsefat & Z. Mashayekhi & J. Sessions, 2009. "A GIS-MCE based model for forest road planning," Journal of Forest Science, Czech Academy of Agricultural Sciences, vol. 55(4), pages 171-176.
    6. Güden, Hüseyin & Süral, Haldun, 2014. "Locating mobile facilities in railway construction management," Omega, Elsevier, vol. 45(C), pages 71-79.
    7. Ezzati, Sattar & Najafi, Akbar & Yaghini, Masoud & Hashemi, Amir Ala & Bettinger, Pete, 2015. "An optimization model to solve skidding problem in steep slope terrain," Journal of Forest Economics, Elsevier, vol. 21(4), pages 250-268.
    8. Leo Bont & Hans Heinimann & Richard Church, 2015. "Concurrent optimization of harvesting and road network layouts under steep terrain," Annals of Operations Research, Springer, vol. 232(1), pages 41-64, September.

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