SELECTING AN OPTIMAL ROAD CROSSING ROUTE USING SPATIAL ANALYTICS: A CASE STUDY OF THE EAST COAST RAIL LINK (ECRL)

Optimal route selection is one of the many issues faced by engineers nowadays. In this
study, the problem arises when the ECRL alignment severs the connection of a
particular road in the district of Setiu, Terengganu. Three overpass options had been
designed by the engineers to overcome this issue. The aim of this study was to select
the best overpass solution to reinstate the connectivity of the road crossing by using
GIS and to compare conventional methods of optimal route selection against GIS
methods. Several factors were considered in this study, namely, slope angle, soil class,
topographical maps, land use, roads, and rivers. An AHP questionnaire was created
and distributed to 5 experts in the field of optimal route selection to determine the
weightage and influence of each factor in this study.