RAIL ROUTE ALIGNMENT USING DIGITAL TERRAIN MODEL (DTM

Abstract

The knowledge of existing landforms, landuse and other characteristics of the terrain is essential for planning and management of developmental projects in any given region. The Conventional methods of collecting such data are time consuming and uneconomical. The present study of rail route alignment, using digital terrain modelling techniques, covers the Doon Valley, the Shiwalik range and the flat plains between the river Yamuna and Ganga. Low cost visual interpretation techniques using various topographic maps of the study have been used for rail route alignment from Muzaffarnagar to Dehradun using DTM techniques. The introductory chapter deals with the objectives of the present study and it briefly describes various methods used. The second chapter deals with rail route alignment, which covers basic requirements, various factors and types of surveys for alignment. This chapter also gives a brief review of some work already done in the field of rail route alignment. The techniques of creating and displaying DTM and some of its small and large scale applications are described in chapter three. The fourth chapter is about the actual work done and results obtained in the present study. It covers study area, data used, alignment using DTM and paper alignment and selection of best alignment and its various features. The final chapter is conclusions, which gives various advantages and disadvantages of DTM techniques over usual ground survey methods. On the basis of this study it can be said that, DTM technique is more accurate, efficient, time saving, economical and flexible than the usual ground survey methods.