Adding Objectivity to Alignment Studies—A Successful Recipe for Two Case Study Examples

Selecting an alignment in progressively developing corridors becomes increasingly more challenging every day. Property owners are less willing to grant easements and developers do not want to give up real estate, or for their developments to be disrupted by the process. In addition, adequate space for permanent and construction easements is very limited within these busy areas. These factors make justifying alignment paths, the workspace needed, and the project’s purpose of critical importance. Adequate justification of a selected alignment and associated easements is not only important to help explain the benefits of the project to impacted owners, but also to protect and justify the project should an eminent domain process be required. This paper will present a method developed to objectively analyze various alignment alternatives for two different types of projects: 10 mi (16.1 km) of 24-in. (610 mm) to 42-in. (1,067 mm) transmission main and 3 mi (4.8 km) of parallel 36-in. (915 mm) force main.