Automation in Construction 20 (2011) 982–997

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Automation in Construction
j o u r n a l h o m e p a g e : w w w. e l s ev i e r. c o m / l o c a t e / a u t c o n

Optimal haulage routing of off-road dump trucks in construction and mining sites
using Google Earth and a modified least-cost path algorithm
Yosoon Choi a,⁎, Antonio Nieto b
a
Department of Energy Resources Engineering, College of Environmental and Marine Science and Technology, Pukyong National University, Busan 608-737, South Korea
b
Department of Energy and Mineral Engineering, College of Earth and Mineral Sciences, Pennsylvania State University, PA 16802, USA

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: This study presents new software, called Google Earth-based Optimal HAulage RouTing System (GEOHARTS),
Accepted 30 March 2011 to improve the functionality of Google Earth for optimal haulage routing of off-road dump trucks in
Available online 30 April 2011 construction and mining sites. A modified least-cost path algorithm, which is applicable to working areas with
both paved and unpaved temporary roads and can consider the effects of terrain relief and curves along a
Keywords:
route on the route planning, was proposed and utilized for the software development. GEOHARTS can
Google Earth
Off-road dump trucks
determine optimal haulage routes between loaders and dumps that ensure the least travel time or fuel
Route planning consumption of off-road dump trucks and can visualize the results using an embedded 3D render window of
Haulage operation Google Earth. The application to the Pasir open-pit coal mine in Indonesia demonstrates that GEOHARTS could
GIS provide a rational solution to support the truck haulage operations.
© 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction
Google Earth combines satellite imagery, aerial photography, the-
matic maps and various data sets to make a three-dimensional (3D)
interactive image of the world [1]. It permits users to view seamless,
true-color satellite imagery at every location on the surface of Earth.
The images dynamically change as the users zoom in or flying around
to different areas of the globe. With the advent of the Internet, Google
Earth grew to over 100 million Internet users within one year of its
release [2]. Currently, Google Earth is a popular visualization tool in a
variety of fields and plays an increasingly important role not only for
private users in daily life, but also for scientists, practitioners, policy-
makers and stakeholders in research and application [1–12].
Google Earth reads and displays the Keyhole Markup Language
(KML) files. KML was originally created in 2001 by a company
called Keyhole as the format for its Earth browser named Earth Viewer.
Since that time, KML has evolved to its status as an international
standard, authorized by the Open Geospatial Consortium (http://www.
opengeospatial.org), for presenting geographic information visually.
KML enables users to add custom data to Google Earth and to share
information about any subject that is geo-referenced on the Earth's
surface. The structure of KML has been documented by Wilson et al. [13]
and Wernecke [14].
⁎ Corresponding author at: Department of Energy Resources Engineering,
Pukyong National University, Busan 608-737, South Korea. Tel.: + 82 51 629 6562;
fax: + 82 51 629 6553.
E-mail addresses: energy@pknu.ac.kr, yspower7@gmail.com (Y. Choi),
anieto@psu.edu (A. Nieto).
In response to the increased use of Google Earth and the advent of
KML, several applications have recently been developed for construc-
tion and mining projects. Sun et al. [15] uses Google Earth to provide
the Assisted Driving System (ADS) for haul trucks operating in open-
pit mines to reduce accidents related to low visibility conditions.
The Bay Bridge Public Information Office [16] uses Google Earth to
provide the general public a tool for viewing the ongoing construc-
tion of the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge's new self-anchored
suspension span and to monitor the construction process. The Lower
Manhattan Construction Command Center [17] provides a four-
dimensional (4D) view of the downtown construction projects with
detailed information to the general public using Google Earth. The
National September 11 Memorial and Museum [18] utilizes Google
Earth to virtually explore the 9/11 Memorial and other planned
projects within the context of the surrounding landscape of lower
Manhattan by creating a virtual look at the World Trade Center site.
These previous studies show the potential of Google Earth as an
effective tool for the presentation of the construction and mining
processes, using interactive 3D maps with true-color satellite imagery
and sharing real-time information with the general public through
the internet. However, relatively little attention has been paid to the
potential of Google Earth for optimal haulage routing of off-road
dump trucks in construction and mining sites.
For optimal route planning of on-road vehicles, Google Earth
provides a function, called ‘Getting Directions’, most likely based on
Dijkstra's [19] algorithm. Using this function, the users can analyze
the optimal route from an origin to a destination with contextual
information along the route such as location of landmarks, turning
instruction and details about the general layout of the surrounding
area. However, the function is only applicable to areas where paved

0926-5805/$ – see front matter © 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.autcon.2011.03.015
 Y. Choi, A. Nieto / Automation in Construction 20 (2011) 982–997
(maintained) roads exist: difficulties are encountered in considering
unpaved areas which occupy the major portion of working areas in
construction and mining sites. As shown in Fig. 1, Google Earth cannot
determine the optimal haulage route of off-road dump trucks from a
loading point to a dumping point at the World Trade Center site in
New York because the ‘Getting Directions’ function can only consider
the paved roads represented by a vector-based network data structure
in spatial databases and approximates positions of the loading and
dumping points on the unpaved areas into positions of the nearest
points on the paved roads. Moreover, this function cannot account
for the effects of terrain relief or of curves along a route on the route
planning. Considerations of these effects are critical for optimal
haulage routing of off-road dump trucks since they can significantly
influence the travel time or fuel consumption of the trucks at
construction and mining sites. For instance, the travel time of off-
road dump trucks moving through a route with the shortest physical
distance can be longer than other routes if there are many steep
positive slopes and horizontal curves along the route where trucks
reduce their speed significantly [20]. In addition, the Getting
Directions’ function of Google Earth only allows a single origin and
destination for the route planning. Consequently, it is unsuitable in
large construction and mining sites where multiple loaders and
dumps are installed, and many off-road dump trucks are operated
simultaneously.
This study presents new software, named Google Earth-based
Optimal HAulage RouTing System (GEOHARTS), to improve the
function of Google Earth for optimal haulage routing of off-road
dump trucks in construction and mining sites. A modified least-cost
path algorithm is proposed to consider working areas with both paved
and unpaved temporary roads and to account for the effects of terrain
Fig. 1. The problem of the ‘Getting Directions’ function of Google Earth for optimal haulage routing of off-road dump trucks from a loading point to a dumping point in the World
Trade Center site, New York.
983
relief and curves along a route on the route planning. Using the
algorithm, GEOHARTS can determine optimal haulage routes between
loaders and dumps which ensure the least travel time or fuel con-
sumption of off-road dump trucks. This paper describes the concept
and details of software development, as well as its application to the
Pasir open pit coal mine in Indonesia, which revealed that GEOHARTS
can provide a rational solution to support the off-road truck haulage
operations.
2. Review of Dijkstra's Algorithm
Dijkstra's algorithm is one of the spatial optimization techniques
frequently used for optimal route analyses in Geographic Information
Systems (GIS). It was designed for tracing the least-cost path (route)
in a network based abstraction (i.e. nodes connected by weighted
links) of space. For a given destination node in the network, Dijkstra's
algorithm calculates the least accumulated cost between the
destination node and every other node, and then finds the least-cost
path from any origin nodes to the destination node. The logical
procedure of Dijkstra's algorithm is as follows:
(1) Let the node at which we are starting be called the source node.
Assign to the source node an initial value of zero and to all other
nodes an initial value of infinity. Mark all nodes as unvisited.
Set source node as current.
(2) For the current node, consider its unvisited nodes directly
connected by links having cost values such as time, fuel
consumption, dollar cost, etc. and calculate their accumulated
costs from the unvisited nodes to the source node. If the new
984 Y. Choi, A. Nieto / Automation in Construction 20 (2011) 982–997
accumulated cost is less than the previously recorded cost,
overwrite the cost.
(3) When all nodes directly connected to the current node are
completely considered, mark the current node as visited. A
visited node will not be checked again so that its accumulated
distance is final and the least.
(4) If all nodes have been visited, finish. Otherwise, set the
unvisited node (with the least accumulated cost to the source
node) as the next “current node” and continue from step 2.
3. The modified least-cost path algorithm for optimal haulage
routing of off-road trucks
The ‘Getting Directions’ function of Google Earth, most likely based
on Dijkstra's algorithm, uses a vector-based network data structure to
represent an abstraction of paved roads and determines optimal
travel routes of on-road vehicles through the paved roads. Therefore,
it is not applicable to working areas in construction and mining sites
where both paved and unpaved temporary roads exist or where only
unpaved areas exist. This study considered a raster-based grid data
structure to represent the working areas without paved roads and
analyzed the least-cost path on the raster surface as an optimal
haulage route of off-road dump trucks.
There have been many studies aiming to develop raster-based
least-cost path algorithms by modifying Dijkstra's algorithm [20–27].
The raster-based least-cost path algorithms and their recent applica-
tions have been reviewed by Choi et al. [20] and Saha et al. [21]. There
are some commercial GIS software packages such as ArcGIS (http://
www.esri.com) and IDRISI (http://www.clarklabs.org) which contain
the raster-based least-cost path algorithms. ArcGIS provides a
function, named PATH DISTANCE, based on a raster-based directional
least-cost path algorithm [28]. This study modified the raster-based
directional least-cost path algorithm implemented in ArcGIS to
account for the effects of terrain relief and curves along a route (Fig. 2).
In the raster-based grid data structure, area is divided into rows and
columns which form a regular gird matrix structure by setting the cell
dimensions. Each cell within the grid matrix contains location co-
ordinates as well as an attribute value. To analyze least-cost paths on a
raster surface, a virtual network should be constructed under two
conditions: (1) the centers of each grid cell serve as the nodes in the
Fig. 2. Procedures of the modified least-cost path algorithm.
network and (2) the connections between neighboring grid cell centers
act as the links of the network. There have been many definitions of the
neighborhood grid cell types for the connections, for example, 4-cell
Rook's pattern, 8 cell Queen's pattern, 16-cell Knight's pattern [25]. The
Rook's and Queen's patterns consider the neighborhood grid cells
connected directly to a cell in a 3 × 3 cell window. An analogy can be
established between these connections and the moves in a chess game:
(1) the two vertical and two horizontal movements are represented as
the Rook's pattern and (2) the movements to all direct neighborhood
grid cells (i.e. two horizontal, two vertical and four diagonal) are similar
to the moves of the Queen. In such cases, the horizontal turning angle
between an incoming path and outgoing paths at the source cell is
restricted to a minimum 45°. The Knight's pattern incorporates eight
more indirect neighborhood connections (i.e. two squares straight and
one square left or right in the direction of movement) with a 5 × 5 cell
window. As the horizontal turning angle between an incoming path and
outgoing paths is restricted to a minimum 22.5°, the Knight's pattern
generally makes the least-cost path smoother [27]. In this study, the
Queen's pattern was used to construct the virtual network because it has
been widely used in various applications and implemented in many
types of GIS software, including ArcGIS.
Once the virtual network is established, a source cell (where
Dijkstra's algorithm will be initiated) should be identified. A
destination to which off-road dump trucks will move for haulage
operations is generally selected as the source cell, having an
accumulated cost of zero. Eight neighborhood cells in the Queen's
pattern are searched from the source cell and examined to calculate
costs of passing from the cells to the source cell. Unlike the vector-
based network data structure which already has a cost value at each
link, the raster-based grid data structure needs to calculate the cost at
each virtual link using a cost map and a cost function during the
optimization process. The cost map is a raster data set in which the
value associated with each cell represents the cost (e.g. time, fuel
consumption, dollar cost, or risk) per unit length of passing through
the cell. It can be generated from a land-use map by correlating land-
use classifications such as paved road, unpaved area, dumping area,
etc. with in-situ measurement data of off-road dump trucks such as
speed, travel time or fuel consumption at different land-use con-
ditions. The cost function determines a weighted distance (i.e. the
cost of passing) between neighboring grid cell centers instead of
calculating an actual physical distance. It should be noted that the
cost function applies the weighted distance in cost units, not in
geographic units. The cost function can be defined as non-directional
or directional according to characteristics of specific applications. A
non-directional cost function determines the cost of passing between
neighboring grid cell centers without considering the travel di-
rection. In contrast, a directional cost function determines the cost of
passing between neighboring grid cell centers dependent on the
travel direction, and thus the cost becomes non-symmetric [21].
Because the cost of off-road dump trucks moving uphill and the
one moving downhill can be significantly different in construction and
mining sites due to hilly terrain, this study defined a directional cost
function expressed by either travel time (s) or fuel consumption (l) as
follows:
CostN→S = 0:5 × SDN−S × VFN→S × ðCLN × HTFN + CLS Þ ð1Þ
qffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
SDN−S = D2N−S + ðElvS −ElvN Þ2 ð2Þ

D0pffiffiffi direct connection
DN−S = ð3Þ
D0 × 2 diagonal connection
 
1 ElvS −ElvN
θN→S = tan : ð4Þ
D
 Y. Choi, A. Nieto / Automation in Construction 20 (2011) 982–997
where CostN → S is the cost of passing from cell N to cell S, SDN-S is
the 2.5-dimensional (2.5D) physical distance (m) between the centers
of cell N and cell S, VFN → S is the vertical factor taking into account
the increasing cost when a truck moves uphill from cell N to cell S or
the decreasing cost when a truck moves downhill, CLN is the cost per
unit length (s/m or l/100 km) of passing through cell N, HTFN is the
horizontal turning factor to account for the effect of curves along a
route on the increasing cost where a truck makes a turn to the right or
left with a relative horizontal angle between an incoming path and
an outgoing path at the center of cell N, CLS is the cost per unit length
of passing through cell S, DN-S is the 2-dimensional (2D) physical
distance (m) between the centers of cell N and cell S, ElvS and ElvN are
the elevations (m, above sea level) of cell S and cell N respectively, D0
is the size (m) of square grid cells and θN → S is the slope-gradient
(degrees, −90–90) of terrain from cell N to cell S (Fig. 3A).
Since the physical distance between the centers of cell N and cell S
is used in the cost function, small measurement errors on the dis-
tances between successive pairs of cells through a path can accu-
mulate in the total haulage cost from an origin to a destination [25].
Therefore, the 2.5D physical distance is used, derived from the 2D
physical distance with considerations of changing slope-gradient of
hilly terrain, to improve the accuracy of the least-cost path algorithm.
The values of ElvS and ElvN can be obtained from Digital Elevation
Models (DEMs). As the 2.5D physical distance is non-directional, both
SDN → S and SDS → N are identical to SDN-S.
VFN → S accounts the cost necessary to overcome the slope of
terrain from cell N to cell S. It can be determined by matching θN → S
with a vertical factor graph of off-road dump trucks (Fig. 3B). VFN → S of
one indicates no cost variation related to terrain relief, and VFN → S
above one, generally at positive slopes, increases the cost of passing
and VFN → S below one, mostly at negative slopes, decreases it. It
should be noted that the situation in which an off-road dump truck
moves through a route, having both sections of positive slopes and
those of negative slopes, it can be effectively managed in the
optimization process using VFN → S. In the vertical factor graph, the
dummy value is used to represent the highly increased cost of passing
at inaccessible areas such as steep slopes (where an off-road dump
truck cannot have effective traction force enough to move uphill or
Fig. 3. (A) Concept for calculating the cost of passage from cell N to cell S. (B) An example of the vertical factor graph. (C) An example of the horizontal factor graph. (D) Concept for
determining the relative horizontal moving angle (RHMA) between two neighboring cells.
985
the truck moving downhill has a risk for break system failures), water-
bodies, etc. and the LC and UC values indicate the lower and upper
thresholds of θN → S where dummy is assigned to VFN → S. HTFN can be
determined by matching the Relative Horizontal Moving Angle
(RHMA) between an incoming path and an outgoing path at a cell N
with a horizontal factor graph (Fig. 3C). Different values can be
assigned to HTFN according to RHMA at the center of cell N, and HTFN
above one, generally at curves along a route, increases the cost of
passing. However, no cost variation related to horizontal turning of
off-road dump trucks occurs at a straight path, therefore HTF at the
middle of centers of cell N and cell S (see the straight path from cell N
to cell S in Fig. 3D) is omitted in the Eq. (1). The dummy value is also
used in the horizontal factor graph to represent the highly increased
cost of passing at severe curves along a route where RHMA is too large
for heavy off-road dump trucks to take the route. LC and UC are the
lower and upper thresholds of RHMA where the dummy is assigned to
HTFN. The graphs of vertical and horizontal factors can be created by
in-situ measurements of off-road truck performances such as speed,
travel time or fuel consumption at different slope-gradients of terrain
and RHMAs at curves along a route.
The raster-based directional least-cost path algorithm (PATH
DISTANCE) implemented in ArcGIS uses a horizontal factor to consider
the effects of wind direction and wind speed (i.e. global horizontal
friction) in analyzing the least-cost paths. However, their effects on
speed, travel time or fuel consumption of heavy off-road dump trucks
is generally less significant than the one of curves along a route (i.e.
local horizontal friction). Moreover, dynamic changes of the wind
direction and wind speed make it difficult to quantitatively assess
their effects in calculating the cost of passing at each cell in the raster-
based grid data structure. Therefore, this study considered the local
horizontal friction (i.e. the effect of curves) using HTFN instead of the
global horizontal friction in optimal haulage routing.
Once the costs of passing from eight neighborhood cells to the
source cell are calculated using the cost map and the cost function,
Dijkstra's algorithm is initiated and determines one neighborhood cell
having the least accumulated cost of passing to the source cell. The
determined cell assigned the least accumulated cost is confirmed and
then is defined as a current cell. From the current cell, another search
986 Y. Choi, A. Nieto / Automation in Construction 20 (2011) 982–997
of its eight neighborhood cells is started to find unconfirmed cells, and
the costs of passing from the unconfirmed cells to the current cell are
calculated using the cost map and the cost function. This optimiza-
tion process is repeated until every cell in the raster-based grid data
structure has the least accumulated cost of passing to the source cell
and is confirmed. When the optimization process is finished, each
cell has two attributes: the least accumulated cost of passing to the
source cell and a pointer indicating the direction which an off-road
dump truck should move to trace the least-cost path. These attributes
are saved as two output files. Finally, the least-cost paths between
origins (loaders) and destinations (dumps or stockpiles) which off-
road dump trucks will take are generated as optimal haulage routes
using the back-link mechanism [22].
To demonstrate the improvements of the modified least-cost path
algorithm proposed in this study, sample calculations were performed
using a synthetic data illustrated in Fig. 4. Four different calculations
were carried out under the following conditions:
(1) Calculating the least accumulated cost by considering 2D flat
physical distance
(2) Calculating the least accumulated cost by considering 2.5D
physical distance
(3) Calculating the least accumulated cost by considering 2.5D
physical distance and the effect of terrain relief (i.e. PATH
DISTANCE in ArcGIS). The effect of wind is not considered.
(4) Calculating the least accumulated cost by considering 2.5D
physical distance and the effects of both terrain relief and
curves along a route (i.e. the modified least-cost path algorithm
proposed in this study).
Table 1 shows the results from the four different calculations. The
accumulated cost of passing from cell A to cell S was increased at
Calculation #2 compared to Calculation #1 as Calculation #2 con-
sidered the 2.5D physical distance. When considering the negative
slope from cell A to cell B in Fig. 4, the cost of passing from cell A to cell
B was decreased at Calculations #3 and #4, compared to Calculation
#2. In contrast, the cost of passing from cell B to cell S was increased at
Calculations #3 and #4 due to the effect of positive slope. Although
the Calculations of both #3 and #4 could consider the effect of terrain
relief through the route, the effect of curve at the center of cell B could
be only examined at Calculation #4; thus the cost of passing from cell
B to cell S at Calculation #4 was higher than the one at Calculation #3.
The sample calculations revealed that the modified least-cost path
algorithm used in this study can simultaneously consider multiple
factors (i.e. the cost per unit length of passing at each cell, 2.5D physical
distance, terrain relief, curves along a route) in analyzing the least-cost
path on the raster surface.
Fig. 4. Synthetic data for sample calculations of the least accumulated cost.
Table 1
Four different calculations of the least accumulated cost of passing from cell A to cell S in
Fig. 4.
No. Cost function CostA → B CostB → S Accumulated
CostA → S
1 CostN → S = 0.5 × DN − S × (CLN + CLS) 75.00 s 106.07 s 181.07 s
2 CostN → S = 0.5 × SDN − S × (CLN + CLS) 86.60 s 150.00 s 236.6 s
3 CostN → S = 0.5 × SDN − S × VFN → S 69.28 s 225.00 s 294.28 s
× (CLN + CLS)
4 CostN → S = 0.5 × SDN − S × VFN → S 69.28 s 247.50 s 316.78 s
× (CLN × HTFN + CLS)
4. Software Implementation
A new software, GEOHARTS, was written in Visual Basic.NET 2005.
To embed a 3D render window of Google Earth into GEOHARTS, we
used an open-source ActiveX control provided by the Google-Earth-
Airlines (http://www.googleearthairlines.com). This ActiveX control
activates the interaction between Google Earth COM API (http://earth.
google.com/comapi) and GEOHARTS. It should be noted that the
Google Earth client, a free stand-alone desktop application, needs to
be installed to utilize GEOHARTS. GEOHARTS operates on IBM PCs
under the Microsoft Windows platform (i.e. XP, Vista and 7).
Table 2 describes the input and output data files used in GEOHARTS.
The images such as BaseMapIMG, SlopeMapIMG and LandUseIMG
are used to improve the visualizations of local construction and mining
sites where the satellite images of Google Earth are not updated very
frequently, and their spatial resolutions are low. The spatial resolution of
DEM can vary depending on the topographical survey methods used in
construction and mining sites. However, the use of high-resolution
DEMs (1–20 m) is desirable to calculate the least accumulated cost
by considering the effect of terrain relief. The resolution of DEM should
be identical to that of LandUseGrid. The input data files need to be
frequently updated according to managerial conditions of construction
and mining sites.
GEOHARTS provides extended functions for optimal haulage
routing of off-road dump trucks in construction and mining sites.
The extended functions can be organized into four broad categories:
system login, project settings, information visualization and optimi-
zation. When an authorized user logs in to GEOHARTS, the main user
interface with the embedded 3D render window of Google Earth
appears on the screen (Fig. 5). Based on the user's selections of a site
and an off-road dump truck, data files related to the coordinates
system of the site are loaded into memory and information about the
truck model, driver and GPS availability of the truck are displayed on
the interface status bar at the bottom of the window. The user also can
change the selections to check the status of other sites and trucks.
GEOHARTS displays the study domain using the embedded 3D
browser of Google Earth. Therefore, high-resolution satellite imagery
draped over a DEM can be displayed in conjunction with KML that
displays local site-specific data sets, e.g., a base map, a 2-D slope map,
a land-use map, information about loaders and dumps.
To display the base, slope, and land-use maps of the site, the
Ground Overlay element in KML is utilized. KML defines the Ground
Overlay element as an image that is draped onto the terrain of Google
Earth or added at a specified altitude above the Earth's surface. Using
the Ground Overlay element, the boundaries of base, slope, and land-
use maps in terms of latitude and longitude, the rotation of the maps
around their center (degrees, a counterclockwise direction), and the
altitude of the maps (m a.s.l.) are specified in GEOHARTS. To specify
how the altitude is interpreted, the ClampToGround option in KML is
used, which ignores the altitude specification and drapes the image
over the terrain. The Screen Overlay element indicates a 2D image
such as a logo, credit or map legend that is fixed to a specific location
 Y. Choi, A. Nieto / Automation in Construction 20 (2011) 982–997
Table 2
Data files used in GEOHARTS.
Type File Remarks
Input -UserInfo a,† -User account information
-SiteInfoa,† -Site information with links referencing the
corresponding PrjInfo1 and CoordInfo1 files
-PrjInfoa,‡ -Information of absolute references to all data
files used in the selected site
-CoordInfoa,‡ -Coordinates system information of the selected site
-FleetInfoa,‡ -Fleet information of off-road dump trucks in the
selected site
-BaseMapb,† -Information about parameter settings for the
ground overlay of BaseMapIMG3 and the screen
overlay of BaseMapLgdIMG3
-BaseMapIMGc,‡ -Base map of the selected site
-BaseMapLgdIMGc,‡ -Legend of the base map
-SlopeMapb,† -Information about parameter settings for the
ground overlay of SlopeMapIMG3 and the screen
overlay of SlopeMapLgdIMG3
-SlopeMapIMGc,‡ -Terrain slope-gradient map (deg.) of the
selected site
-SlopeMapLgdIMGc,‡ -Legend of the slope-gradient map
-HaulPlanb,† -Information about parameter settings for the
ground overlay of LandUseIMG3 and the screen
overlay of LandUseLgdIMG3 with links referencing
the Loading2,5 and Dumping2,5 files
-LandUseIMGc,‡ -Land-use map of the selected site
-LandUseLgdIMGc,‡ -Legend of the land-use map
-Loaderb,e,‡ -Information about a loader (e.g. location,
equipment model, operator, icon image, picture)
represented by a point
-Dumpsb,‡ -Information about dumps (e.g. location, equipment
model, operator, icon image, picture) represented
by multiple points
-DEMd,† -Digital elevation model stored in a raster grid
-LandUseGridd,† -Land-use map stored in a raster grid
-TimeStudyInfoa,† -Average speed (km/hour) information of off-
highway trucks at different truck models, road
conditions, terrain slope-gradients, curved angles
and truck models measured in the selected site
-FuelStudyInfo1,† -Average fuel consumption per distance (l/100 km)
information of off-highway trucks at different truck
models, road conditions, terrain slope-gradients,
curved angles and truck models measured in the
selected site
Output -LeastCostDistd,† -A raster data set which indicates the least
accumulated travel time or fuel consumption of
truck movement
-LeastCostDird,† -A raster data set that provides each cell with a
pointer that identifies the optimal connection to
neighborhood cells to ensure the least-cost of
truck movement
-OptimalRoutesb,† -Optimal routes information with links referencing
the corresponding Route2,5 files
-Routeb,e,‡ -Optimal route (from an origin point to a
destination point) represented by a line-string
a
Comma-Separated Values (CSV) file.
b
Keyhole Markup Language (KML) file.
c
Portable Network Graphics (PNG) file.
d
ESRI ArcGIS ASCII grid file.
e
Multiple files are allowed according to the number of corresponding objects in the
selected site.
†
Source file.
‡
Fetched file.
on the screen and specifies the size, position and rotation of the image.
It should be noted that Screen Overlays are displayed in the 3D browser
area but operate independently of the Earth model, i.e., they are un-
affected by navigation around or movement of the globe. GEOHARTS
uses Screen Overlays to display map legends.
The locations of loaders, dumps and stockpiles are critical for
planning the haulage operations in construction and mining sites.
GEOHARTS uses the Placemark element in KML to display information
about loaders, dumps and stockpiles in the site. The Placemark
987
element has an icon and a label that can indicate the location and
identity of a loader, dump or stockpile. The icon is, by default, a yellow
pushpin, however, it can be replaced by specifying a custom icon in
IconStyle within the KML, specifying a custom image file. The
Placemark element can also have the Description element that allows
for the use of Hyper Text Markup Language 5 (HTML 5) [13]. Once the
user clicks an icon in the 3D browser, a description balloon appears
that includes the name and image of a loader, dump or stockpile
defined in KML using the Description element.
Because the locations of loaders and dumps can dynamically
change during haulage operations, GEOHARTS uses the Network Link
element in KML to effectively manage timely updated information
related to the loaders and dumps. The Network Link element allows a
hierarchy of KML files that are linked to each other in a tree-like
structure. A source (parent) KML file can activate GEOHARTS to fetch
the linked files, load them into memory and display them in the
embedded 3D viewer of Google Earth. The fetched (child) KML files
can also contain links to another KML files. When the fetched KML
files are loaded into memory, the Network Link element can refresh
them using time-based parameters such as the RefreshInterval in
KML [13]. We defined the RefreshInterval as 10, thus the locations of
loaders and dumps are refreshed every 10 s in GEOHARTS.
When the user presses down the button for parameter settings
in the optimization category in the main user interface, a new user
interface, designed to apply the modified least-cost path algorithm,
appears on the screen (Fig. 6) and the files of DEM, LandUseGrid,
TimeStudyInfo and FuelStudyInfo in Table 2 are loaded into memory.
The user can select an objective function (either travel time or fuel
consumption) from the radio buttons and a truck model from the
dropdown box, and then can press down the Draw button to review
three charts that show in-situ measurements of the selected truck's
performance at the site: the upper chart shows the speed (km/hour)
or fuel consumption (l/100 km) of loaded and empty trucks at dif-
ferent land-use conditions, and the middle and lower charts illustrate
graphs of the vertical factor regarding terrain relief and the horizontal
factor related to curves along a route respectively.
The IDs of loaders, dumps and stockpiles at the site are displayed
on two checklist boxes; therefore the user can choose all or subsets of
them as origins and destinations in optimal haulage routing of off-
road dump trucks. For the development of GEOHARTS, we considered
three options of the haulage type in assigning origins and destinations
into the optimization process. Once the user chooses the “single trip of
a loaded truck” option at the user interface, the loaders selected in the
checklist box are used as origins and the selected dumps are used as
destinations. In contrast, in the case of the “single trip of an empty
truck” option, the dumps selected in the checklist box are used as the
origins and the selected loaders are used as destinations. The third
option, called the “round trip with the fixed assignment” allows
GEOHARTS to analyze optimal haulage routes of loaded dump trucks
by defining the selected loaders as origins and the selected dumps as
potential halfway points, and the least accumulated cost of passing of
empty dump trucks from the halfway points to the origins through
the same haulage routes. It should be noted that the first and second
options are useful in a variable truck dispatching system, where new
origins and destinations are dynamically assigned into loaded and
empty dump trucks during haulage operations. The third option
can be effectively used in a fixed truck dispatching system, where
loaded and empty trucks use same haulage route between origins and
destinations.
When the user presses the OK button, the optimization is per-
formed according to the sequential procedures in Fig. 2, and two
output files (i.e. LeastCostDist and LeastCostDir in Table 2) are gen-
erated. Because these output files are saved as the ESRI ASCII grid
format, they are exchangeable with ArcGIS. For tracking the least-cost
path between an origin and a destination, GEOHARTS uses a queue
data structure in which the first element added to the queue will be
988 Y. Choi, A. Nieto / Automation in Construction 20 (2011) 982–997
Fig. 5. Main user interface of GEOHARTS with the embedded 3D render window of Google Earth.
the first one to be removed. The longitude, latitude and the least
accumulated cost of passing at the origin are firstly inputted into the
queue, and then the values at the next cell, identified by the LeastCostDir
file, are inputted into the queue (see Fig. 7). This enqueue operation
continues by tracing the least-cost path until the values at the des-
tination are inputted into the queue. When the enqueue operation is
finished, the values in the queue are extracted from the front of the
queue and converted into the LineString element (i.e. a collection of
two or more coordinate values) in the Route KML file in Table 2 to
display the least-cost path from an origin to a destination. Because
GEOHARTS uses the OptimalRoutes KML file that includes the Network
Link elements referencing multiple Route KML files, optimal haulage
routes of off-road dump trucks between multiple origins and destina-
tions can be displayed on the screen and updated in a timely manner.
There have been many studies focused on developing truck
scheduling software to determine the number of trucks required and
the dispatching intervals [29–34]. Because this study mainly considered
the routing problem, a discussion of how to optimize the time when
each event in a route should take place is beyond the scope of this paper.
However, this study attempted to provide necessary information to
external software that mainly considers the scheduling problem. To
support external truck scheduling software, GEOHARTS provides a
summary report that includes the 2.5D physical distance (m) and the
least accumulated cost (travel time or fuel consumption) of passing
through each optimal haulage route. In particular, the travel time of
each haulage route is necessary to optimize the dispatching schedule of
off-road dump trucks for haulage operations [29].
5. Application
The Pasir open-pit coal mine is located in the east side of Kalimantan,
Indonesia (115°53′E longitude and 1°51′S latitude) [35]. The opera-
tional tasks in the Pasir mine consist of drilling, blasting, loading,
haulage, dumping, and general services. Of these, haulage is the most
expensive operation, because a large amount of ore and waste must be
delivered from inside the pit to outside the pit through relatively long
and steep-gradient haulage routes using off-road dump trucks. Con-
sequently, improving the efficiency of haulage operations to reduce
the travel time and fuel consumption of off-road dump trucks has
been increasingly demanded because the improved efficiency can be
linked directly to the curtailment of haulage cost.
A region of the Roto North pit that covers 14.04 km2 (3900 m ×
3600 m) was selected as a study area (Fig. 8). The highest elevation is
188 m a.s.l., and the lowest is currently 102 m b.s.l.. Fig. 9 shows the
base map of study area draped onto the true color satellite imagery in
GEOHARTS. The study area has large unpaved working areas around
coal seams and several waterbodies both inside and outside the pit. In
addition, paved haul roads connect the unpaved areas into waste dumps
and an ore stockpile. Fig. 10 illustrates the slope map of study area
generated from a DEM with 20 m grid spacing. Average gradient of
paved haul roads is 5° and one of bench slopes is 40°. A haulage plan
including the land-use map and distributions of loaders, dumps and a
stockpile is displayed on the embedded 3D viewer of Google Earth in
GEOHARTS (Fig. 11A). The green pushpins indicate the four dumps
and the red pushpin identifies the stockpile. Custom icons are used to
 Y. Choi, A. Nieto / Automation in Construction 20 (2011) 982–997 989

Fig. 6. User interface designed for parameter settings in the optimization process.

represent the two loaders inside the pit. When the user clicks an icon of
the loaders, dumps or stockpile, a balloon of Google Earth that includes
images and descriptions opens as shown in Fig. 11B. Two kinds of
off-road dump truck models were considered in this application:
(a) KOMATSU HD785 and (b) CATERPILLAR 777D.
KOMATSU HD785 as the truck model, the two loaders as origins and
the stockpile as the destination. Based on these parameter settings,
three charts representing characteristics of the selected truck model
were displayed as illustrated in Fig. 12A. The speeds (km/h) of the
loaded truck at three different land-use conditions were converted
into travel times per unit length (s/m), and then the travel times per

5.1. Optimal haulage routing of loaded off-road dump trucks

To determine optimal haulage routes of loaded trucks, the option

of “single trip of a loaded truck” was selected in GEOHARTS. In
addition, we chose the travel time as the objective function, the

Fig. 7. Enqueue operations for tracing the least-cost path between an origin and a
destination. Fig. 8. 3D view of the Roto North pit at the Pasir open pit coal mine, Indonesia.
990 Y. Choi, A. Nieto / Automation in Construction 20 (2011) 982–997
Fig. 9. Visualization of a base map in the study area.
unit length were used to generate the cost map of the loaded truck
in the study area. Because off-road dump trucks cannot cross the
waterbodies and the stockpile in the study area, a dummy value of
1010 (s/m) was assigned to cells of the waterbodies and the stockpile
in the cost map. The vertical factor at different slope-gradient con-
ditions was used to account for the effect of terrain relief and the
horizontal turning factor at different RHMA conditions was utilized to
consider the effect of curves along the route.
Fig. 12B shows the optimal haulage routes of loaded trucks that
ensure the minimum travel times to reach the stockpile. Therefore, we
know that loaded trucks departing from the loaders 1 and 2 should
take the same paved roads connecting to the stockpile for haulage
operations. The 2.5D physical distance and the estimated travel
time at each optimal haulage route were presented at the summary
report. Because the optimal haulage routes in Fig. 12B were deter-
mined by considering not only physical haulage distance but also
various parameters such as cost of passing per unit length, vertical
slope-gradient and horizontal turning angle, they do not always
coincide with the shortest Euclidean distance between loaders and
the stockpile.
To examine the sensitivity of objective functions for optimal
haulage routing of off-road dump trucks, the fuel consumption was
selected as the objective function, and other parameters and input
data sets were not changed. Fig. 13A illustrates the characteristics of
the truck model regarding the fuel consumption in the study area. The
fuel consumptions per unit length (l/100 km) at three different land-
use conditions were used to generate the cost map. Fig. 13B shows
the optimal haulage routes that ensure the least fuel consumptions of
loaded trucks from the loaders to the stockpile. The optimal haulage
route connecting Loader 1 and the stockpile was almost identical to
the one in Fig. 12B. However, the optimal haulage route of loaded
trucks departing from Loader 2 was significantly changed compared to
the one in Fig. 12B; it was determined along paved roads with
fewer curves because the effect of curves along a route on the fuel
consumption (Fig. 13A) was higher than that on the travel time
(Fig. 12A) in the study area.
From this sensitivity analysis, it can be noted that the optimal
haulage routes determined by GEOHARTS are sensitive to the
selection of the objective function. Therefore, careful considerations
are required to appropriately select the objective function according
to the specific managerial conditions at the site. For example, travel
time is a better selection for the objective function when efficiency
and productivity are critical in the site; however, fuel consumption
can be an alternative for the objective function during the period of
high oil prices. In future work, it would be interesting to use multi-
objective optimization techniques to simultaneously consider both
travel time and fuel consumption in optimal haulage routing.
5.2. Optimal haulage routing of empty off-highway trucks
To determine optimal haulage routes of empty trucks in the study
area, we chose the “single trip of an empty truck” option as a haulage
type, the travel time as the objective function, KOMATSU HD785 as
the truck model, the dumps 2, 3, 4 and the stockpile as origins and the
two loaders as destinations. The characteristics of the selected empty
truck illustrated in Fig. 12A were also used to create the cost map and
 Y. Choi, A. Nieto / Automation in Construction 20 (2011) 982–997
Fig. 10. Slope map in the study area displayed on the embedded 3D render window of Google Earth.
to calculate the cost functions during the optimization process.
Fig. 14A shows the optimal haulage routes of empty trucks
determined by GEOHARTS. The optimal route of empty trucks
connecting Loader 1 with the stockpile (2.5D physical distance:
3644 m) is almost identical to the one of loaded trucks (2.5D physical
distance: 3632 m) in Fig. 12B. However, the estimated travel time of
empty trucks moving downhill from the stockpile to Loader 1 (i.e.
2 min 38 s) is significantly reduced compared to the one of loaded
trucks moving uphill (i.e. 7 min 13 s). It is because the speed of empty
trucks is faster than the one of loaded trucks (see Fig. 12A) and
GEOHARTS can distinguish between negative and positive slopes of
terrain against truck movement using the directional cost function
(Eq. (1)).
To analyze the sensitivity of different truck models in optimal
haulage routing of empty trucks, CATERPILLAR 777D was selected as
the truck model. There were no changes in other parameters and input
data sets. In the study area, CATERPILLAR 777D shows a relatively
faster speed at unpaved working areas and slower speed at paved roads
in an empty condition (Fig. 14B) than the ones of KOMATSU HD785
(Fig. 12A). Fig. 14C shows optimal haulage routes of CATERPILLAR 777D
in an empty condition. The optimal haulage route connecting Dump 4
with Loader 2 in Fig. 14C was determined for both paved and unpaved
temporary roads, demonstrating that the route for unpaved temporary
roads used a shorter 2.5D physical distance rather than that for
paved roads (Fig. 14A). Other optimal haulage routes of CATERPILLAR
777D are almost similar to the ones for KOMATSU HD785, however,
their estimated travel times vary significantly. Therefore, we know that
991
optimal haulage routes determined by GEOHARTS are sensitive to
characteristics of the selected truck model. Each truck model can show
different performance depending on specific site conditions, therefore
the characteristics of each truck model should be carefully measured at
the site to improve the accuracy of optimization process in GEOHARTS.
5.3. Optimal haulage routing in the fixed dispatching system
To analyze optimal haulage routes of off-road dump trucks in
the fixed dispatching system, we selected the option of “round trip
with the fixed assignment” as a haulage type, the travel time as the
objective function, KOMATSU HD785 as the truck model, the two
loaders as origins and the four dumps as potential halfway points.
Fig. 14D illustrates the optimization results from GEOHARTS. The
optimal haulage route of loaded trucks departing from Loader 1 was
connected to Dump 2. The empty trucks should return to Loader 1
through the same haulage route after dumping. The estimated travel
time for the one-cycle round trip was 9 min, 6 s. Loader 1 was con-
nected with Dump 3 through the optimal routes with an estimated
travel time of 7 min, 26 s.
6. Conclusions
This study developed new software, GEOHARTS, to improve the route
planning functionality of Google Earth for use in the construction and
mining industries. Using the modified least-cost path algorithm,
GEOHARTS can analyze optimal haulage routes of off-road dump trucks
992 Y. Choi, A. Nieto / Automation in Construction 20 (2011) 982–997

Fig. 11. Visualization of a haulage plan in GEOHARTS. (A) A land-use map and distributions of loaders, dump and a stockpile. (B) A balloon of Google Earth that includes an image and
description of the stockpile.
 Y. Choi, A. Nieto / Automation in Construction 20 (2011) 982–997 993

Fig. 12. (A) Parameter settings and characteristics of KOMATSU HD785 related to travel time measured in the study area. (B) Optimal haulage routes of loaded trucks that ensure the
least travel time with a summary report.
994 Y. Choi, A. Nieto / Automation in Construction 20 (2011) 982–997

Fig. 13. (A) Parameter settings and characteristics of KOMATSU HD785 related to fuel consumption measured in the study area. (B) Optimal haulage routes of loaded trucks that
ensure the fuel consumption with a summary report.
 Y. Choi, A. Nieto / Automation in Construction 20 (2011) 982–997
Fig. 14. (A) Optimal haulage routes of empty trucks (KOMATSU HD785) that ensure the least travel time. (B) Parameter settings and characteristics of CATERPILLAR 777D related to travel time measured in the study area. (C) Optimal haulage
routes of empty trucks (CATERPILLAR 777D) that ensure the least travel time. (D) Optimal haulage routes of off-road dump trucks (KOMATSU HD785) that ensure the least travel time in the fixed truck dispatching system.

995
996 Y. Choi, A. Nieto / Automation in Construction 20 (2011) 982–997
that ensure the least travel time or fuel consumption. These optimal
routes can be shared and synchronized using Google Earth clients in real-
time thorough wireless networks, thus significantly improving the
dissemination of information to all truck drivers involved in the haulage
operation.
An application to the Pasir open-pit coal mine in Indonesia has
shown that GEOHARTS is efficient, and brings the following advantages:
(1) Since GEOHARTS uses a raster-based grid data structure for
the least-cost path analyses, it can overcome current limitations
of the ‘Getting Directions’ function of Google Earth so that (a)
working areas with both paved roads and unpaved temporary
roads, (b) the effects of terrain relief and curves along a route and
(c) multiple origins and destinations can be simultaneously
considered for optimal haulage routing of off-road dump trucks.
(2) Users can readily update the parameter settings related to
the objective function, the truck model, the loaders and dumps
involved and the haulage type for the optimization process.
Therefore, GEOHARTS is most applicable to operating construc-
tion and mining sites, in various areas and countries, where
the alteration of managerial decisions and economic conditions
can dynamically change the demands for the optimal haulage
routing with time.
(3) GEOHARTS allows users to obtain both optimal haulage routes
of trucks and approximately estimated travel times along
the routes in a single framework. Therefore, it can be used to
complement other truck dispatching software that mainly
considers scheduling problems.
For the purpose of routing trucks within construction and mining
sites, high-resolution satellite images with higher frequency of updating
are desirable. However, the satellite images of Google Earth are not
updated very frequently, and their spatial resolutions are low in some
areas. Therefore, it is required to use GEOHARTS with additional data
such as local aerial photography, thematic maps, etc. to improve the
visualizations of the construction and mining sites. In addition,
GEOHARTS is not truly relevant as a fully automated haulage system at
construction sites since the haulage operations in the changing outdoor
environments are so difficult to fully automate and still require the hand
of an experienced operator. However, this does not detract from the value
of the technique described in this paper because GEOHARTS can support
semi-automated operations, as an intermediate phase in the develop-
ment of fully automated systems, by providing truck drivers with optimal
haulage routes to improve the human operator's performance.
A relatively straightforward extension of the current work would
involve (1) the introduction of multi-objective functions for the
optimization and (2) the implementation of optimal truck scheduling
functionality in GEOHARTS. Finally, it should be noted that Google has
announced that the COM API is no longer to be supported (http://
googlegeodevelopers.blogspot.com/2010/08/sunset-for-google-
earth-com-api.html). Therefore, in future work, it would be desirable
to develop a web-based version of GEOHARTS using the JavaScript API
(development and support for which supersedes COM API support)
that eliminates the need to install and run the Google Earth client.
Acknowledgements
This work was supported by the Energy and Resources Engineering
Program Grant funded by the Ministry of Knowledge Economy, South
Korea. The authors thank the anonymous peer reviewers, who provided
useful comments that significantly improved the final paper.
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