Roads Tutorial 6 Exercise 2: Optimizing the Road Corridor

Now that you have reviewed the cost settings, set the styles, and defined the areas to avoid, you can run the optimization to find the most cost-effective route for the new road.

1. Close the Roads Analysis toolbar to clear the view of the corridor area.
2. Click the green "+" icon to start a new path.
3. Sketch the path in a straight line that crosses both of the avoidance areas.

   Use single-click to start and finish.

4. Double-click the Name of the path and enter Foothills 1.
5. Go back to the model and zoom out so that you can see the boundaries of the job area.

   The job area is highlighted while the surrounding area is darker.

6. Grab the corner grips and reduce the size of the job area so that it is slightly bigger than the path.

   This reduces the amount of data that is sent to the cloud and speeds up processing.

7. Note the information under Advanced Settings that explains the requirements for the optimization feature.
8. Click Optimize It to start processing.

   After a short interval, the Job Monitor opens automatically.

9. When the Job Monitor appears, note the Status icon, which indicates the progress of the optimization.

   In a minute the icon shows that the job is in progress.

10. When you receive the email notifying you that the job is complete, return to the Job Monitor.
11. Note that the Status is Complete and that the report is available.
12. Click the Report icon to download the optimization report in PDF format.
13. View the report.

    Note especially the map on the first page, which shows how the new road goes around the avoidance areas.

14. Close the report.