Hit 'em Where They Ain't
“Wee Willie”
Keeler, a right-fielder for several professional baseball teams around the turn
of the century (circa 1900), is commonly acknowledged to be the originator of
the folksy phrase “Hit ‘Em Where They Ain’t.”
The advice worked well for Keeler; hitting the ball where the opposing
fielders weren’t standing and where the opposing fielders couldn’t make a play resulted
in a lifetime batting average of .341 for Keeler, good enough to be ranked 14th
in the record books.
In 1969, landscape architect Ian McHarg’s Design with Nature proposed a methodology for fitting new development to the land with sensitivity to what’s already there. McHarg considered that the environment presents both opportunities and constraints for siting new development and infrastructure. In Keeler’s terms, these may be thought of as “where they ain’t” versus “where they are.”
As one examines the landscape, one encounters a variety of environmental and landscape features. Here is a perennial stream, there is a field of winter wheat, and over there is a subdivision of single family homes and a shopping center. There’s also a system of roads that connects it all and a complex web of utilities furnishing power, energy, water, and communications. Cadastral pattern (the arrangement of land lot lines and property lines) provides another important consideration.
But there are considerations other than simple land use and ownership patterns. Consider also that there are areas of gentle to severe topography, soils of varying engineering capacities, wetlands, and floodplains. There may be known and unknown cultural resources, including buildings and districts eligible for nomination to the National Register of Historic Properties, archaeological sites, and the traditional cultural properties of the descendants of the first Americans.
In planning the route of a new transmission line, where do we start? Certainly end points are necessary, but beyond that it’s important to understand the nature of the intervening landscape. A siting professional will want to acquire a thorough knowledge of the features in the study area, of the components of the natural and built environments and the engineering considerations that shape the best available routing alternatives.
With the advent of desktop computing, modern Geographic Information System (GIS) software, and the availability of off-the-shelf GIS databases, it has become much easier to site a project with an awareness and knowledge of the significant constraints and opportunities available. A siting professional will use that knowledge and awareness not only to ensure the best practicable alternatives are considered and the best practicable route is selected, but will also use that information to craft a defensible siting study document needed to prepare an environmental assessment, obtain a regulatory permit or a public service commission certificate of necessity, or undertake eminent domain proceedings.
Corridor Analyst (now Trimble® Corridor Analyst) is a GIS-based software product developed by Photo Science, Inc., a geospatial solutions company, and Georgia Transmission Corporation in the late 1990s. According to Trimble’s February 01, 2011 press release, the Trimble® Corridor Analyst “simultaneously considers construction costs, environmental restrictions, social concerns and legislative obligations, allowing utility planners to thoroughly examine alternatives and select the most appropriate corridors for high-voltage power transmission lines, which can provide significant reductions in project planning time and cost for projects.”
Clayton Doherty, Linear Projects, Inc.’s principal, served as a primary subject matter expert in the development of the original corridor analyst while employed as an Environmental and Regulatory Coordinator with Georgia Transmission. Mr. Doherty has since worked on dozens of projects using Corridor Analyst and the EPRI/GTC Overhead Electric Transmission Line Siting Methodology. Mr. Doherty also assisted EPRI and several Kentucky utilities and staheholders in the calibration of the EPRI/GTC Methodology for use in the Commonwealth, resulting in the Kentucky Transmission Line Siting Methodology.
In 1969, landscape architect Ian McHarg’s Design with Nature proposed a methodology for fitting new development to the land with sensitivity to what’s already there. McHarg considered that the environment presents both opportunities and constraints for siting new development and infrastructure. In Keeler’s terms, these may be thought of as “where they ain’t” versus “where they are.”
As one examines the landscape, one encounters a variety of environmental and landscape features. Here is a perennial stream, there is a field of winter wheat, and over there is a subdivision of single family homes and a shopping center. There’s also a system of roads that connects it all and a complex web of utilities furnishing power, energy, water, and communications. Cadastral pattern (the arrangement of land lot lines and property lines) provides another important consideration.
But there are considerations other than simple land use and ownership patterns. Consider also that there are areas of gentle to severe topography, soils of varying engineering capacities, wetlands, and floodplains. There may be known and unknown cultural resources, including buildings and districts eligible for nomination to the National Register of Historic Properties, archaeological sites, and the traditional cultural properties of the descendants of the first Americans.
In planning the route of a new transmission line, where do we start? Certainly end points are necessary, but beyond that it’s important to understand the nature of the intervening landscape. A siting professional will want to acquire a thorough knowledge of the features in the study area, of the components of the natural and built environments and the engineering considerations that shape the best available routing alternatives.
With the advent of desktop computing, modern Geographic Information System (GIS) software, and the availability of off-the-shelf GIS databases, it has become much easier to site a project with an awareness and knowledge of the significant constraints and opportunities available. A siting professional will use that knowledge and awareness not only to ensure the best practicable alternatives are considered and the best practicable route is selected, but will also use that information to craft a defensible siting study document needed to prepare an environmental assessment, obtain a regulatory permit or a public service commission certificate of necessity, or undertake eminent domain proceedings.
Corridor Analyst (now Trimble® Corridor Analyst) is a GIS-based software product developed by Photo Science, Inc., a geospatial solutions company, and Georgia Transmission Corporation in the late 1990s. According to Trimble’s February 01, 2011 press release, the Trimble® Corridor Analyst “simultaneously considers construction costs, environmental restrictions, social concerns and legislative obligations, allowing utility planners to thoroughly examine alternatives and select the most appropriate corridors for high-voltage power transmission lines, which can provide significant reductions in project planning time and cost for projects.”
Clayton Doherty, Linear Projects, Inc.’s principal, served as a primary subject matter expert in the development of the original corridor analyst while employed as an Environmental and Regulatory Coordinator with Georgia Transmission. Mr. Doherty has since worked on dozens of projects using Corridor Analyst and the EPRI/GTC Overhead Electric Transmission Line Siting Methodology. Mr. Doherty also assisted EPRI and several Kentucky utilities and staheholders in the calibration of the EPRI/GTC Methodology for use in the Commonwealth, resulting in the Kentucky Transmission Line Siting Methodology.
