TTWORLD: A WEB-PORTAL FOR ASSESSING THE SUITABILITY OF TRENCHLESS CONSTRUCTION METHODS FOR UTILITY PROJECTS AND ASSOCIATED SOCIAL COST SAVINGS

摘要

The Trenchless Technology Center, in collaboration with industry associations, has developed comprehensive, yet easy to use interactive software for the evaluation of alternative construction methods that can be employed in the installation and rehabilitation of buried pipes (gravity driven and pressurized) and manhole structures utilized in municipal applications. The decision support software was implemented in an on-line format, so it can be accessed simultaneously by multiple users over the internet via a web-portal named TTWorld. A Social Cost calculator was added to the web-portal to assist users in estimating the social costs associated with the various construction methods. The software is updated regularly to include emerging and evolving technologies and materials, and is available in both, English and Spanish. Future developments will focus on enabling the software to accept input data directly from relational databases associated with commonly used GIS software packages.