Exercise 7: Part 1 - Python Script, Network Analysis - Data Preparation

Part 1 prepared the data for network analysis by writing a python script the select the sand mines in Wisconsin to be used.  The criteria we used to select certain mines are: the mines must be active, the mines must not also be a long a rail loading station, and if the mine is within a 1.5 km of a railroad it will be eliminated.  The reason we want to eliminate sand mines near railroads is because we will be doing a network analysis of the sand mines to the nearest rail roads, and estimate the number of trips the trucks will take and the cost of this traffic on local roads in part 2.

The python script resulted in a point feature class containing information of 41 mines that will be used for network analysis in part 2 of exercise 7.

Figure 1: Python Script Completed