Summary
Transportation of forest products is a complex engineering problem that requires
evaluation of many alternative routes. This indicates the necessity of using computerassisted
methods in planning transportation of forest products and systematically searching
for the optimum route. In this study, an application of GIS based decision support system
was presented to determine the optimum route that minimized the total cost of transporting
forest products. The network analysis method under “Network Analyst” extension of ArcGIS
10 program was applied. The road network data of Kahramanmaras (Central) Forest
Enterprise Directorate at Kahramanmaras Forest Regional Directorate were considered in
execution of the system. The optimum route with minimum unit cost in transportation of forest
products was investigated by evaluating 10 harvesting units and two forest depots (Tekerek
and Sucati). The results indicated that using GIS decision support system was able to reduce
total transportation cost by 28.29% by considering both forest depots in the study area.