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Knowledge-based systems are increasingly popular in a variety of fields. These systems may provide an elegant and comprehensive framework for the solution of ill-structured, complex problems that traditional computer systems cannot handle. This paper describes the implementation process of a prototype knowledge-based system designed to help in the task of locating and evaluating highway corridors, taking into account environmental, social and economic factors. The applicability of the approach to other engineering problems is also analyzed as well as the relative merits of alternate implementation tools. The most significant aspects of the system presented are its transparent reasoning, provided by extensive explanation facilities, the original spatial data representation structures it uses and the implementation of fuzzy operators to deal with uncertain information. The system presented has a comparatively reduced knowledge base and therefore does not achieve the level of performance expected from experts in the field. However, it does demonstrate how relatively new Artificial Intelligence techniques can be used in conjunction with conventional techniques to model a typical Civil Engineering problem. / Applied Science, Faculty of / Civil Engineering, Department of / Graduate

M.A. / The accessibility of a region or a country is important for maintaining a strong development rate. Its necessity in research has often been pointed out and especially in research on transportation geography overseas as well as in the Republic of South Africa. This study investigates the spatial variation in the road network link development patterns in Development Region G in order to establish which districts are adequately accessible and which are not, and to establish the relation between the existing accessibility and level of development in the study area. Due to the extent of the problem which had to be investigated, it was not possible to analyse the transport and communication system in the Republic of South-Africa as a whole ...

Master of Science