Machine Learning and Scripting to Improve Capital Planning Optimizations (DeKalb County, Georgia)

Optimization is a powerful process used to find high-value solutions to a complex problem. When applied to collection system capital improvement planning, optimization can evaluate a large range of alternative scenarios by using automation code, algorithms and enhanced computational power. The time to setup and review results, as well as the proprietary software cost to execute the optimization, are two of the biggest barriers to using optimization. The following abstract describes three scripts developed over the course of several capital planning projects to improve the efficiency and accessibility of the optimization process during collection system capital planning. These scripts were applied to identify a suite of cost-effective infrastructure to meet Dekalb County Georgia’s capacity assurance program’s goal.