Workflow Narrative

Terrain Constructability and Cost Analysis

Problem It Solves

Which areas are practically constructible at lower relative cost before detailed design?

Who It Is For

Engineering predesign teams and capital planning groups.

Primary User

Infrastructure developers, engineering firms, and utility planning teams.

What It Does

Converts terrain and optional risk/cost context into constructability and cost-class surfaces.
Supports quick predesign ranking of lower-cost, lower-risk development zones.

How It Works

Computes slope from DEM and harmonizes optional conflict, wetness, and access-cost rasters.
Blends penalties into a constructability score and relative cost class output.
QA acceptance guidance:
`status=pass` indicates high-cost fraction is within baseline tolerance.
`diagnostics.acceptance_thresholds.high_cost_fraction_review` defines review escalation threshold.
Use `summary.high_cost_fraction` with local access constraints before capital-stage budgeting decisions.
MVP hardening assets:
Benchmark scaffold: `tests/fixtures/terrain_siting_benchmark/`
Promotion guide: `docs/internal/development/TERRAIN_PRECISION_AG_BENCHMARK_PROMOTION_GUIDE_2026_04_14.md`

Inputs

Parameter	Optional	Description
dem	no	Reference DEM raster for constructability scoring.
existing_conflict	yes	Optional prior terrain conflict raster normalized to [0,1].
wetness	yes	Optional wetness raster normalized to [0,1].
access_cost	yes	Optional access-friction raster normalized to [0,1].

Outputs

Parameter	Type	Description
constructability_score	GeoTIFF	Constructability score raster [0,1] (higher is better).
cost_class	GeoTIFF	Relative cost class raster (1 low cost to 5 high cost).
summary	JSON	Machine-readable summary report containing run metadata, QA diagnostics, and key metrics.
html_report	HTML	Human-readable customer-facing report generated from the summary contract for stakeholder review and QA traceability.

Python Example

import whitebox_workflows as wbw

wbe = wbw.WbEnvironment(include_pro=True, tier="pro")

constructability, cost_class, summary = wbe.terrain_constructability_and_cost_analysis(
    dem="data/dem.tif",
    existing_conflict="output/terrain_conflict_conflict_score.tif",
    access_cost="data/access_friction.tif",
    output_prefix="output/terrain_constructability",
)

print(constructability)
print(cost_class)
print(summary)

License Notice

Use of this function requires a license for Whitebox Workflows Professional (WbW-Pro). Please visit www.whiteboxgeo.com to purchase a license.

Project Links

WbW Homepage User Manual Learn More