INTEGRAL ASSESSMENT OF STREET NETWORK ORIENTATION FOR TRUNK WATER SUPPLY SYSTEM PLANNING

Abstract

This paper addresses the relevant scientific and engineering problem of improving the efficiency of trunk water supply network design by incorporating the spatial structure of an urban street network. It is shown that traditional approaches to routing engineering communications often neglect the global orientation properties of urban networks, which may lead to suboptimal design solutions. In this context, a novel method for determining the dominant directions of a street network is proposed, based on graph theory and geometric analysis of spatial structures. The street network is represented as a spatial graph, where vertices correspond to nodes (intersections), and edges represent street segments defined by their geometric coordinates. For each edge, both its length and orientation angle relative to a reference axis are determined, allowing simultaneous consideration of metric and directional properties. To eliminate the influence of the external boundary, a subset of internal edges is selected, ensuring a more accurate representation of the intrinsic network structure. The core of the proposed approach is the introduction of an integral geometric characteristic that describes the distribution of the total edge length with respect to orientation. In practice, this characteristic is implemented through discretization of the angular space and aggregation of edge lengths within corresponding intervals. The resulting function can be interpreted as an orientation spectrum of the network, where local or global maxima correspond to dominant directions. An analysis of the method’s accuracy and robustness is carried out, taking into account errors in coordinate measurements, edge lengths, orientation angles, and discretization procedures. It is demonstrated that the aggregated nature of the integral characteristic ensures statistical stability, while the method itself is invariant to translation and scaling transformations. It is also established that the accuracy of determining dominant directions depends on the selected discretization step, which must be carefully chosen in practical applications. The proposed method enables a transition from local analysis of individual elements to an integral assessment of the geometric structure of street networks. This provides a scientifically grounded basis for optimizing the routing of trunk water supply systems and enhancing the reliability and efficiency of urban engineering infrastructure.