If you have been following us on twitter, you already know that we released the ArcGIS Water Distribution Capital Planning template (we are calling this the CIP Template for short) yesterday.  The CIP template includes a set of models to help you understand how to you can use GIS to score and rank your infrastructure and a set of tools to provide cost estimates for rehabilitating, replacing or building new infrastructure. 

We will film a video at the end of October that shows you in detail how these tools work, and we’ll be doing a live webcast in December to explore the CIP template in depth. So in the mean time, below is a little help with the CIP Template.

Models:

                We included 6 models that show different ways you can analyze your data.  To run these models, you will need to create a temporary file geodatabase and set the environmental variables for each model.  The two variables you need to set are Current Workspace (the folder that has the CapitalPlanning.gdb in it) and the Scratch Workspace (the folder that has the temporary File GDB you just created). 

Tools:

                The Project Cost Estimating tools use three tables in the CapitalPlanning.gdb for configuration.  These tables are shipped to work with the data in the Sample.gdb.  If you want to start changing cost or the configuration, you will need to change these tables.

                CIPDEFINITON – This tables defines which featureclass’s to cost, the fields to look at(such as Diameter and Material) and a few other parameters.

                CIPCOST – This table defines the cost for a particular asset.  When costing an asset, you can define a Strategy, like Replacement or Rehabilitate, then an action for that Strategy, like Open cut for a Replacement .  For each Strategy and Action, then you define the cost based on the fields you set up in the definition table.  So if you are looking at wMains as a layer, you are interested in the Field’s, Diameter and Material, you would select your Strategy, the Action for that Strategy, the Material(say PVC), then Diameter(say 12) and define a cost for what each foot would cost.  So by using a Strategy, Action and two filter fields, you can provide very detailed cost estimates.

                CIPREPLACEMENT – This table allows you to provide lookups for replacement.  If you are going to replace a 6” DI, you may have a rule saying that each 6” DI is going to be replaced with a 8” PVC.  This table allows you to define this replacement.  So that costing is preformed an 8” PVC, not a 6” DI.

Since this is our initial release of the CIP Template, we want your feedback.  So please post any questions or feedback to our forums under the Water Utilities Template section: http://forums.esri.com/forums.asp?c=55