In the past, one of the largest variables in deciding whether a proposed site was viable was the cost associated with the access route. In the planning stage, choosing an access route through difficult terrain to a proposed site involved making many assumptions.

In order to eliminate the guesswork involved in planning, TDB in conjunction with the National Research Council of Canada have researched the application of Virtual Road Modelling and Design (VRMD) from high accuracy Digital Terrain Models (DTM) which are developed from low level aerial photographs.

The results of the research project demonstrated that the VRMD methodology was more reliable than a Ministry of Forest Level 3 Survey standard.

With the newly developed VRMD methodology, TDB is able to analyse various route options to determine the most economical and environmentally sound route at the preliminary planning stage.