Approach for siting a support facility for transporting supplies in emergency cases in the Republic of Bulgaria

Abstract

In this paper, the author determines the most suitable transportation location for intervention in a large scale disaster in the Republic of Bulgaria, by means of the Weber Problem and the Weiszfeld method. The objective is to minimise the cost of transporting emergency supplies across the country by locating a support facility, and thus reaching the area of event at the lowest possible cost. A brief description of the Weiszfeld method is provided in the paper. Further, using recent population data of both provinces and municipalities, the method is applied respectively to obtain the results. They were compared in terms of spatial correspondence and the final facility location was fixed. Erecting the supply site is recommended to help decrease the losses.