Vancouver, BC, Canada, October 15, 2026 – Engineers planning wind farms can now generate a complete access road network, connecting every turbine while accounting for terrain, grades and site constraints, in a single run. Softree Technical Systems released the capability, Path Explorer AI Road Networks, today as part of RoadEng Version 12.
RoadEng was built for forest and rural roads, and engineers have used it to design them for more than 35 years. Softree is now bringing it to wind energy. The company is new to the sector but is already working with 90 wind farm developers and consultants around the world on their projects.
Path Explorer AI first appeared in RoadEng 11, finding the best alignment for a single road between two points. Version 12 takes it from single roads to whole networks, and lets engineers tie into existing roads, set waypoints and fix tangent segments. Instead of designing a wind farm’s access roads one segment at a time, engineers can generate the entire network at the planning stage, review it and carry it into detailed design. Kilometres of road can be generated in minutes; larger projects take longer. On one project, a network connecting 130 turbines, with more than 150 km of road, was solved in about three hours.
“The Path Explorer networks functionality in V12 is a massive leap forward. Instead of considering the problem road by road, you add all the locations you need to reach, your design specs and any spatial constraints and costs, and let the software run,” said Matt Dickie, P.Eng., from Softree Technical Systems. “You end up with an optimized road network that minimizes cost and meets your design constraints. For most projects, it compresses something that once took days into minutes and gives a better result. It also makes exploring other options and adapting designs to changed conditions painless.”
“Designing wind farm turbine hardstands and connecting track networks makes up a large part of our daily workload. We rely on Path Explorer AI networks in RoadEng V12 for our initial track network designs, and despite our extensive experience, we frequently find that its automated first-pass solutions are the best overall options,” said Don Adams of Sydney Surveying Company in Australia. “Softree continues to be an invaluable asset to our engineering workflow.”
The full workflow runs in RoadEng: import project data, build a terrain model, generate the network with Path Explorer AI, then refine alignments, check earthwork with Mass Haul, optimize the vertical design and export construction-ready deliverables. Softree’s vertical optimization alone typically reduces construction costs by 10–30% or more.
“What impresses me most about RoadEng V12 is how quickly Path Explorer turns complex road alignment challenges into practical, cost-effective designs. We can explore optimised routes in minutes, account for restricted areas and challenging terrain, and make informed engineering decisions from day one,” said Stoffel Bakkes of SB Projects in South Africa. “After more than four years using Softree on rural roads and access roads for wind and solar PV farms across South Africa, I would highly recommend it to anyone involved in road design.”
RoadEng 12 also brings updates to the Terrain, Location and Alignment modules, including new grading tools, new hydrology tools in the Location module and 3D road cut visualization.
Path Explorer AI is available with Softree Optimal, the optimization add-on for RoadEng.
For more information about RoadEng Version 12, visit www.softree.com/version-12
About Softree Technical Systems
Softree Technical Systems is a Canadian civil engineering software company based in North Vancouver, BC, founded in 1989. Its flagship product, RoadEng, is used by engineers in more than 75 countries to design rural and resource roads for forestry, mining, renewable energy and infrastructure projects. Softree reinvests in research and development, including a partnership with the University of British Columbia Okanagan.
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Caption: 130 turbines, 150km of road, solved in < 4 hours
Caption: 4 tubrines, 7.3km of Preliminary Roads, solved in < 5 minutes