Prototype expert system for site selection of a sanitary landfill

208 K. W. ChauFigure 1.Schematic diagram of the prototype expert system.3.1 Knowledge acquisition and representationKnowledge plays an important role in an expert system. The knowledge used has beenacquired from written documents such as codes of practice, textbooks and design manualsand complemented by interviews with 10 experts, from whom fairly consistent views wereacquired within a 6-month period. In order to acquire knowledge, it is better to work with theexpert in the context of solving particular problems, instead of directly posing questions aboutrules. Hybrid knowledge representation schemes, including object-oriented programming,procedural methods and production rules, are employed to express engineering heuristics and