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Vulnerability of critical infrastructures on inland waterways in Germany
Published in Airong Chen, Xin Ruan, Dan M. Frangopol, Life-Cycle Civil Engineering: Innovation, Theory and Practice, 2021
Inland navigation is an important element for European and German logistics chains and is a reliable and flexible transport system. This transport system requires an efficient infrastructure (Federal Ministry of Transport and Digital Infrastructure 2019). On the one hand, the infrastructure of the waterway has a very old stock of buildings. About 25% of the weirs and about 45% of the locks are older than 80 years, as of 2015 Infrastructure Report, see Table 1, and will soon reach or have already exceeded their useful life. On the other hand, the infrastructure is in increasingly poor condition. The waterway is characterised by a massive maintenance backlog. This was caused by a long-term investment deficit and is aggravated by a lack of qualified manpower (Federal Waterways Engineering and Research Institute 2019). Thus, about 85% of the lock systems, about 73% of the weirs and 87% of the pumping stations are in an inadequate structural condition (Federal Ministry of Transport and Digital Infrastructure 2015).
Inland Waterway, Short-Sea, and Coastal Shipping
Published in Lowe FCILT David, Intermodal Freight Transport, 2006
Transport by inland waterway, short-sea, and coastal shipping is taking on an increasingly important role in the development of Euro-wide intermodal freighting operations. Many individual European Union (EU) Member State governments and the European Commission (EC) itself see these modes as offering great potential for transferring freight traffic away from Europe’s grossly overcrowded road networks, especially as the waterways are currently so significantly under utilized and because they offer a truly environmentally beneficial alternative to the bane of congested roads and polluting heavy lorries. According to information about inland waterways on the EU’s Europa web site (www.europa.eu.int\):Compared to other modes which are often confronted with congestion and capacity problems, inland waterway transport is characterized by its reliability and has a major unexploited capacity. Inland waterway transport has major assets. It is particularly effective and energy-efficient; its energy consumption per tonne-kilometre of transported goods corresponds to one-sixth of the consumption [of road transport] and to half of that of rail transport. Its noise and gaseous emissions are modest. According to recent studies, the total external costs of inland navigation (in terms of accidents, congestion, noise emissions, air pollution and other environmental impacts) are seven times lower in than those of road transport. Inland waterway transport ensures a high degree of safety, in particular when it comes to the transport of dangerous goods. Finally it contributes to the decongestion of the overloaded road network in densely populated regions.
Numerical analysis of filling/emptying operation proposals for ship-locks chambers used for inland navigation
Published in Wim Uijttewaal, Mário J. Franca, Daniel Valero, Victor Chavarrias, Clàudia Ylla Arbós, Ralph Schielen, Alessandra Crosato, River Flow 2020, 2020
Inland navigation are not only one of the oldest, but also economical, environmentally friendly as well as energy efficient means of transport. Therefore, the European Union is promoting the enhancement of its waterway infrastructure (CSWD, 2018), including the existing ship-locks along national and international waterways. In addition, water scarcity during dry seasons is among one of the problems that the authorities are facing for the proper operation of the hydraulic structures that allow inland navigation. Thus, in this contribution, the numerical analysis of the flow behavior of water along ship-locks for their proper exploitation is presented.
Fatigue life updating of embedded miter gate anchorages of navigation locks using full-scale laboratory testing
Published in Structure and Infrastructure Engineering, 2023
Brian A. Eick, Nathaniel M. Levine, Matthew D. Smith, Billie F. Spencer
The inland navigation system in the US allows for the transportation of billions of dollars annually on the nation’s inland waterways. The system relies on a network of locks and dams to maintain a navigable depth of water in the rivers and allow vessels to traverse areas in the river with varying water elevations. In the US, most river locks use miter gates as both the damming surface and door to the lock chamber. These gates are supported in part by steel frames referred to as miter gate anchorages, which are embedded in the concrete lock chamber wall and connected to the miter gate by steel bars. As the gates swing open and closed, the miter gate anchorages are pseudo-statically loaded in tension as they resist the overhanging moment caused by the weight of the miter gate itself. Dependent on shipping traffic, miter gates can swing open and closed some ten to twenty times per day which, when considered over decades of gate swings, leads to concerns about material fatigue of the embedded anchorage. Fatigue is particularly concerning given that many anchorages have been in service for some eighty years, and their embedment in concrete precludes visual inspection, and so the condition of miter gate anchorages is typically unknown.
Feasibility of retrofitting existing miter-type lock gates with discontinuous contact blocks
Published in Journal of Structural Integrity and Maintenance, 2019
Brian A Eick, Matthew D. Smith, Travis B. Fillmore
The inland navigation system in the US facilitates the waterborne transportation of billions of dollars of goods on inland riverways annually. The primary infrastructure utilized on the inland navigation system comes in the form of locks and dams. Dams are constructed to ensure that inland rivers maintain a navigable depth of water while the lock chambers are constructed to transport vessels from portions of rivers with different water elevations. The most common type of lock gate in the US is a miter lock gate, which comprises greater than 90% of all lock gates in the US (U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, 2014a). Characterized by their primary load-carrying members, miter gates are either vertically framed (using vertical steel girders) or horizontally framed (using horizontal steel girders). This study will focus on horizontally framed miter gates and particularly on one of the critical components of these types of miter gates needed to transfer load in the intended fashion, namely, the contact blocks in the quoin region. To illustrate the components of interest, a typical horizontally framed miter gate is shown in Figure 1, while a simplified drawing of the gate is shown with the quoin region and the contact blocks labeled in Figure 2. The large steel diagonal members, also clearly seen in Figure 1, are labeled in Figure 2 for clarity. The contact block in Figure 2 is the solid black piece that spans the height of the quoin region of the gate. Generally, miter gates in the US are on the order of 10 to 20 m (35 to 65 ft) high, and the contact blocks in the quoin region are intended to span the entire height.
Modelling with joint choice of ports and countries of origin and destination: application to Colombian ports
Published in Maritime Policy & Management, 2018
Javier Cantillo, Victor Cantillo, Julián Arellana
Intermodal transport is necessary to improve the current market share of Colombian ports. Currently, almost all cargo is mobilised by trucks which are more expensive than other modes such as railway and inland navigation, which benefit from economies of scale.