Decentralized fault-tolerant control of inland navigation networks: a challenge

Inland waterways are large-scale networks used principally for navigation. Even if the transport planning is an important issue, the water resource management is a crucial point. Indeed, navigation is not possible when there is too little or too much water inside the waterways. Hence, the water resource management of waterways has to be particularly efficient in a context of climate change and increase of water demand. This management has to be done by considering different time and space scales and still requires the development of new methodologies and tools in the topics of the Control and Informatics communities. This work addresses the problem of waterways management in terms of modeling, control, diagnosis and fault-tolerant control by focusing in the inland waterways of the north of France. A review of proposed tools and the ongoing research topics are provided in this paper.Peer ReviewedPostprint (published version

Going beyond social savings: how would the British economy have developed in the absence of the railways?: a case study of Brunner Mond 1882-1914

This paper confirms the conclusion of the social savings methodology that industrial development was not dependent on the railways. However, it finds that there would have been a significant change in the distribution of industry without rail, a point underestimated by the social savings methodology because of its flawed assumption that in the absence of the railways the cost of water transport would have remained constant. The paper uses a case study of the large industrial chemical firm Brunner Mond to demonstrate that bulk transport requirements could not be absorbed by the narrow capacity waterways that constituted 40% of the UK waterway network without significant price increases. As a result, industrial development would have been dependent on access to high capacity water transport. Some waterways could have provided such capacity inland but water supply would have limited the extension of the high capacity inland waterway network. Thus, in a non-rail economy sustained industrial development would have predominantly occurred in coastal locations

About the Future Perspectives of Inland Waterway Freight in Central Europe

The paper collects arguments to present that the consumption- and emission characteristics of the rail and inland navigation modes are very close to each other. Considering that these modes are able to transport more or less the same groups of goods, it is a much better way to develop them within an integrated transport policy than trying to bring arguments for one of them against the other

Review of the Waterways Freight Facilities Grant Scheme

The main purpose of the study has been to review the workings of the Waterways Freight Facilities Grant Scheme (Section 36 Grant). Views of industry and institutions regarding the use of canals for the movement of freight were obtained in a series of interviews, together with information on the workings of the Grant Scheme. Case studies were used to test the effect of possible changes to the Grant Scheme. During the period of the study the ramifications of the progress of the Rail Privatisation Bill through Parliament meant that the situation regarding the Section 8 Grant (the equivalent grant for rail freight facilities) has become somewhat fluid. Major revisions, extending the scheme to cover lorry miles saved on motorways, have been announced; an additional grant to cover track costs is also proposed for rail, but the method of application or assessment is not yet clear. In order to encourage more traffic to switch to using waterway in the medium term, we recommend that: -Section 36 Grants should be extended to cover the high quality road network (including motorways), and that a higher valuation should be placed on the benefits than in the case of Section 8 grants, reflecting the higher benefits of water transport relative to rail. -That a new "waterways operating grant" should be available to operators of waterway craft, also at a higher rate per tonne kilometre than the proposed rail track costs grant. -That the reduction in road accidents and congestion be taken into account when valuing the benefits of inland waterway transport. Even with these revisions, however, we conclude the Section 36 grants will have a modest effect, in general only diverting traffic to water where this does not involve transhipment. Also, few waterway flows offer the sort of long run contracts necessary to justify a grant. As a result, we conclude that, Section 36 Grants will have limited success in satisfying the Department of Transport's overall objective of causing goods to be moved by inland waterway as opposed to road "where this would be in the interest of any locality or of some or all of its inhabitants". In our view a more successful method of achieving the Department's objective in the long term would be to encourage firms receiving or despatching commodities suitable for carriage by inland waterway to locate in premises alongside the canal network. This is even more important where the company is engaged in the import of raw materials. Such a method would require changes to the guidelines on planning and industrial development

INLAND WATERWAYS TRANSPORT IN THE EUROPEAN UNION - FLOWING OR STILL STANDING?

Although the inland waterways transport (transport/navigation on rivers, lakes and canals) is, by its characteristics, an acceptable mode of transport, in some EU member states it is still unfortunately underestimated and insufficiently exploited. Cost-effectiveness, safety and eco-friendliness are the main characteristics of the inland waterway transport. The European Union emphasizes the reduction of traffic congestion, increased traffic safety, the use of environmentally friendly modes of transport and the use of alternative fuels as the goals of its transport policy. Developed inland waterway transport is therefore one of the possible solutions for the achievement of these goals. European Union has some 40,000 km of navigable waterways and 13 Member States have an interconnected waterway network, which is a great potential for the development of this mode of transport. Although the European Union has provided a number of programmes and actions for inland waterway transport to encourage it and to increase the share of goods and passengers transported by inland waterways, the major results appear to be absent. The paper presents the significance and potential of EU inland waterway transport, relevant sources of law and their implementation, as well as activities and results of work in the field of inland waterway transport

Fundamentals of training navigators of ships flying foreign flags when entering the inland waterways of the Russian Federation

Navigation on inland waterways, such as rivers, canals, fairways via reservoirs and lakes is performed under conditions of a minimum under the keel clearance, hydrodynamic interaction between the ship's hull and underwater limits of the fairway, and the impact of irregular currents. Piloting a ship difficult navigational conditions requires the navigator to monitor continuously the ship’s motion, assess quickly the situation and develop optimal decision for ship handling, have sufficient navigational experience and a large amount of practical knowledge. To achieve a high level of qualification, the training of navigators is carried out in several ways at once - general and particular pilotage, organization of navigation safety and the theoretical foundations of ship handling. Lack of theoretical or practical knowledge can lead to wrong assessment of navigation situation and therefore be considered as factor limiting passage of vessel and navigational safety. The article contains analysis of inland waterways navigation particulars as basis of training for navigators of ships flying foreign flags when entering the inland waterways of the Russian Federation to reduce influence of limiting factors and support the navigational safety

The post-1948 development of, and prospects for, inland waterway transport in Britain

Imperial Users onl

Paper 99: design guidelines versus practices for the Upper Seascheldt, the inland waterway connection between Antwerp and Ghent

Design guidelines for inland waterways are so far a national matter. PIANC InCom Working Group 141 "Design Guidelines for Inland Waterways" is nevertheless working on a report with a summary of existing guidelines and a methodology for the concept and detailed design of canals and rivers. For tidal rivers the design is a difficult process and an example is given through the accessibility of the Upper-Seascheldt for CEMT class IV and Va inland vessels between the port of Antwerp and the locks in Merelbeke. A combined evaluation based on concept design guidelines for canals, practices measured during a full-scale voyage and detailed design using ship handling simulators is discussed and illustrated