DESIGN GUIDELINES FOR INLAND WATERWAY DIMENSIONS
SÖHNGEN B.; CORDIER Y.; DEPLAIX J.-M., ELOOT K.;
IRIBARREN J.; POMPEE P.-J.; RETTEMEIER K.
The authors are members of the editorial-group of the PIANC INCOM WG 141 on
Design Guidelines for Inland Waterways
Email (chairman WG 141): bernhard.soehngen@baw.de
ABSTRACT
The PIANC INCOM WG 141 was founded in 2010 to provide planners of inland waterways with design standards for inland waterways. The report with the title Design Guidelines for of Inland Waterway Dimensions will be published in 2018.
In 18 meetings and three interim meetings on special questions, the group has undertaken a great review on guidelines and practice examples as well as analyzed methods for detailed design. International standards as well as practice examples show a wide variety of design cases. One reason for the differences is the great variety in traffic density but also the tradition of shipping in different countries. Furthermore, especially waterways with significant flow velocities as rivers are a complex system influenced by its varying bathymetry and currents to mention just a few aspects. So it is not appropriate to give just “one” design waterway dimension.
Instead a design method was developed leading generally to three recommended design steps: “Concept Design”, “Practice Approach” and “Detailed Design”. Special recommendations will be provided for designing fairways in canals and rivers, bridge opening widths, lock approach length’s and widths and the dimensions of turning basins, junctions and berthing places.
The “Concept Design” provides basic dimensions for designing the necessary waterway dimensions. The data come coming mostly from existing guidelines. In a next step, called "Extended Concept Design", special aspects as wind or currents will be accounted for by providing formulae, derived from approximations of the driving dynamics of inland vessels.
The “Practice Approach” collects and interprets data from existing waterways. It is mostly used for comparing and evaluating the results of the other design methods.
If the design problem considered cannot be solved with the Concept Design, a Detailed Design will be recommended. It is generally basing on simulation techniques as Ship Handling Simulators.
Both Concept and Detailed Design will be supported by a new approach to account for the safety and ease of navigation demands on waterway design (shortly S&E). The report provides also Guide Notes on the optimal use of ship handling simulators for waterway design purposes.
This paper provides a brief introduction into the structure of the report of WG 141. It outlines the main findings, especially concerning the consideration of the necessary S&E quality. Selected results will be presented concerning the Concept Design of fairways in canals, the Practice Approach for rivers and the Detailed Design for lock approach lengths and widths.