The weirs in the Meuse river in the Netherlands are after 100 years end of technical lifetime. As a consequence, Rijkswaterstaat is planning renovation or complete replacement. The present weir openings of 60 m wide are used for transit of vessels at high river discharges, when the weirs are lowered. Based on agreements between Belgium and the Netherlands from 1839 [1] and 1843 [2], the possibility of sailing through the weirs during high river discharges should remain (principle of non-deterioration). For the case of replacement, Rijkswaterstaat had a preference for a weir with three openings, for reasons of maintenance and water management. The Dutch MARIN institute executed fast time- and real time simulations to get insight in the navigability of a weir, with openings of 38, 38 and 24 m wide. Results were also used for improvement of the Dutch Guidelines for waterways 2020 [3]. The weir at Sambeek was taken as representative for the other Dutch weirs in the Meuse; 3D flow charts were delivered by the Dutch Deltares institute. The MARIN research showed, that the configuration studied was not feasible; recommended was a middle weir opening of at least around 50 m wide, corresponding with the swept path approaching the weir of 36 m plus ½B at both sides.
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The preliminary designs of the new weirs in the river Meuse have at least three openings because of the required redundancy during large-scale maintenance or calamities. However, considering two openings of 40 m and one of 20 m, the question arises whether these 40 m openings are wide enough to be navigable during river floods. To answer this question, first,
the characteristics of the Dutch navigable weirs in the Lower Rhine and Meuse have been analyzed. Then, CFD simulations of the flow through the weir openings during a river flood have been carried out, to determine flow velocities and the eddies generated at the weir abutments and behind the pillars. The passage of the vessel through the weir opening may be greatly hindered by flow patterns with changing transversal velocities along the sailing line. The flow simulations showed that the size of the eddies near the bank and the amplitudes of the transversal velocity depend on the hydraulic design of the weir and the roughness of the bed behind the weir sill. When a realistic bed roughness is applied the influence of the horizontal eddies reduces. In the last step, for a preliminary weir design with an assumed bed roughness, the calculated flow pattern has been put into the real-time nautical simulator and simulations were carried out with a design vessel. It showed that it depends both on the hydraulic design of the weir and the wind conditions whether a new weir with a 40 m wide opening will be navigable. ... Read more

In the search for space for producing renewable energy, possible negative effects of solar parks and wind farms along inland waterways can easily be overseen. This paper provides an exploratory description of effects for navigation like blinding of helmsmen, disturbance of radio communication and exaggeration of vessel’s radar images and concludes with a chapter on mitigating measures. ... Read more

The river network in South America (S.A.) is extensive and consists of some of the largest river basins in the world. However, despite these natural features, inland navigation is underutilised and still plays a marginal role in the transport of commercial goods in the region.

South America has not yet taken full advantage of its extensive system of navigable waterways and there are many opportunities to better integrate inland navigation into the region’s transport network in order to cater for the ever-increasing demand for cargo and passenger transport. Although the international shipments of cargo utilizing inland waterways has increased over the last decade, this transportation mode is less than one percent of the total value and volumes of goods that are shipped internationally.

Inland waterways are not only used for transport between the South American countries who share the rivers, but the waterways are also the first leg of international transport with other regions of the world. Examples of the latter are the natural resource exports (soybean products, aluminium, and petroleum products) from the Paraguay-Paraná, Amazonas, Plata, Orinoco and Magdalena river basins that are destined for Europe, the US or Asia. In these cases, seagoing vessels are directly deployed from the ports along these river systems. While the values of these international exports have more than tripled since 2002, in some waterways the volumes have shown a decreasing tendency over the past several years. Other waterways, such as the Paraguay-Paraná, Madeira, Tapajós, and many others have experienced significant growth in their utilisation for the transport of commercial goods in recent times.

In South America, there are several independent inland waterway systems, which currently have varying levels of development and investment. From a macro perspective, the uses of the inland waterways in the S.A. regions/countries are challenged by various factors. These factors include: a low level of investment in the construction and maintenance of waterway infrastructures and inland ports; incomplete, outdated or absent national and regional[1] norms and regulatory frameworks; poor administrative structures and institutional capacities; limited use of navigational services and technologies, such as aids to navigation, updated maps, electronic charts, AIS (automatic identification system) and other RIS (river information services) technologies; lack of qualified labour and institutions for capacity building and formation/training of quality labour

These challenges have limited the potential of inland navigation, affecting not only the direct use of this mode of transport, but also its integration with other modes. These limitations also lead to inefficiencies within the overall transportation sector, such as higher costs of transport at local, national, and sub-national levels, as well as reductions in the production of regional goods due to the economic and environmental impacts associated with a high dependency on roadway transport.

A common inland waterway classification for South America could be a tool to support the development of inland navigation in South America. Given the experiences in other regions of the world (EU, USA, China, etc.), such classifications can be a powerful and dynamic way to support and implement inland waterway policies and projects as it enables the identification of the limitations and the economic potential of navigable waterways in the region and can encourage and monitor the development of their capacity for transport of goods and people [Jaimurzina et al., 2016 ; Jaimurzina and Rigo, 2018].

In October 2016, at the occasion of an ECLAC/PIANC/ANTAQ ‘Seminar on Inland Navigation and a More Sustainable Use of Natural Resources: Networks, Challenges and Opportunities for South America (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil)’, the representatives of the South American countries with interest in inland navigation and the PIANC experts from Europe, Northern America and Asia, supported the idea of elaborating a regional classification for inland waterways in South America and recommended the creation of a dedicated Working Group on the issue. As a consequence, in 2017, PIANC (InCom) and ECLAC launched the WG 201 for the elaboration of a common classification for South America which would promote a more efficient, transparent and sustainable use of inland water transport and logistics services, in general.

In 2018, the preliminary PIANC-ECLAC WG 201 report ‘Development of a Proposal of Inland Waterway Classification for South America’ was published. Then, the applicability of the proposed classification has been further discussed among local experts and governments representatives. Those discussions led to updating the former document and the enhancements are included in this final report (which replaces the PIANC WG 201 2018 report). ... Read more

On 16 July 2016, WG 179 sent a questionnaire to all PIANC National Sections to collect information about the applied classification for inland waterways in their countries and their suggestions for modernising the current ECMT (1992) and UN/ECE classifications. Based on the results of the questionnaire, the WG concluded that in Europe the connected waterways share a common classification. However, inland navigation and the inland waterways fleet in other countries is rather different from that in Europe. The WG started an investigation into developments in the inland waterways fleet in Europe and in particular into developments in waterway channel dimensions since the publication of previous classifications based on the proposal presented by PIANC WG 9 (1990). The overall waterway network was studied, and the specific dimensions of existing locks and bridges have been considered in drafting a new classification proposal. The structure of this report can be summarised as follows: The report is preceded with an executive summary. Here the new proposal for classification is introduced and the differences between the ECMT and UNECE classifications are highlighted and explained. The main conclusions and recommendations are listed in this summary. Chapter 1 contains the general introduction to the report. Chapters 2 and 3 deal with the programme of work and the results of the submitted questionnaires. Chapter 4 contains a description of fleet characteristics. Chapter 5 contains a description of waterway characteristics. Chapter 6 enhances the fleet and waterway characteristics findings through a market analysis. Chapter 7 presents the synthesis of the information presented in the previous chapters to develop the proposal for a revised classification, which is presented in chapter 8. Additional data and details are included in Appendices A to N. ... Read more

The Dutch Rijkswaterstaat is responsible for the design, construction, management and maintenance of the main infrastructure in the Netherlands. This includes the main inland waterway network and water systems. To support the design from a traffic point of view Rijkswaterstaat developed the Waterways Guidelines in 1996, which evolved into the latest 2017 edition (RVW2017) [Ref. 1]. The RVW2017 are restricted to waterways without current or with a limited longitudinal flow velocity (less than 0.5 m/s). However, it is evident that in almost all free-flowing rivers this longitudinal flow velocity is exceeded. That is why the Rijkswaterstaat decided in 2015 to develop integral guidelines for inland waterways, including rivers. These guidelines will consist of design guidelines, of tables and rules of thumb for dimensioning the waterway in a free-flowing river, as an extension of the existing RVW2017.
The extension of the RVW2017 to rivers started in 2015 by following the same design scheme as in the existing guidelines, identifying all aspects that would change when considering flowing waters. Only these aspects were dealt with. In the next sections some aspects of straight river sections and bends are discussed.
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The fluvial network in South America is known for having one of the highest densities and widest geographical coverages in the world, but, despite this natural endowment, inland navigation still plays a rather marginal role in the transport of goods and passengers in the region. South America has not yet taken full advantage of its extensive system of navigable waterways and needs to better integrate them into the region’s transport network in order to cater for the ever-increasing demand for cargo and human mobility. Although the evolution of international transport in inland navigation has been positive over the last decade, the modal shares of inland shipping in the region’s international transport are less than one percent in terms of value and volume. Inland waterways are not only used for transport between the countries of the region, located along the river basins, but also are the first leg of international transport flows with other regions of the world. Examples of the latter are the natural resource exports (soybean products, aluminium, and oil related products) from the Paraguay-Paraná, Amazonas, Plata, Orinoco and Magdalena river basins that are destined for Europe, the US or Asia. In these cases, seagoing vessels are directly deployed from the ports along these river systems. While the values of these exports have more than tripled since 2002, in some waterways the volumes have shown a decreasing tendency over the last years but hopefully not everywhere as in Paraguay-Paraná IW. In South America, there are several independent inland waterway systems, which have different levels of development. For some of these systems and from a macro perspective view, the uses of the inland waterway systems in the region are challenged by various factors. ... Read more

This joint paper, prepared by the Natural Resources and Infrastructure Division of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean and experts from the World Association for Waterborne Transport Infrastructure (PIANC), looks at the benefits of developing a classification of navigable inland waterways in South America. Taking the European classification system as an example, the paper demonstrates the role such a system can play in developing inland navigation and highlights the potential benefits of a South American classification system, including helping to identify and monitor the status of existing waterways; providing a basis for estimating the need for infrastructure investment; facilitating access to financing; providing a common basis for bilateral and regional agreements; and contributing to a more sustainable use of inland waterways. The paper sets out an initial classification proposal, including overall objectives and requirements in terms of quality, the technical and operational classification criteria and monitoring mechanisms. As the process for developing a South American classification system is at an early stage, the aim of the paper is to highlight any strategic and technical issues that should be examined during national and regional discussions to design and implement a regional classification for inland waterways. ... Read more

South America, as of yet, has not been able to take full advantage of its extensive system of naturally navigable waterways and in making them an integrated part of the region’s transport network to cater for the ever increasing demand for cargo and human mobility. Infrastructure limitations are one of the major obstacles for the development of inland navigation in the region and, to a certain extent, they are being addressed in most national and regional transport plans and projects. However, this effort, in most cases, remain isolated, and the potential and role of inland shipping as a “natural resource” in itself, but also for transporting the region’s natural resources is, in general, absent as an integral part of the countries transport, mobility and or logistics policies. In this sense the economic and social value of the region’s inland waterway system is still underestimated. A common classification of the inland waterways (rivers, canals and lakes), which currently does not exist in the region, could be instrumental for achieving greater, better and more sustainable use and governance of inland navigation. The experiences of other regions in the world demonstrate that inland waterway classifications, far from being public sector formality or a purely academic exercise, are an essential, powerful and dynamic tool for supporting and implementing inland waterways policies and projects inasmuch as they allow to identify the limitations and the economic potential of navigable waterways in the region and to encourage and monitor the development of their capacity for transport of goods and people. Against this backdrop and in order to encourage reflection on a potential inland waterways classification for the South American region, this document uses the example of the European system of classification to demonstrate the role of classifications in the inland navigation development. Specifically, it looks at the 1996 European Agreement on Main Inland Waterways of International Importance (AGN Agreement). Signed in 1996 and ratified by 18 European countries, the AGN Agreement continues to be one of the main instruments for inland water transport development in Europe, as demonstrated by the growing number of ratifications by the countries of the region.1 This Working Document describes the main elements of the European classification system of navigable waterways (Section I) and existing mechanisms for the monitoring and use of the established network of inland waterways (Section II) and then analyses the role of the classification in the development of inland water transport in Europe (Section III). It goes on to discuss lessons learned and presents a preliminary proposal for the establishment of a regional classification for South America (Section IV). The concluding section addresses the institutional processes and next steps needed to develop a classification of this kind. Bearing in mind that the process for the elaboration of the South American classification is still at an early stage and several open question still remain, the overall goal of the document is to highlight and illustrate relevant issues, which have to be discussed at national level and among the experts of the South American countries to identify and implement a harmonized scheme of classification on a regional basis. ... Read more