Nowadays, conceptual breakwater layout design mostly relies on experience and expert judgement, making it complicated to demonstrate that an economic optimum has been reached. This stresses the need to develop a tool that is able to establish the economically most attractive breakwater layout for a certain set of requirements and site-specific data. This study provides a proof of concept for a generative breakwater layout design tool, applicable to port projects all around the world. This is accomplished by investigating the most suitable optimisation method, by setting up a universally applicable methodology for the determination of the economic optimum and by establishing a robust and flexible model set-up. By validating it against a real case, the parametric model consistently comes up with breakwater layouts having cost estimates that are located within the desired accuracy range for the conceptual design phase. In addition, the parametric model is flexible, as it is able to efficiently deal with changes in design requirements and future port developments, therewith living up to modern design standards. In this way, client expectations are more likely to be met, leading to a spiral of increasing trust between the involved parties in an early design stage.

The seasonal Chindwin river (Myanmar) forms the central artery for transportation in the region. However, the dynamic river behaviour, archaic boat equipment and limited monitoring, yearly results in large numbers of grounding ships, causing injuries and economic losses. A pilot project involving CoVadem technology was initiated in the beginning of 2019 to benefit safer navigation on the Chindwin. CoVadem technology can chart the most up to date water depths by collecting under keel clearance measurements from the commercial fleet. The pilot project aims to increase safety on the Chindwin through sharing information about safe routes and forecasted water depths with captains sailing the river. The added value of using CoVadem technology, however, is vulnerable to the number of participating vessels. A combination of morphological changes and the typical spatial spread of CoVadem data limits the extent of the navigation channel that can be derived from the data. With only a small part of the navigation channel known it is unclear where passing of other vessels is possible, where speeds should be adjusted due to e.g., bottlenecks and where shorter routes are present. The objective of this research is to provide more information about the navigable area around CoVadem data in order to assist captains with navigation. During this research, two physics-based models have been developed, able to carry out this task. The ‘soil-model’ combines CoVadem data with assumptions about the maximum slope in the bed. The ‘axi-symmetric model’ utilises CoVadem data, the axi-symmetric solution and assumptions about sand dunes and river banks in a model to estimate a navigable area. Two ‘reliability indicators’ have been developed that can indicate areas of the river where the output of the axi-symmetric model is reliable in its estimate. One indicator is related to the channel stability, it is calculated from many years of satellite imagery. The other indicator is related to channel curvature. To measure the performance of the models and the reliability indicators, two dimensionless performance indicators have been developed: the safety score and the channel coverage score. The models and the reliability indicators were consecutively tested and evaluated for four study cases located along the Chindwin river. The results are promising. It follows from this research that navigation channel estimates around scarce CoVadem ship track data can substantially benefit from application of a physics-based model. The soil-model is very robust, but has limited added value for navigation. The axi-symmetric model increases the navigable width estimate around a single CoVadem trackline significantly O(100 m). The performance indicators can improve the reliability of the axi-symmetric model significantly. This research combines Big Data, physics-based models and remote sensing in a not early demonstrated way: with models tailored for navigable area estimates and with measured data as the starting point. The correlation between axi-symmetric model reliability and remote sensing/curvature is, moreover, something that has not been demonstrated before. Finally, the two developed performance indicators show great promise for the evaluation of navigable area estimates. As such, this research adds to current advancements in (open-access) cross-platform data accumulation and utilisation.

In order to increase safety and efficiency at sea the International Maritime Organization decided in 2000 that all sea going vessels were to implement Automatic Identification Systems (AIS). AIS is an automatic tracking system which broadcasts static and dynamic information about the vessel. Even though AIS was not initially designed for research purposes, large amounts of AIS data are available from which valuable insights can be gained. In this research an AIS Port processes tool is developed, which transforms (raw) AIS data into data containing information about the entry and exit times of certain port locations. With this tool and based on data analysis of multiple terminals, the inter arrival time distribution, the service time distribution and the berth occupancy can be obtained, these are key parameters for using Queuing Theory in terminal design. Following, these parameters and distributions can be compared to what current nautical infrastructure guidelines advise and expect. Insights gained from these AIS data analyses lead to innovative ideas and recommendations for current theoretical frameworks used in port planning.

The size of container ships is constantly growing over recent decades due to a continuous search for economies of scale by shipping lines. The growth of the container ships has necessitated ports to adapt, e.g. by increasing the water depth requirements. Many of the conventional onshore ports cannot receive larger ships without dredging activities due to depth restrictions. A considerable amount of dredging is necessary to create an access channel to reach deep waters. The development of offshore-onshore port systems can be a huge opportunity for coastal zones with an extensive shallow foreshore to limit the channel dredging costs. However, the methodology for evaluating the design of innovative solutions, like offshore-onshore port systems, is limited compared to the evaluation of conventional onshore port designs. A framework, including the cost-based evaluations, could serve as a reference to make more deliberate and integral choices between various types of port systems. Therefore, the objective of this research is to evaluate the major logistical trade-offs regarding various types of port systems based on costs. Three port system alternatives, including the associated characteristics, are introduced: i) an onshore port system, ii) an offshore-onshore port system with a waterway transport link and iii) an offshore-onshore port system with a fixed infrastructure link. Next, two characteristic design variables are identified to specify the design scenarios: i) the capacity of the design vessel and ii) the distance between the offshore and onshore terminal. The developed model comprises two parts. The first part is developed to determine the required port system elements and to make the corresponding cost estimates for the specified design scenarios, for all three port system alternatives. The second part is developed to address the logistics of the offshore-onshore port system with a waterway transport link. The results show that the cost estimates of offshore-onshore port systems can be less costly compared to the cost estimates for the onshore port system for specific design scenarios. Hence both offshore-onshore port systems offer less costly alternatives compared to the onshore port system for specific design scenarios. From this, we can conclude that offshore-onshore port systems will be considered more frequently in the future, as the size of container ships is still growing. The framework - a collection of concepts - results in a better understanding of the logistical trade-offs between different type of port systems for container transport and handling. The major logistical trade-offs are framed based on the evaluation of the characteristic design variables, the results of the sensitivity analyses and the assessment of the relationship between the operational reliability of the waterway transport link and the required storage capacities. The logistical simulation is the first method to relate the container ship and shuttle barge transport with the terminal operations using agent-based discrete-event simulations. These logistical simulations evaluate the cost related to the shuttle barge downtime. Depending on the frequency and length of the periods of downtime, the most cost-effective solutions are found for specific downtime scenarios.

Over the last decades, containerisation became the major way to transport discrete goods replacing a part of general cargo trade and facing the increasing consumer demand of developed and developing world. As a result, container terminals became an important part of a lot of ports worldwide while new technology was developed to encounter the increasing requirements for the operation of container terminals. A container terminal has a quite complicated operation as different kind of equipment and people need to cooperate under a strict timeline that does not tolerate mistakes. The optimisation of a container terminal can be achieved by adjusting different parameters concerning different areas or equipment of the terminal. In this project, the arrangement of the yard layout is analysed focusing on a straddle carrier operation. The comparison criterion is the mean maximum travelling distance that a straddle carrier needs to travel for a seaside job cycle, serving the quay cranes. Considering a rectangular layout, making reasonable assumptions and using simple mathematical relations, the travelling distance of straddle carriers from stacking blocks to the quay is modelled and a proposition to minimise this distance is developed. Then, assuming the speed of straddle carriers for the different areas they move, the mean maximum travelling time for a job cycle is determined. The theory is applied for the container terminal of the port of Thessaloniki in Greece and a rearrangement for its layout is proposed. Using simple mathematics, for a simple yard layout, it is possible to propose changes that, for the port of Thessaloniki, can decrease the travelling time of straddle carriers up to 10%. This result is very sensitive to the assumptions of the driving strategy that straddle carriers follow and to the pooling strategy that is applied for the stacking yard operation.

Additional master thesis

During a previous research project, a parametric model for conceptual layout design has been developed. The model uses optimisation using genetic algorithms to approach the optimal breakwater layout for specific locations. The developed model serves as a successful proof-of-concept. In the model, several aspects of design have been simplified. These simplifications result in limited applicability of the model. In this research, the proof-of-concept model is further developed to improve its applicability. To improve the applicability of the model, modifications and additions have been made regarding bathymetry, wave transformation, and sedimentation processes. The effect of these modifications and additions on the model results have been assessed. Thereafter, the updated model has been applied to a case study, to assess its performance when applied to a real port development project. Based on the assessments and the case study, conclusions have been drawn regarding the applicability and the performance of the updated model. The limitations and uncertainties of the updated model have been recognized and recommendations have been made concerning further research and model development.

Inland waterway transport (IWT) is one of the three main modalities for inland transport of dry, liquid and containerized cargo. As IWT performs well on cost-competitiveness, environmental friendliness, and congestion-related issues, authorities strive to shift freight transport from road to water. Inland waterway connections, however, are vulnerable to the growing impact of climate change. A combination of higher temperatures and more extreme seasonal differences in precipitation is expected to increasingly impact river discharge in the future. In summer, this will result in low water events happening more frequent and more intense. The effects of climate change on IWT could result in a reduced annual transport capacity, thereby weakening the reputation of IWT and increasing the costs of cargo shipment. The objective of this research is to provide more insight into the consequences of climate change-induced low discharges on the performance of IWT and to assist in making justified adaptation decisions. During this research, an IWT performance model has been developed that is capable of studying the capacity and vulnerability of the inland waterway system to low water depths, and simultaneously can be used to propose measures to strengthen the position of IWT. To assess the quality of the logistic simulations, the model has successfully been subjected to a number of validity tests. Consequently, the model was calibrated on two parameters that have a high uncertainty and a significant impact on the simulation. After calibration, the model shows correlation coefficients of r=0.794 and r=0.921 so that it can be concluded that the results of the IWT performance model are relatively accurate with reality. Daily projections of the water depth on the Rhine are obtained by extrapolation of the representative, dry year 1976 with two climate scenarios to the year 2050. The water depths encountered have been compared to the base scenario. To put into perspective these impacts, a model run for the reference scenario of 2018 has been incorporated in the comparison. It follows from this thesis that low discharges, in combination with navigational restrictions, could cause substantial losses for the IWT in 2050 in terms of transported cargo and transport costs. Following from literature, the accurate modelling of IWT should include various local effects that follow from regulations, fleet composition or waterway characteristics. This research is the first study on the impact of low water depths on the IWT performance that does not take the load factor as the only variable but that includes other network parameters as the active fleet size and the number of trips to provide a comprehensive picture of the IWT performance in periods of low discharge.

The accessibility of a port, which is mainly determined by the available water depth, is of economic importance for a port to distinguish itself from other ports. For the vertical design of navigation channels, the goal is to make routes equally accessible and not have bottlenecks; to have an optimal maintenance program and not incur unnecessary costs. Ultimately, the vertical design of channels entails a trade-off between the Maintained Bed Level (MBL), vessel draughts and the percentage of accessibility. The objective of this research is to assess available and required water depths in ports, and to identify opportunities for the vertical design of channels. To reach this objective, a literature study has been carried out. Vertical design approaches, vessel characteristics, local conditions and admission policies are considered. Also, since this topic is strongly related to practice, a relatively large number of interviews were conducted. In this study, a new, more detailed vertical design approach has been framed. The vertical design of channels revolves around available and required water depths. Since parameters to determine these depths vary in time and space, a systemic-view is required to design for the same accessibility percentage along a route. In this research, a general method to quantify accessibility percentages as a function of the MBL in a port-network has been framed. By looping over the MBL, corresponding accessibility percentages can be calculated. As a result, it becomes possible to maintain bed levels for neither too little (bottlenecks) nor too much (unnecessary dredging costs) available water depth. Also, assessing the actual draught of vessels for vertical channel design purposes appears relatively new. A Port of Rotterdam case study is performed to analyse the traffic data and to validate the results of the computer model. Four terminals, with different business-dynamics, handling the largest-draughted vessels, were selected. The results of this study are presented and supported by relevant actors in the port: shipping line, terminal, port authority and pilot. From the traffic study, it was concluded that there can be a significant discrepancy between actual and design vessel draughts. For example, only <0.1% of the largest container vessels (16-17m vessel design draught) handled in the Prinses Amaliahaven (almost) reach the draught for which channels has been designed (17m). Moreover, the MBL model allows a port authority to be more rational about where to maintain for which bed level. By removing structural over-depths, dredging costs can be saved. By removing bottlenecks, entire routes can become more accessible with relatively little dredging work. It would be recommended to review the actual use and accessibility of channels in ports on a regular basis (with the MBL model). The MBL model has a general set up; it can be applied to ports all over the world. Overall, it would be expected that something as fundamental as the MBL would be fully thought out in ports. It is compelling that by combining different data-sets (water levels, actual vessel draughts, and currents in case of a tidal window), room for improvement can be found.