A framework for the impact assessment of low discharges on the performance of inland waterway transport.

Abstract

The amount of transported cargo via the Dutch Inland Waterways was 324 million ton in 2019 (Geest, 2019). Most of it was transported via the river Waal, an important connection of the network in the Netherlands. A high performance of this waterway is essential for companies in Germany and disruptions in the supply chain cause delays and increase of costs of transport. Climate change is a hazard for the performance of waterways as a result of the changing river characteristics due to other precipitation patterns and melting of glaciers. Especially the longer duration of dry periods will have an impact on the performance of the waterway and transport via water. An example is the dry period in the summer and autumn of 2018. Climate impact assessments have been executed by different researchers e.g. Jonkeren et al.(2007) and Dorsser (2015), but they examined the impact on a high and aggregate level. In this research a new framework has been developed to (i) assess climate impact on Inland waterway transport during periods of low water and (ii) evaluate mitigation measures . The framework combines the Python-package Open-source Complex Logistics Simulation (OpenCLSim) and the software SOBEK.