Research Project:

Appointment Systems for Inland Waterway Traffic Control

Final Report

Volume I:Identification and Evaluation of Alternatives for Managing Lock Traffic on the Upper Mississippi River
- PDF version 2mb
- HTML version
Volume II: Vessel Tracking for Managing Traffic on the Upper Mississippi River
- PDF version 1.4mb
- HTML version

Principal Investigator

Ray Mundy
University of Missouri – St. Louis
(314) 516-7270
rmundy@umsl.edu

External Project Contact

Project Objective

To improve the management of and reduce the operational costs of inland water transportation assets, and to identify and evaluate specific management measures for implementation on the Upper Mississippi River and Illinois Waterways (UMR-IW) segment of the inland water transportation system. Based on the interviews and literature search, the team will develop the analytical framework to evaluate alternative management schemes and investigate different scheduling and prioritization rules. To conduct the analysis the team will create a simulation model using commercially available software. The model will simulate barge and locking operations over one year time periods on a portion of the UMR-IW system currently subject to significant congestion.

Project Abstract

A system of 37 locks and dams has been constructed along the Upper Mississippi River and Illinois Waterway (UMR-IW) to provide reliable commercial inland navigation. This infrastructure has a limited throughput and delays at locks and dams create congestion, bottlenecks and inefficiencies at certain critical segments of the UMR-IW system. Over one million barge-hours are wasted annually waiting in these queues. These hours both decrease the total quantity of goods that can be moved, and increase the transportation costs of goods that are moved on the UMR-IW. This project will adopt a complementary approach that seeks to reduce congestion by employing an intelligent appointment system at the existing locks.

Task Descriptions, Milestone, and Dates

Identify the project scope, April 30, 2004
Develop the appointment system and the alternative scheduling rules, May 31, 2004
Build the simulation model, August 31, 2004
Conduct the analysis, October 15, 2004
Communicate the results of the research, February 28, 2005

Student Involvement (e.g., Thesis, Assistantships, Paid Employment)

One Graduate Student

Relationship to Other Projects

None

Technology Transfer Activities

This project will result in a technological improvement to the management of the existing inland waterway system that will involve a direct transfer of the technology investigated. Preliminary meetings with existing water carriers, shippers, the US Coast Guard, and the US Army Corps of Engineers will be conducted at the beginning of the research. At the conclusion of the project a conference will be held to share the research results with interested parties. The results will also be communicated through presentation at major conferences such as the annual TRB conference and by publication of articles in appropriate professional transportation journals.

Potential Benefits of the Project

The appointment system will be designed to reduce the total waiting times and congestion at existing locks on the Upper Mississippi River and Illinois Waterways. The anticipated beneficiaries of an appointment system will be: (1) shippers and carriers operating on the system through decreased operating costs and increased reliability, (2) taxpayers through more efficient utilization of the existing infrastructure, and (3) the public at large through the resulting improvements to the nation’s environment resulting from lowered barge fuel usage and emissions.

Budget

$50,000 MTC/$79,239 Cost Share (one-year project)

TRB Keywords

Inland water transportation, Upper Mississippi River and Illinois Waterways, UMR-IW, scheduling, prioritization, simulation, congestion, lock and dam, throughput