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https://hdl.handle.net/11681/13148| Title: | Use of tow sequencing procedures to increase the capacity of existing lock facilities |
| Authors: | United States. Army. Corps of Engineers. Louisville District. Daggett, Larry L. McCarley, Robert W., 1937- Stinehour, Judith A. |
| Keywords: | Computer applications Lock capacity Locks Waterways Inland navigation Mathematical models Numerical models Towed barges Water traffic Ohio River |
| Publisher: | Hydraulics Laboratory (U.S.) Engineer Research and Development Center (U.S.) |
| Series/Report no.: | Technical report (U.S. Army Engineer Waterways Experiment Station) ; H-74-5. |
| Description: | Technical Report Abstract: An anticipated increase in vessel traffic at Lock and Dam 51 (L&D 51) on the Ohio River prompted the development of an analytical model to assist in scheduling tows for lockage. This model is in the form of a digital computer program which is available at the U. S. Army Engineer Waterways Experiment Station (WES). The basic design of the program is amenable to modification for use at other single-chamber lockage facilities similar to L&D 51. In using the program, the lock operator enters pertinent vessel data, as requested by the programmed questions, directly into a remote computer terminal conveniently located for his use. After receipt of the necessary input data, the computer will determine the optimum, second best, and third best callup orders for approaching tows, with due consideration for their respective arrival times. The first come, first served lockage rule will thus be overridden by the computed optimum or nearly optimum tow sequence that significantly increases potential benefits. The program will schedule tows in the order of their arrival if the benefits to be derived from locking them in some other order are not significantly greater. Benefits may take the form of savings in time or costs to the towing industry or increases in the number of barges or commodity tonnage locked. The program determines the best lockage order(s) of up to five tows at a time by comparing the various numerical objective function values associated with all possible sequences. Either a minimum or maximum value is chosen as optimum, depending on which of the six programmed objective functions is chosen. The system is capable of accepting and storing certain additional tow lockage data for use in making future improvements to the model. Data on small river-going vessels, such as pleasure boats and passenger craft, can also be stored for use in lock utilization studies. However, the present program will schedule only the waiting tows at a single-chamber lock, such as L&D 51. The program is also designed for office simulation studies of tow sequencing problems using fictitious or real input data. In the simulation mode, the program asks only for the input data required to determine the best schedule. |
| Rights: | Approved for public release; distribution is unlimited. |
| URI: | http://hdl.handle.net/11681/13148 |
| Appears in Collections: | Technical Report |
Files in This Item:
| File | Description | Size | Format | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| TR-HL-74-5.pdf | 10.36 MB | Adobe PDF |  View/Open |