UTC 12 007: Inland Waterway Operational Predictive Model

The purpose of this project is to develop a “real world” model for analyzing freight movements along inland waterways. In order to gain a better understanding of the inland waterway system, it is first critical to understand the operational capacity of the system given the changing conditions of infrastructure, port operation characteristics, barge/tow capabilities, and the river characteristics itself. Once the basic operational characteristics of the river are understood it is possible to further examine what potential changes can be made to increase usage of the system. There are a variety of factors that shippers must consider when determining if they are going to use inland waterways for shipping goods. These factors include cost of shipping, timeliness of delivery, reliability of the system, and potential environmental factors. Phase 1 of this project will focus on creating the “real world” model of the operational capacity of the system. This phase of the project will build on prior research into waterway capacity models and will address inland waterway movements along both the Mississippi and Ohio River systems.