New algorithm could simplify decisions for ship channel dredging
Research project suggests how resources can be optimized

Date:
April 21, 2022
Source:
University of Houston
Summary:
Every ship channel has to be dredged. With high costs involved, a
dredging project's managers have to be on the money in their timing
and logistics choices. A new algorithm presents decision-makers with
accurate context, comparisons and boots-on-the ground observations.



FULL STORY ==========================================================================
A new decision-support tool could become a game changer in the dredging
of ship channels. Millions of dollars are at stake every time a major
ship channel is cleaned up. Delays in dredging can cost even more by
triggering increased risks, repeated maintenance and lost revenue. In
either case, the task cannot be put off indefinitely.


==========================================================================
All ship channels must be regularly cleared of sand, debris settled
on the bottom (called shoal) and miscellaneous trash. That means ship
channel management regularly faces the mighty task of dredging. How
do they make the wisest decisions with the best timing? "The quandary
involves weighing factors for the optimal decision of channel dredging
and disposal activities," said Zheyong Bian, assistant professor of construction management at the University of Houston College of Technology
and the lead author of a study published in the journal Transportation
Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review. "Some factors are
static, like geographical features of navigation channels and confined
disposal facilities.

Others vary substantially, such as navigability condition deterioration (shoaling), traffic, economic values, annual budget and more." Bian,
then a doctoral student at Rutgers University, The State University of
New Jersey, collaborated with project leader Yun Bai from the Center
for Advanced Infrastructure and Transportation (CAIT) at Rutgers, to
develop a dredging planning optimization model (DPOM) and a dynamic prioritization planning (DPP) algorithm that factor in known variables,
such as the volume of debris expected and availability of nearby confined disposal facilities. It also considers grouping phases of the project
and how costs can be affected by interest rates and inflation.

But -- this is a key advantage, Bian stressed -- the algorithm also holds
the flexibility that weighs input from local professionals. In other
words, it values boots-on-the-ground opinions and learns from experience.

Once all factors are included, the algorithm suggests timing,
prioritization and the grouping of projects. It also projects costs,
with interest and inflation included, as well as monies likely to be
recouped (through repurposing of sand, for example).

In these days of tightened budgets, public funds are deployed with ever
more care. The new DPOM model and DPP algorithm could strengthen cost efficiencies at ship channels around the world. The New Jersey Department
of Transportation Office of Maritime Resources provided funding and data
to support this study.


========================================================================== Story Source: Materials provided by University_of_Houston. Original
written by Sally Strong.

Note: Content may be edited for style and length.


========================================================================== Journal Reference:
1. Zheyong Bian, Yun Bai, W. Scott Douglas, Ali Maher, Xiang
Liu. Multi-year
planning for optimal navigation channel dredging and
dredged material management. Transportation Research Part E:
Logistics and Transportation Review, 2022; 159: 102618 DOI:
10.1016/j.tre.2022.102618 ==========================================================================

Link to news story: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2022/04/220421181210.htm

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