Many inland waterway port projects start by asking how many meters of berth are needed. That question comes a little early. Several others come first: which vessels will call, at what water level, how many trips per day, and how containers continue onward after landing. Berth length, berth deck elevation, cargo-handling equipment and yard area all follow from these answers. If one parameter is missing, the drawings will still be produced, but the finished berth may not be able to receive the type of barge the cargo flow needs.
1. Design vessel: which barge type to use as the standard
The first parameter is the design vessel: barge type, dimensions, loaded draft, container capacity, and whether it is self-propelled or pushed/towed. Do not use the largest barge on the river, nor the barge the client currently has. Use the fleet the route will employ over the berth's operating life, and state that assumption clearly in the documents. Almost every later parameter depends on this choice.
2. Water level: the berth must work in both the dry and flood seasons
River water levels differ between the dry and flood seasons, and near estuaries they are also tidal. Berth deck elevation is set to the high water level so the berth does not flood. Depth in front of the berth is set to the low water level so fully loaded barges can still berth. The gap between these two levels determines the berth structure type and the cargo-handling equipment.
Hydrological data should come from a multi-year record at the nearest gauging station, cross-checked against a survey at the berth site. A single high-water or drought year is not enough to fix the elevation.
3. Navigation channel and the water area in front of the berth
A berth is only usable if barges can reach it. Check the waterway class of the river route, channel depth, vertical clearance of the bridges along the route, the turning basin in front of the berth, and the risk of siltation at the berth location. Bridge clearance determines how many container tiers a barge can stack, and therefore the real carrying capacity of each trip.
A site with good land but on a fast-silting stretch of river will bring periodic dredging costs throughout the project's life. This cost should be built into the financial plan from the start, not left to appear later as a cost overrun.
4. Handling capacity: from trips per day to equipment and berth length
Berth length is not derived from land area. It is derived from the number of barges that must berth at the same time, the handling time per trip and the port's working hours. Once the number of trips is known, choose the equipment and check again: how many berth positions that equipment needs and how much load it places on the structure.
Working in the reverse order, that is, choosing the crane first and sizing the berth afterwards, can easily produce a berth that is too long for the real cargo volume, or one that is long enough but whose structure cannot carry the equipment already purchased.
5. Back-up yard and exit road: ports usually jam at the gate, not at the water's edge
Containers landed at the berth must continue by road or go into a warehouse. The waiting area, truck lane layout and gates must be sized together with the berth, based on peak hours rather than daily averages. If the berth is part of a dry port, treat it as an entry gate of the ICD and run a joint simulation of the truck flows. How to convert throughput into land area is covered in the article from TEU/year to dry port land area, and common yard layout mistakes are covered in the article container yard layout in an ICD.
6. Procedures: determine the project type and the regulating authority early
Inland waterway ports, inland waterway terminals and ports receiving foreign vessels follow different procedures, levels of authority and documentation requirements. Identifying the right type from the start keeps planning, environmental impact assessment and notification procedures on track, without rework. The specific applicable documents must be checked against the regulations in force at the time of filing; the steps can be previewed in permitting roadmap for logistics projects.
What should the project owner prepare before meeting the consultant?
Five items help cut many rounds of back-and-forth: the intended transport route and barge type; annual and peak-hour throughput; the location and boundary of the site; any existing hydrological and topographic data; and where cargo goes after leaving the berth. The site can be screened beforehand with site screening tool before ordering a survey.
CGD has participated in consulting on inland waterway port projects such as Hong Van Port (construction drawing design and cost estimate) and Son Tay Port (site survey and economic-technical report preparation).
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