-publication-
Resilience of waterway systems – an explorative study of the American, Dutch and German waterway systems
Arjan HIJDRA, Maarten van der VLIST, Jos ARTS
Waterway systems are sometimes regarded as ancient types of transportation infrastructure, but in some major western societies these systems have remained a cornerstone for the economy. Assets, such as navigations locks, are crucial elements in these systems. Ageing of these assets is becoming an issue of concern as design lifetime of assets has been approached or even exceeded. Unexpected disruptions of service to shipping traffic either result from temporary malfunction of these assets, or otherwise conditions that exceed the original design envelopes. Further ageing of assets and climate change is expected to worsen this situation. Resilience of the entire waterway system will be impacted by these developments. Literature providing insight in the resilience of waterway systems is lacking. In this study the American, Dutch and German waterway systems are explored in the light of ageing of assets and resilience. The results show that different system design choices may lead to different vulnerabilities in terms of resilience.
