Netherlands based software and consultancy firm, TBA has supported the executive branch of the Dutch Ministry of Infrastructure (Rijkswaterstaat) in decisions regarding innovation on their main waterway network for the past 10 years. A key part of this succees has been simulation.
The Netherlands inland waterway is one of the busiest inland waterways in the world. These waterways handle a significant part of the hinterland connection from the port of Rotterdam.
The waterways have been vital in the ports growth, spurred on further by the construction of the second Maasvlakte terminals.
Most of the critical bottlenecks in the waterway network are formed by locks and bridges.
Careful planning is of upmost importance and TBA is responsible for performing a variety of simulations in order to provide maximum efficiency at these points.
These simulations include capacity checks, investigating any delays in maintenance, the effects of larger vessels, and optimisation of lock strategies.
