Lock Performance

ByWesley W. Wilson

University of Oregon and IWR

Purpose of StudyThe inland waterway consists of the river and a series of locks and dams that allow the river to be navigated.The capacity and use of the waterway depends on lock performance.There is a wealth of information on locks and lock performance which can be used to estimate the effects of particular lock characteristics on performance.

PurposeTo develop and estimate a model of lock performance as a function

of lock and “flotilla” characteristics.

LocksLocks: Necessary to make the river navigatable.

River

Lock

River

Pool 1

Pool 2

Flotillas and LockagesA flotilla consists of a power vessel and a set of barges which have different configurations and dimensions.Locks have a fixed set of dimensions.Single Lockage: Flotilla can pass through in one “cut”.Double Lockage: Flotilla must take two cuts to pass through the lock.

Single LockageApproach the lockEnter the chamberGates closeLock is filled (or emptied)Open gatesExit the lock.

Double LockageApproach the lockEnter the chamberUncouple and back out second cut (*)Close gatesFill (empty) the lock chamberOpen gatesFirst cut exits (*)Close gates (*)Fill (empty) the lock chamber (*)Open gates (*)Second cut enters lock chamber (*)Close gates (*)Fill (empty) the lock chamber (*)Open gates (*)Recouple the tow (*)Exit

Lock CharacteristicsAgeDimensions (length and width)Gate TypesNumber of chambersLift

Upper Miss LocksAge

29 LocksYear opened ranges from 1922 – 1990

Decade Opened

0 5 10 15 20 25

20s

30s

40s

50s

60s

90s

Dec

ade

Ope

ned

Number of Locks Opened

Lock Length

Length of Locks

1 3 1

21

3

0

10

20

30

360 400 500 600 1200

Length

Num

ber

of Locks

Lock DimensionsStandard Lock on UMISS is 110 by 600.

_______________________________________________ Width

Length 56 110 Total

400 3 0 3 500 0 1 1 600 0 22 21

1200 0 3 3

Total 3 26 29

Lift Lift Freq. Percent5 1 3.456 1 3.457 1 3.458 4 13.799 4 13.7910 4 13.7911 3 10.3412 2 6.9015 2 6.9016 1 3.4521 1 3.4524 1 3.4525 1 3.4538 2 6.9049 1 3.45

Total 29 100.00

Flotilla CharacteristicsFlotilla is a tow-barge configuration that passes through a lock. In 2000, there were about 69,989 flotillas on the UMiss that were used in the analysis.

Flotilla DataOver 69,000 observations (flotillas are tow/barge passages through a lock)Characteristics:Number of barges per flotilla:

21850

39969

8170

0 10000 20000 30000 40000 50000

<=6

7-15

>15

Series1

Flotilla DataFlotilla Lengths

17392

52573

24

0 20000 40000 60000

<600

601-1200

>1200

Flotilla Width

12305

57647

35

0 20000 40000 60000 80000

<=56

57-110

>110

Flotilla Draft

16112

1110

46909

5858

0 20000 40000 60000

3 or less

3 to 6

6-9

Greater than 9

CharacteristicsNumber of cuts1-33,945 (48.5%)2-36,043 (51.5%)

Up and Down River Cuts35,319 Down River34,670 Up River

Day versus Night38,481 (55%) Day

Cuts and Month

0

2000

4000

6000

8000

10000

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12

Lockage TypesTYPE Number Percent

C - Consecutive 35,560 51 J - Jackknife 9 0K - Knockout 6,231 9 S - Straight 26,894 38 T - Barge Transfer 68 0 V - Set over 1,224 2 Z - Other 3 0

Mechanical AssistType Number Percent I - Tow with Bow Thrusters 70 0J - Tow haulage (e.g., winch) 23186 33

(e.g., winch, kevel)K – Hydraulic 11474 16N – Tow and Barge equip 780 1

(e.g., winch, kevel) None 34694 50

Processing Time(End of lockage-Start of Lockage-Stoppage)

Mean 77 minutes50% 79 minutes

0.0

05

.01

.01

5

De

nsity

0 50 100 150 200(mean) tot_pro

Lock Length and Processing Time

0 20 40 60 80 100

360

500

1200

Lock L

ength

Minutes

Lock Times-Size and CutsLock Minutes

All Single Multiple400-56 29 29 .500-110 43 43 108600-110 92 39 1101200-110 49 48 .

All 78 42 110

Econometric ModelTime = f(Lock, Flotilla, Vessel, Passage, Time of day)

Lock: Dummies for width and lengthLiftAge

Flotilla: Length, width, number of bargesVessel: Horse power and dummy for tugboat or not.Passage: Dummies for single or double cuts

Dummy for “first in queue” or notTime of day: Dummy for night or day.

Unobserved factors: River conditions, lockmaster rules.

Results-Lock Types (R2=83)Lock (600 by 110 base) 1200 by 110 -.2779012 .0061766 -44.99 400 by 56 -.4273209 .0085801 -49.80 500 by 110 -.0983614 .0077284 -12.73

log_lift .1643288 .004017 40.91log_age .0649217 .0028885 22.48

Flotilla Effectslog-length .6141746 .0079148 77.60

log_width .0086608 .0085224 1.02

log_area/NUMBAR -.0982405 .0078662 -12.49

Vessel Effects

v_hp .0311656 .0069811 4.46v_length -.0580582 .008854 -6.56v_brea~h -.0324201 .0145776 -2.22v_age .0383967 .003187 12.05v_draft .2432245 .0070532 34.48tugboat -.0063391 .002503 -2.53

Passage Resultsmult .5943969 .0044403 133.86daytime -.056563 .0020391 -27.74q_1 .194837 .0022855 85.25upriver -.0717073 .0020738 -34.58