Application of Nanotechnology in Pavements, Geological Disasters, and

Foundation Settlement Control Technology GSP 244 ASCE 2014

Researches of Sustainable Development on Waterway Transportation in China

Chenghao Wang1
1

Scholar, College of Hydraulic and Environment, China Three Gorges University, 8 University Road,
Yichang, Hubei, China 443002; wangzhenghao.123@163.com

ABSTRACT: With the development of economy, waterway transportation has

become the main transportation means in the process of international trade and
domestic trade. When it comes to sustainable development, waterway transportation
plays an important role in promoting the development of the national economy. Based
on the sustainable development theory, its characteristics in China is analyzed in this
paper. According to the characteristics of the economic development of developing
countries, a comprehensive analysis of the sustainable development system was given.
Some conditions of development of waterway transportation in recent years, especially
2013, were analyzed here. The evaluation criteria of sustainable development was put
forward followed the general principles and special principles respectively. Some
mathematic methods were used here to carry on the synthesis evaluation. The
conclusions can apply to quantitative analyses of the existing waterway transportation
modes in China for sustainable development. Moreover, some policy
recommendations were also given, which may have a role in guiding the development
of waterway transportation in developing country.
INTRODUCTION
Waterway transportation has become an important portion of the national
transportation system. It is also a main part of international trade. It becomes more and
more important in the process of economic integrations strengthening. Moreover,
sustainable development has become a hot topic in the modern world. Therefore, the
researches of sustainable development on waterway transportation is of great
significance to the promotion of national economy development(Blonk 1994; Burn
1984).
With the 18000 km coastline and 109192 km inland waterways, China has an
advantage of developing waterway transportation. Chinese economic system decides
the development needs to face many unknown opportunities and challenges in the
reform period. Many new situations and problems need to be dealt with and studied
during this process.
Chinas waterway transportation has made great achievements since 1949, especially

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Application of Nanotechnology in Pavements, Geological Disasters, and

Foundation Settlement Control Technology GSP 244 ASCE 2014

33

since the reform and opening up. As a developing country, the level of productivity in
China is still low, and the overall quality of waterway transportation also needs to be
improved. There is still a big gap between China and other developed countries in this
field. The gaps exist in many aspects, such as legal system, management system,
management mode and so on.
The essence of sustainable development is to keep the best balance of society,
economy, environment and the quality of human life(Mihic et al. 2011). Waterway
transportation is a kind of transportation industry which is low cost in natural
resources utilization. Some upfront investments are necessary in construction of ports
and ships, and these all have great influences on social and economic life.
All in all, quantitative analyses of the existing waterway transportation modes in
China, which are based on the method of sustainable development, are meaningful to
find a more effective operation mode.
THE ADVANTAGES OF WATERWAY TRANSPORTATION
In the background of low-carbon economy, waterway transportation highlights the
advantages of protecting environment and developing economy. With rising energy
prices, waterway transport will become increasingly prominent when compared with
air highway transportation(Herring 1981).
The cost and freight rates of waterway transportation are lower than
railway, highway, especially than air. Therefore, waterway transportation has a good
price ratio. With the highest engine power and thermal efficiency, the energy
consumption of ships is low. The tonnage of coastal transport vessels is large, thus its
advantage is obvious in the bulk cargo transportation. Inland waterway transportation
also has the advantage of low cost, especially in the Yangtze River Delta and the Pearl
River Delta. It can easily maintain a good state of development and competitive
advantage. Compared with highway and railway, waterway has a minimal
environmental impact. It mainly depends on natural rivers and coastline. The land
occupation of it is less and there is even no occupation of cultivated land.
Some waterway dredging and port construction projects can also increase the land area
of the coast by backfilling the silt. Multiple relationships between various kinds of
transportations are shown in Table 1.
Table 1. Multiple relationships between various kinds of transportations

average freight rate

unit energy consumption
transportation cost
pollution
land occupation

Waterway
1
1
low
1
low(wharf construction)

railway
3.5
2~10
medium level
3.3
high

highway
7
2~10
high
15
High

Water transportation is economical and environmental friendly, and it entirely meet

the requirements of sustainable development of regional economy.

Application of Nanotechnology in Pavements, Geological Disasters, and

Foundation Settlement Control Technology GSP 244 ASCE 2014

MAJOR PROBLEMS OF SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT IN WATERWAY

Infrastructures
The main problems of coastal ports are as follows. The public terminals of ports,
especially main hub ports, are overloaded. At the same time, deep water berths are not
enough. The lack of terminals for crude oil and iron ore cannot meet the demand for
national strategic resource in China. The terminals of Liquefied Natural
Gas (LNG) and Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) are also short. The improvement of
functions in old ports is difficult. Moreover, the Yangtze River, Pearl River and
main coastal hub ports waterway conditions cant meet the needs of large ships.
The main problems of inland waterways are as follows. The hierarchical structure of
waterway is irrational. At the same time, the lack of high-grade waterways is serious.
In many other parts of the world, less than half of major waterways still do not meet
the planning standards(Seidenfus 1994). In china, more than 60% of the trunk
waterways in Jiangnan and the Pearl River dont meet planning standards. It is
difficult to organize efficient and economical direct transportations, which is resulted
from the lack of effective connections between trade zones in main rivers and the
different standards along some main navigable waterways. Waterways in western
China most in natural state, and the advantages of large volume with low energy
consumption doesnt show up.
Transport equipment
The main problems of ships are as follows. The capacity structure is unreasonable,
and the overall level of technology is low. The flag of convenience ships of the
international maritime fleets has a increase tendency, while development of the
national flag fleets is still slow. Fleet structure is also unreasonable. The proportion of
ordinary dry bulk is high, while liquid bulk specific gravity is far below the world
average. But very Large Crude Carrier (VLCC) and Liquefied Natural Gas Carriers
(LNGC) are very few.
Development of large ships is slow. At the same time, the average deadweight of
vessels is also low. The technical condition of inland waterway vessels falls behind,
which is shown in many aspects such as ship type, high energy consumption, low
average tonnage and so on. Therefore, it is difficult to adapt to the development of
waterway transportation for maritime ships.
Transport organization
The main problems of waterway transport organization are as follows. The
management system is unreasonable. There are still some bad phenomena in this
unreasonable management system, such as fragmented situation between superior and
local departments. The legal system is imperfect. Moreover, the shipping market is not
standardized. The lack of effective macro-control policies is still serious, while the
management tools are not strong. The system of transport organization is also
unreasonable. Specialized transport of bulk cargo and multimodal transport dont
occupy the major proportion of the modern transport system. Furthermore, the modern
integrated logistics is still in its infancy.

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Foundation Settlement Control Technology GSP 244 ASCE 2014

35

DEVELOPMENT OF WATERWAY TRANSPORTATION IN CHINA

Waterway transportation in China has formed a structured and complementary port
system which has a rational layout. At the same time, the national high-grade channel
network has basically formed. At the end of 2011, Chinas ports had 31968 berths for
production, which increased by 334 when compared with 2010. Number of berths
which were more than 10000 tons in China was 1762. It increased by 101 when
compared with 2010.
From the waterway transportation industry status at the end of 2011, the number of
ships in China was 179200, which increased by 0.5% when compared with 2010. Net
Dead Weight (NDW) was 212.6432 million tons, which increased by 17.9% when
compared with 2010. The average value of NDW was 1186.35 tons for each ship,
which increased by 17.3% when compared with 2010. Passenger capacity was 1.0084
million and it increased by 0.5%. Container capacity was 1475.2 thousand Twentyfoot Equivalent Unit (TEU), which increased by 11.4% when compared with 2010.
Ship power has increased to 59.4966 million Kwh, which increased by 11.6%
In the first quarter of 2013, the volume of freight transport increased fast, but the
growth rate of it decreased. Materials transportation and its investment were mainly
stable, and the investment structure was further optimized.
According to the data from Ministry of Communications in China (see as Table 2),
both the capacities of passenger and freight transport were increasing from January to
May in 2013. But volume of the circular flow was decreasing during this quarter. It is
easy to find that waterway transportation is much more important than ever before. As
an important mode of transport of integrated transport system in China, it has become
an important sector of the nation economy system, and also become an basic industry
of national economic development.
Table 2. The half-yearly development of waterway transportation in 2013

Rise
(%)

Capacity
in May
(million
passenger/
ton)

Volume of
the circular
flow (billion
passenger/ton
-km)

Fall
(%)

Volume of
the circular
flow in May
(million
passenger/ton
-km)

95.96

0.7

21.87

2.73

614.71

1928.98

6.6

422.82

3253.2

0.3

662100

Capacity
(million
passenger/
ton)
Passenger
transport
Freight
transport

The development of waterway transportation industry will have a bright future.

China will achieve the modernization of waterway transportation industry by 2020.
Moreover, the change from a large shipping and maritime country to a strong
shipping country will come true.

Application of Nanotechnology in Pavements, Geological Disasters, and

Foundation Settlement Control Technology GSP 244 ASCE 2014

EVALUATION CRITERIA OF SUSTAINABLE

WATERWAY TRANSPORTATION

DEVELOPMENT

36

ON

Sustainable development means we should not only meet the needs of future
generations, but also means coordinated development of economic, social,
environment and natural resources. Sustainable development is an inseparable system.
Though achieving economic development is necessary, it is also important to protect
the atmosphere of human survival, fresh water, oceans, forests and other natural
resources. Environmental protection is an important part of sustainable development,
which requires strict control of population. In order to achieve this long-term
development, it is vital to improve the population quality and protect the environment.
The sustainable use of resources under the need of economic and social development
is also necessary(Wang and Tang 2010).
Purposiveness criteria
The adaptability and elasticity coefficient are chosen as the two purposiveness
criteria.
Adaptability can value the degree of adaptation ability of waterway
transport capacity and social economic development. It can be expressed as
M=S/D
(1)
where M is the purposiveness, S is the total supply of the water transportation ability,
D is the demand of water transportation.
According to the M value range analysis of relevant departments and experts in
China and abroad, we considered the waterway transport characteristics. In order to
achieve the balance between waterway transport capacity and transport demand
completely, it is advisable to set the value of M at 1.35 to 1.45.
It also has the primary symbols. In terms of passenger transport, passenger has the
full freedom of choice, and they can buy the ticket right away or in advance. Then the
problem of overcrowding can be solved. In terms of freight transport, shippers can
choose ships according to their need, and they can accomplish the check-in formalities
at any time in order to guarantee the quality and timeliness.
There are complex economic ties and mutual restrict relationships in the national
economy departments. Proportionally harmonious development is the necessary
conditions to keep sustained and stable development of the national economy. Stable
economic growth can stimulate and promote the development of traffic. On the
contrary, there will be the negative influence on the transportation.
Elasticity coefficient, which can be regarded as the dynamic description and
prediction, is an index of proportional relationship between passenger, freight volume
growth rate and economic growth rate. It can provide the basis in evaluating the
adaptability between the transportation industry and national economy development.
Effectiveness criteria
Inspection efficiency of the waterway transportation industry must be considered on
the whole. The development of water transportation demands for the maximum of
overall benefit. Therefore, Effectiveness criteria can be evaluated by the following two

Application of Nanotechnology in Pavements, Geological Disasters, and

Foundation Settlement Control Technology GSP 244 ASCE 2014

37

indicators.
One index is incremental output (turnover). Transportation structure is based on
certain assets structure, and the formation of the assets structure results from
accumulation of investment. The changes of waterway transportation investment can
be seen as the dominant factor of water transportation structure change process.
Moreover, the changes of output can be seen as the symbol of rationalization change
in waterway transportation structure. The calculation formula can be expressed as
n

P = I ti Poi / I oi I t Po / I o

(2)

i =1

where P is the change of output, which result from transportation structure

change, Poi is the output of the ith transportation production factors in base year, Po is
the total output of various kinds of transportation production factors, I oi is the input
(infrastructure investment) of the ith transportation production factors in base year, I o
is the total input of various kinds of transportation production factors, I ti is the input
of the ith transportation production factors in tth year, I t is the total input of various
kinds of transportation production factors in tth year.
The output will be changed when the structure of water transportation is adjusted by
investment. If P >0, the output (turnover) is increasing under the condition of a
certain input which is due to the changes of investment allocation proportion. Then the
transportation structure will be improved in the direction of rationalization.
Another is the savings of the input (infrastructure investment). Under the condition
of the certain total output, relative changes of investment can be achieved by changing
its allocation proportion in various factors. The calculation formula can be expressed
as
n

I = Pt I o / Po Pti I oi / Poi

(3)

i =1

where I is the savings under the condition of complete production investment.

The change of the total input results from investment structure change. If I >0, the
savings of investment result from the changes of allocation proportion of output. Then
the transportation structure will be more reasonable.

Coordination criteria of overall transport structure

Coordination means that the complementary cooperation will increase to the
maximum. At the same time, the competition and substitution will reduce to the
minimum in the overall transportation structure.
One of the factors is sharing rate. The fitness of economic development and
industrial structure in China should be analyzed. The reasonable sharing rate of
waterway transportation in transportation structure can be measured, and then the
advantages of waterway transportation can be improved to maximum. Moreover, the
waste of transport resources and unnecessary redundant construction can also be
avoided.
Another is the substitution elasticity coefficient. The calculation formula can be
expressed as

Application of Nanotechnology in Pavements, Geological Disasters, and

Foundation Settlement Control Technology GSP 244 ASCE 2014

(4)
log y = a + b log x
where y is the ratio of turnover volume of A to B, x is the ratio of freight rates of A to
B, a and b are regression coefficients, and y is the substitution elasticity coefficient.
The relevant shipping freight problem should be studied more, and the substitution
elasticity coefficient of waterway transportation should be taken as the control index.
Then, reasonable alternative between waterway transportation and other transport
modes can be maintained by using the effective economic leverage.
SOLUTIONS OF SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT ON WATERWAY
TRANSPORTATION
Infrastructure construction
For coastal ports, the port container waterway transportation system should be
improved. Then the integration of container transport system will be formed as soon as
possible. The technological content and efficiency can be improved by intensifying the
construction of coastal pivotal ports and accelerating the construction of port
Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) system. Crude oil, iron ore and other large-scale
deep-water wharf should be constructed more. The technical renovation of the old
wharf in old port area should also be strengthened.
Inland waterway transport
The main navigation-obstructing beach risks in channels should be managed in order
to improve the condition of navigation. The construction of the main tributary channel
needs to be considered, while the container transport system also needs to be improved.
It is vital to strengthen the technical innovation and enhance the mechanization level
of inland port in order to meet the needs of professional transportation.
Transport equipment and organization
Ocean and coastal ships need to be more large-scale and professional, and large bulk
carriers, large oil tankers, container ships, ro-ro ships and liquefied gas ships should be
prioritized. The capacity of inland river ships can be updated by regulating the amount.
It is necessary to phase out the ships which have backward technology. Moreover, the
three-dimensional search and rescue system also need to be planed and constructed.
The water transportation market system needs to be set up and improved. The
transport organization structure adjustment can also be speeded up. It is meaningful to
promote the reform of shipping enterprises and the adjustment of internal organization
structure. The quality and degree of opening need to be improved so as to further
expand to world, and then the system of China can gradually integrate with the world
market.
CONCLUSIONS

After analyzing some conditions of development on waterway transportation in

recent years, especially 2013, some conclusions can be drawn. Waterway
transportation has many advantages, but the problems of infrastructures,
transport equipment and transport organization will restrict its development. By
introducing the evaluation criteria of sustainable development on waterway
transportation, the quantitative analysis can be realized. Some solutions include

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Application of Nanotechnology in Pavements, Geological Disasters, and

Foundation Settlement Control Technology GSP 244 ASCE 2014

infrastructure construction, transport equipment and organization are also put forward,
which can improve the sustainable development of waterway transportation.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The author appreciates the support of College students science and technology
project of College of Hydraulic & Environmental Engineering.

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