Assessing Waterway Carrying Capacity from a Multi-Benefit Synergistic Perspective

Abstract

To support decision-making on the sustainable development of inland waterways, this paper proposes a framework for evaluating their waterway carrying capacity (WCC) from the perspective of different stakeholders and introduces an improved assessment method for WCC that combines the fuzzy belief rule and Bayesian network. Compared with traditional assessment methods, the proposed one can integrate the synergy of waterway multi-benefits into the carrying capacity and improve the accuracy of WCC assessment with data uncertainty. The method was applied to an empirical case of the middle Yangtze River from Yichang to Hukou, in which the current development status and the optimal development size in the future were obtained. The results and conclusions can provide insights and support for decision-making toward the development and maintenance of inland waterways.