Waterway Network Research Articles

L’épave EP1-Épagnette (Somme): un bateau de navigation fluviale du milieu du XVIIIe siècle et son espace de navigation, Revue archéologique de Picardie, numéro spécial 35

France, thanks to its extensive network of waterways, is characterized by an extreme diversity of fluvial and fluvio-maritime boats and ships. One only has to consult Francois Beaudouin’s Bateaux d...

Assigning a commodity dimension to AIS data: Disaggregated freight flow on an inland waterway network

Inland waterways play a key role within the freight transportation system by connecting productive heartland areas to international gateways, while keeping costs competitive. Quantifying commodity flow is important because it affects cost-based supply chain decision-making. However, data on commodity movements to inform investment and planning decisions is elusive. Publicly available commodity data on U.S. inland waterways is limited in its spatial aggregation to the location of locks, which is insufficient to identify inter-port commodity flows. Automatic Identification System (AIS) data has the potential to disaggregate freight-flows to the port and river segment levels but it does not identify the commodity carried. This paper characterizes and quantifies vessel trips by port of origin-destination, timestamp, commodity carried, and path (mapped to an inland waterway network), allowing for disaggregated commodity flow analysis, previously unavailable in the public domain in the U.S.This is accomplished through a multi-commodity assignment model which conflates AIS vessel movement data with commodity-specific port throughput. A stochastic approach is introduced to handle uncertainty in cargo-to-vessel ratios. Validation using data from the Arkansas River show agreement between model predictions and aggregated commodity volumes with differences lower than 1.82% by commodity and lock. Ubiquitous AIS data permit the transferability of the proposed work.

Visualising the right to protest

With its vast network of canals, Thailand’s capital Bangkok once earned its nickname as ‘Venice of the East’ during the nineteenth Century. Although many of the ‘khlongs’ (canals) have long been filled in to form roads, enough remains of their function to stir the hope of the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) to ‘revive’ the city’s reputation. Under the plan to modernise the network of waterways and promote water transport as a primary means of transportation, about 50,000 residents along nine canals are required to relocate. After many attempts, the last round of orders by the military government, BMA is finally going ahead with its plan in 2015. From an ethnographic perspective employing visual methods, this paper aims to explore urban interventions through the ‘presence’ of graffiti in the area of Chumchon Rim-Naam, more generally the relationship between eviction and graffiti under the military government. It pays close attention to socio-political discontent and counterculture through the lens of daily class struggle. Moreover, it attempts to examine the experiences of those impacted by eviction and the stories of those canal squatters who are victims of this injustice. For the authority, graffiti that appears to come in the form of a political statement has become more than just a public nuisance. The paper demonstrates that in embracing the concept of visual politics, and to further crystallise their roles in and relationships to the socio-political movement, there is the need to examine the city through visual methods critically. The specificities of visual tools and aesthetic experience in the contentious political times in which we live can and have been utilised strategically and instrumentally to mobilise people's opinions, memories, experiences and their social relationships.

National surveillance of Oncomelania hupensis in China, 2015-2019

To analyze the monitoring data of Oncomelania hupensis in the national schistosomiasis surveillance sites of China from 2015 to 2019, so as to understand the changes of Oncomelania snail status in the schistosomiasis-endemic areas of China and to provide the scientific evidence for Oncomelania snail control. According to the requirements of National Scheme for Schistosomiasis Surveillance in China (2014 Edition), national schistosomiasis surveillance sites were assigned in all schistosomiasis-endemic counties (cities, districts) and the potential endemic counties (cities, districts) in the Three Gorges Reservoir areas, and Oncomelania snail status was monitored according to different epidemic types. In endemic areas, Oncomelania snail survey was performed by means of systematic sampling and environmental sampling, and the occurrence of frames with Oncomelania snails and the prevalence of Schistosoma japonicum infections in Oncomelania snails were calculated, while in potential endemic areas, the risk of imported Oncomelania snails and Oncomelania snails in floating debris were monitored. Oncomelania snail survey was performed covering an area of 116 834.16 hm2 in the national schistosomiasis surveillance of China from 2015 to 2019, with 35 007.62 hm2 Oncomelania snail habitats identified. A total of 6 908 292 frames were surveyed during the 5-year period, and there were 364 555 frames detected with Oncomelania snails, with a 5.28% mean occurrence of frames with Oncomelania snails. Among 997 508 living Oncomelania snails captured, no S. japonicum infections were detected, and loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) assay detected 18 positive mixed Oncomelania snail samples. During the period from 2015 to 2019, 147.20 hm2 emerging Oncomelania snail habitats were identified, with an overall tendency towards a rise seen in the proportion of emerging Oncomelania snail habitats in plain regions with waterway networks (0.12% to 92.00%), a tendency towards a rise followed by decline seen in marshland and lake regions (0 to 96.72%), and a large fluctuation in hilly regions (0 to 88.49%). A total of 831.10 hm2 re-emerging Oncomelania snail habitats were found in the national schistosomiasis surveillance sites of China from 2015 to 2019, with an overall tendency towards a rise seen in the proportion of re-emerging Oncomelania snail habitats in marshland and lake regions (16.05% to 79.66%), an overall tendency towards a decline seen in hilly regions (19.25% to 81.00%), and a minor fluctuation in plain regions with waterway networks (1.10% to 10.14%). During the 5-year period from 2015 to 2019, a total of 48 656 kg floating debris were captured in 4 surveillance sites in the Three Gorges Reservoir areas, and 2 204 snails were found, with no Oncomelania snails identified. The areas of Oncomelania snail habitats tended to be stable in the national schistosomiasis surveillance sites of China during the period from 2015 to 2019, however, there was a gradual rise in the area of Oncomelania snail habitats year by year, and LAMP assay identified positive Oncomelania snail samples, suggesting Oncomelania snail control is far from optimistic in China.

An era of inland water transport accidents and casualties: the case of a low-income country

ABSTRACT Bangladesh has a vast network of inland waterways. This allows easier and cheaper transportation to the people of this low-income nation. However, frequent accidents in inland waterways have caused significant loss of human lives and properties. This study analyzes the accident data of an era (2008–2019) collected from the Department of Shipping of Bangladesh. However, it is revealed that due to lack of a proper accident database, many accident parameters and detailed information are not available. The results indicate that most of the accidents and casualties are caused by collision among the vessels. Besides, the predominant portion of overall casualty is fatality. Moreover, 57.6% fatalities take place during the four months of February to May. Furthermore, around half of the accidents are caused by the cargo ships and trawlers. It is also found that the most accident-prone zone is the southern part of the country. Finally, some recommendations are proposed for improvement of inland water transport safety of this low-income country.

Applicability of High-Resolution Geospatial Data Obtained by UAV Photogrammetry to Develop Drainage System Models for Pluvial Flood Analysis

Integrated flood models have been previously developed to simulate diverse inundation situations and combined with models of storm surges and river floods. However, drainage systems, ground elevation, and surface information of human settlements have only been digitized in large cities. Digitization of surface information is essential for developing a drainage system model for pluvial flood analysis. Occasionally, suburban drainage areas exhibit various complex land-use conditions, including residential and green areas, agricultural land with drainage, and irrigation channels. Herein, UAV photogrammetry was applied to obtain high-resolution geospatial data associated with small-scale flood-prone areas whose elevation, land-use, and waterway networks have not been elucidated sufficiently. The resolution of elevation and land-use data ranged from 2.61–5.22 cm/mesh. The measurement accuracy of the width and depth of the open channels was high, and the errors were mostly within 10%. A drainage system model was developed using data on open channel, elevation, and land-use.

Znaczenie Dunaju w europejskiej sieci dróg wodnych

The Role of the Danube River in the Trans-European Waterway Network
 In the 20th century, the Danube Region was subject to numerous and far-reaching political transformations, which had a negative impact on the expansion of the Danube waterway transport, affected mainly by political, economical and military crises that took place in the 1990s. Nowadays, only 9% of all river cargo is shipped via the Danube River. The European Union makes an effort to increase this number up to 30%, and to ensure the river’s permanent inclusion in the Trans-European Transport Network, with an ongoing process of adjusting the Danube shipping law to the regulations applicable to other European rivers. Nonetheless, the implementation of the EU Strategy for the Danube Region has little effect on the transportation growth in the Danube Basin so far – due to insufficient support from the European Union, the Danubian countries’ unwillingness to carry out expensive investments, and difficulties related to the process of redirecting the existing trade routes.

The Material Politics of Infrastructure NetworksInfrastructure Design and Territorial Transformation in Belgium, 1830–40s

AbstractThis article delves into the processes of territorial transformation by foregrounding the material dimension of infrastructure. The entry of the research is infrastructure network design and planning. We will trace the concepts of territorial transformation inscribed into the material layout of large technical systems by analyzing the discourse of engineers and policy makers involved in the conception of infrastructure networks. In so doing, the material politics of infrastructure networks will be studied: How did engineers and policy makers design infrastructure to generate a specific territorial transformation? Moreover, how did technological plans hold the idea that one could influence modernization processes by means of a territorial transformation instigated by infrastructure? The neutral status of technology is thus fundamentally challenged by showing that engineers, in association with policy makers, were essential actors in the planned transformation of the territory as they organized infrastructure networks according to specific ideas relating spatial and societal transformation. The article focuses on two decades after the independence of Belgium (1831), when engineers conceived comprehensive networks of rails, waterways, and roads. The material politics of two major public works initiatives will be analyzed: (1) the centrally positioned railway network that connected all industrial centers within the territory as well as with the markets of neighboring countries, positioning Belgium into Europe as international turntable, and (2) a network of roads and canals in peripheral, so-called unproductive, regions that had to integrate these regions within national borders, and indeed extend these borders, as well as buffer and govern the side-effects and risks generated by the accelerating industrialization in the central parts of the nation.

Salt Marsh Elevation Limit Determined after Subsidence from Hydrologic Change and Hydrocarbon Extraction

Levee construction aboveground and hydrocarbon removal from belowground in coastal wetlands can create hydrologic changes that increase plant stress through flooding. But the significance of the subsidence they cause individually or in combination is contested. This study untangled them to demonstrate elevational limits of salt marshes by studying dredged and natural waterways in two salt marshes in Louisiana, USA. The areas had a homogenous plant cover before drilling for oil and gas extraction peaked in the 1960s, and now are a mixed network of natural waterways and dredged canals used to drill wells with an average drill date of 1965.8 ± 2.7 (µ ± 1 SEM; n = 18) and well depth of 4661.0 m ± 56.6 (µ ± 1 SEM; n = 18). Aerial imagery was used to document how canals widened to become 2 to 4 times larger than their original construction width at the high production site and 50% larger at the low production site, whereas increases at the nearby natural channels were much less. Light detection and ranging (LIDAR) measurements at the high production site from 2002 showed that the marsh surface near wells subsided by 34 cm compared to undredged sites. Elevation in marshes at producing and dry wells were equal at the low production site, but high production well locations were even lower than at dry wells. An elevation vs. percent open water curve developed from these data overlapped with an independent analysis of a brackish marsh. A relative subsidence rate between 7.4 to 10.4 mm y−1 transformed these salt marshes to an open water habitat within a few decades. The local creation of accommodation space through hydrocarbon removal and leveed wetlands is a parsimonious explanation for the spatial and temporal land loss rates on this deltaic coast over the last 80 years of oil and gas exploration. Substantial losses from the accelerating rates of sea level rise are indicated to occur before 2050.

Starzy piloci na moście, czyli dyskretny urok alternacji

Język polski niesłusznie uchodzi za trudny, skomplikowane natomiast wydawać się mogą alternacje morfonologiczne, które występują w odmianie czasowników, rzeczowników, przymiotników, liczebników, zaimków i imiesłowów, w stopniowaniu, a także w słowotwórstwie. Artykuł pokazuje, iż do uporządkowania z pozoru chaotycznego świata polskich alternacji wystarczy kilka prostych reguł. Ucząc języka polskiego jako obcego, warto wprowadzać te reguły krok po kroku już na początkowym etapie nauki. Warto pamiętać, że odpowiednio zaprezentowane przykłady mówią czasem więcej niż długie komentarze metajęzykowe. Przy takim podejściu liczne formy gramatyczne nie jawią się jako ocean wyjątków, lecz jako sieci powiązań, które da się opanować.

Development on Water Transport System in Sri Lanka with Available Water Resources

Traffic congestion is an enormous problem at peak hours in western province. Existing transport system is not capable to overcome these complexity situations. Therefore, Srilankan government needs to find out different mode of transport to save time and money and finally economy of the country. In the past history, there was a rich water transportation system over the country. Specially, the western province has a well-distributed network of inland waterways, comprising of main rivers, streams, canals, lakes, and tanks. Most of the time, the existing waterways were used for freight transportation (timber, sand, brick, and tiles. compare to Public transportation. The study is to determine the efficient use of waterways for the public transportation focusing the travel time and fuel consumption. The existing water way network was map and find availability of other network connectivity using ArcGIS and Google Earth Pro software. Then compare it with an existing public transportation mode (bus) and checked the suitability of usage of water transportation as an alternative to reduce the existing traffic congestion problem. And proposed water way transport system, that capable of potential and strategic way to reduce the traffic congestion problem in Colombo and its sub urban areas.

Landscape evolution in the Liangzhu area since the early Holocene: A comprehensive sedimentological approach

The Liangzhu culture (5300– 4300 cal yr BP) is considered to be the testification of the five thousand year history of Chinese civilization, and has thus attracted a great deal of attention from the archaeological community. However, the rise and fall of the Liangzhu culture, especially the cause of its vanishing, is still a topic of intense debate. Since the Liangzhu Ancient City area is a low-lying littoral region with a dense network of waterways, the landscape evolution would have had great impact on human-environment interactions. In this study, we will reconstruct the evolutionary history of the landscape by using sedimentological approach. Five sediment cores, together with trenches exposed in the archaeological sites were investigated. The chronology of the sediments was established by using twelve accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) 14C dates. Sedimentary proxies, including calcium content, grain size, diatoms, and dinoflagellates are used for paleoenvironmental reconstruction. The results showed that: (1) from the last deglaciation to the early Holocene (before ca. 9400 cal yr BP), the Liangzhu area was widely exposed, and the cores contain coarse sand, gravel, and hard clay layers; (2) during the early to middle Holocene (ca. 9400 – 7600 cal yr BP), the area was rapidly submerged by a westward marine transgression, and the subsequent marine regression moved eastward from the Liangzhu area at approximately 7900 – 7600 cal yr BP when the rate of sediment supply exceeded the rate of relative sea level (RSL) rise; (3) during the middle to late Holocene (after ca. 7600 cal yr BP), the deposits mainly originated from overbank flooding or from storm surge events rather than from direct RSL rise from ca. 7600 – 6600 cal yr BP. The Liangzhu Ancient City area remained a swamp and an area of salinization until ca. 5100 cal yr BP.

LNG bunkering network design in inland waterways

Growing awareness of the environment and new regulations of the International Maritime Organization and the European Union are forcing ship-owners to reduce pollution. The use of liquefied natural gas (LNG) is one of the most promising options for achieving a reduction in pollution for inland shipping and short sea shipping. However, the infrastructure to facilitate the broad use of LNG is yet to be developed. We advance and analyze models that suggest LNG infrastructure development plans for refueling stations that support pipeline-to-ship and truck-to-ship bunkering, specifying locations, types, and capacities, and that take into account the characteristics of LNG, such as boil-off during storage and loading. We develop an effective primal heuristic, based on Lagrangian relaxation, for the solution of the models. We validate our approach by performing a computational study for the waterway network in the Arnhem-Nijmegen region in the West-European river network, including, among others, multi-year scenarios in which capacity expansion and reduction are possible.

The effect of ecological environmental changes and mollusciciding on snail intermediate host of Schistosoma in Qianjiang city of China from 1985 to 2015

BackgroundSchistosomiasis remains prevalent in Africa, Asia and South America with an estimated burden of 1.9 million disability-adjusted life years in 2016. Targeting snails as a key to success for schistosomiasis control has been widely approved, but the long-term quantitative effects of interventions on snail control that would inform and improve future control programmes are unclear. Over the last six decades, schistosomiasis in China had been brought largely under control, and snail control as supplementary methods or part of integrated multisectoral approaches in different historical periods has played an essential role.MethodsEcological environment factors, prevalence and control data on Oncomelania hupensis between 1985 and 2015 at 5-year intervals in Qianjiang city, China, were collected. A multilevel growth model approach was used to examine the long-term effects of ecological environmental changes and mollusciciding on snail-infested area (SIA) and living snail density (LSD) during the 30 years.ResultsThe variation of SIA was 68.4% in spatial distribution, while the variation of LSD was 68.4% in temporal distribution. Continuous mollusciciding could result in significant LSD reduction, but may not lead to significant SIA reduction. The normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI), patch size coefficient of variation (PSCoV) and mean patch size (MPS) reduction, slightly due to eco-environmental changes decreased SIA, while mean perimeter-area ratio (MPAR) and dry farm-land proportion (DFLP) reduction might increase SIA. Only NDVI and MPAR reduction led to a lower LSD.ConclusionsMollusciciding was more effective in reducing snail density, but it is not easy to eliminate snails completely. Environmental modifications could completely change the snail breeding environment and reduce its infestation area. Due to difficulty of scaling-up the current environmental modifications in waterway network regions, more effective snail control methods are needed. The experience in China could thereby provide guidance for other schistosomiasis endemic areas with a high snail prevalence.

Big data-driven automatic generation of ship route planning in complex maritime environments

With the rapid development of the global economy, maritime transportation has become much more convenient due to large capacities and low freight. However, this means the sea lanes are becoming more and more crowded, leading to high probabilities of marine accidents in complex maritime environments. According to relevant historical statistics, a large number of accidents have happened in water areas that lack high precision navigation data, which can be utilized to enhance navigation safety. The purpose of this work was to carry out ship route planning automatically, by mining historical big automatic identification system (AIS) data. It is well-known that experiential navigation information hidden in maritime big data could be automatically extracted using advanced data mining techniques; assisting in the generation of safe and reliable ship planning routes for complex maritime environments. In this paper, a novel method is proposed to construct a big data-driven framework for generating ship planning routes automatically, under varying navigation conditions. The method performs density-based spatial clustering of applications with noise first on a large number of ship trajectories to form different trajectory vector clusters. Then, it iteratively calculates its centerline in the trajectory vector cluster, and constructs the waterway network from the node-arc topology relationship among these centerlines. The generation of shipping route could be based on the waterway network and conducted by rasterizing the marine environment risks for the sea area not covered by the waterway network. Numerous experiments have been conducted on different AIS data sets in different water areas, and the experimental results have demonstrated the effectiveness of the framework of the ship route planning proposed in this paper.

Prediction of drainage morphometry using a genetic landscape evolution algorithm

This study employs geographic information system (GIS) and remote-sensing techniques to predict drainage morphometry parameters and hydrological processes. A new approach, named genetic landscape evolution (GLE), is used to model drainage based on optimal waterway network states to predict future drainage patterns and morphometry. Following the theoretical balance between the forces of uplift and sedimentation, GLE strives to achieve the minimum total energy expenditure of the system. The predicted stream-network landscapes created using the GLE algorithm have the self-similar tree structure of natural stream networks. Morphometric analysis shows that the basin has 6th-level stream orders in the 30 m DEM and 5th-level stream orders in the GLE algorithm-produced DEM. The drainage density value of the basin for the 30-m DEM was 0.933 km/km2 and for the GLE DEM was 0.877 km/km2. These drainage densities create coarse drainage textures and therefore, this can be used to predict future soil texture.

Legal, Institutional and Financial Solutions for the Sustainable Development Strategy of Inland Waterway Transport in Vietnam

Inland waterway transport (IWT) plays an important role in the cause of socio-economic construction and development and national defense during the period of national renewal and international economic integration. With abundant infrastructure resources, inland waterway transport is a strong transport form of Vietnam, and is considered a "locomotive" in the strategy of the transport industry. The IWT system of Vietnam is well performing its duties. The share of the IWT in Vietnam is among the highest in the world and the transport volume is still on the rise. This encouraging result is due to the main waterway network in the North and the South that currently serves the two most economically and spearhead locomotives of Vietnam.However, the development potential of IWT in Vietnam has not been optimally exploited and still limited. The main reason is due to the weak enforcement of current regulations because of overlapping legal system; Institutional framework faces many shortcomings, such as the current regulatory management sector, which lacks a formal mechanism for consultation with professional knowledge and expertise; The financial support framework is unclear and unsustainable as no user fee collection is used to support the infrastructure management activities of the Vietnam Inland Waterway Administration or lack of capital to build infrastructure development, the role of participation of private enterprises is limited.Therefore, improving the effectiveness of institutional structure, strengthening the framework and legal regulations as well as innovating financial mechanisms are essential for the sustainable development strategy of Vietnam's inland waterway transport industry in the period 2020-2030.The paper emphasizes the study of the development status of IWT system in Vietnam to highlight the role of reform solutions. The focus is on the institutional framework of infrastructure management and sector regulation, improving the enabling environment by disseminating laws and regulations in the industry, efficient distribution of capital resources ensures transparency and sustainability. The author has analyzed and comprehensively assessed the challenges that the inland waterway transport industry is facing, especially the pressure on the legal framework, institutional structure and policies that are inherently limited, also recommends for a reform program to support the IWT industry to develop in terms of both scale and technical level.

Investigation on Schistosoma japonicum infection in goats in Dantu District, Zhenjiang City from 2004 to 2019

To investigate the prevalence and changing patterns of Schistosoma japonicum infections in goats in Dantu District of Zhenjiang City, so as to provide the scientific data for the management of in livestock. The S. japonicum infections were detected using a miracidial hatching test (one test for one stool specimen) in goats grazed in settings with snail habitats in Dantu District of Zhenjiang City at spring and autumn of each year from 2004 to 2019, and the prevalence and intensity of S. japonicum infections were estimated. A total of 21 836 goat stool samples were detected from 2004 to 2019, and 86 were positive for S. japonicum (0.39% prevalence). The highest prevalence of S. japonicum infections in goats was seen in 2004 (1.25%) and no infections were detected in goats since 2013. S. japonicum-infected goats were identified in marshland-type endemic areas and plain regions with waterway networks, and there was a significant difference in the prevalence of S. japonicum infections in goats between these two types of endemic areas (0.50% vs. 0.15%; χ2 = 11.566, P < 0.05). The prevalence of S. japonicum infections was significantly greater in goats at ages of more than 10 months (0.51%) and over 10 months (0.44%) than in other goats (χ2 = 13.088, P < 0.05), and higher prevalence was found in autumn than in spring (0.54% vs. 0.27%; χ2 = 9.597, P < 0.05). In addition, there were 76.74% of S. japonicum-infected goats with intensity of"+++"and"++++". Although the high prevalence of S. japonicum infections has been effectively controlled in goats in Dantu District, goat remains to be an important source of S. japonicum infections that should be given a high priority for control to consolidate the schistosomiasis control achievements.

European hub location problem for China Railway Express in the context of the Belt and Road Initiative

ABSTRACT Freight trains between Europe and China (China Railway Express) are a central component of the Belt and Road Initiative. In recent years, the service has experienced significant growth, however operational problems still remain. Seeking a solution, this paper used a hierarchical spatial aggregation process based on EU transportation policy to identify 87 origin nodes. Distance-based weighted centrality measures and a TOPSIS (Technique for Order of Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution) model ranked node centrality in European rail, road, and waterway networks. The 10 highest-ranking nodes served as candidate hubs for the mixed-integer linear programme, which considered time-definite, multimodal transportation and penalised partially vacant trains. Berlin, Budapest, Duisburg and Lille were chosen as optimal hub locations.

Dylematy rozwoju transportu wodnego Mazowsza

The Polish government conducts program works on the development of the E40 waterway along the Vistula and the Bug in accordance with the European Agreement on the main inland waterways of international importance (AGN). In light of the current investment practice, there is still a long way to go for the implementation of the E40 waterway in Mazovia, while the current findings of these programs and related study plans are at many points controversial. In this situation, this article aims to identify the weaknesses of these findings, indicate other ways to solve the already embarrassing decision-making situations (dilemmas), analyze and evaluate basic decision-making alternatives, and choose optimal solutions for Mazovia. The author has identified the following basic decision dilemmas: (0) Does a waterway network in Mazovia exist or not? (1) Whether to build this network or not? (2) Whether to reject the AGN Agreement or not? (3) Whether to build a network in full or limited spatial extent? (4) Whether to build following AGN or lower waterwaytechnical classes? (5) Whether to build against ecologists or in harmony with them? As a result of detailed analyzes and assessments, the author chose to solve these dilemmas, assuming (0) the lack of the waterway network in its current state, (1) undertaking the investment program for the construction of this network as satisfying the potential undisclosed demand in the field of water transport, (2) not rejecting the AGN Agreement as consistent with the long-term EU transport policy, (3) building the waterway network in the full spatial scope, (4) constructing a complete network in one step, i.e. at least Vb (2,80 m) class, as well as (5) creatingthis waterway network in agreement with ecologists. When adopting such design assumptions, a positive plan is outlined, which would involve, first of all, resigning from the existing plans to build the Vistula, Narew and Bug cascades as leading to the obtaining the waterways of undervalued classes IV and Va and to the right protests of ecologists, and secondly replacing the cascade with the construction of side shipping canalsof Vb (2,80 m) class or higher located within the broad valleys of the Vistula and the Narew but outside the most valuable natural areas of these valleys. In relation to the Bug waterway, the author prefers the course of the canal beyond the river valley through Wilga and Garwolin.