The role of dry port in hub-and-spoke network under Belt and Road Initiative

Dry port plays increasingly an important role in the integration of inland regions with seaports, and cross-border inland ports especially in the context of Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) originally proposed by China. This paper studies a logistics network connecting the inland regions by dry ports based on a two-stage logistical gravity model. First, a basic logistical gravity model is developed to analyze the radiated inland regions from dry ports, where the logistical quality of dry ports is calculated by principal component analysis. Second, considering mutual impacts among dry ports, seaports and cross-border inland ports, the influence of logistical gravity on the network is examined by using a coefficient based on the Ordered Weighted Averaging Operator in multi-attribute decision theory. An improved logistical gravity model is further developed to investigate the logistical connections among various ports (e.g. dry ports, seaports and cross-border inland ports; hub and feeder ports). Then, a hub-and-spoke network can be established. Dry ports are potential to connect to the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st-Century Maritime Silk Road. So a Chinese case is used to verify the proposed method. The strategies of embedding inland regions in the BRI are discussed based on the experimental studies.     

Foldable container in empty container repositioning in intermodal transportation network of Belt and Road Initiative: strengths and limitations

In 2013, the concept of the ‘Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st-Century Maritime Silk Road (Belt and Road)’ was initiated by the Chinese government, which involves Asian, European and African continents and their adjacent seas. Logistics plays a core role in such a large framework of economy and trade. In recent years, China, European Union, and Southeast Asia pay much attention to the design and development of the intermodal transportation network towards both economic and environmental efficiency. In this paper, we propose an empty container repositioning model in the intermodal transportation network of Belt and Road (B&R) Initiative by considering both standard and foldable containers. In this model, empty containers are repositioned from the inland of the original area, such as China, to other areas of B&R Initiative related countries and regions, such as European Union and Southeast Asia. We develop a mixed integer linear programming model to determine the optimal repositioning of empty containers via the intermodal transportation network. An Artificial Bee Colony algorithm is developed to solve large size problems in practice and numerical experiments are conducted to show the efficiency of our proposed algorithm. We provide managerial insights regarding the impact on the network performance of foldable containers transportation.     

Impacts of the Belt and Road Initiative in the Indian subcontinent under future port development scenarios

ABSTRACT

The aim of this paper is twofold: the first is to assess the extent to which current port development initiatives contribute to securing the status of the Port of Colombo as a regional transshipment (T/S) hub to serve the Indian subcontinent; and the second is to generate plausible future development scenarios for the maritime industry in the context of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). A scenario analysis method is applied to examine the past trends and to build future development scenarios. The results showed that major Indian ports have experienced a significant growth in cargo volumes and vessel traffic. South and East Indian coastal ports continue to use the Port of Colombo as a T/S port in tandem with the corridors connected to the Indian Ocean. Scenario analysis highlights the growing importance of BRI-centric land-based economic corridors, which would generate a large amount of cargos from hinterlands up to China. This would be further fueled through the Great Mekong region-driven industrialization, which would add to the west-bound maritime cargo volume. The paper concludes that the increased capital influx from China would more likely to result in a substantial development of the present port and road/rail infrastructure in Sri Lanka.     

中美英规范在港工水电构筑物结构设计的差异

水电构筑物结构设计是港口工程设计的重要组成部分。以有限单元法为基础,对比中国的GB 50010—2010、美国的ACI 318 M-2014、英国的BS 8110-1:1997这3个规范在港工常规构筑物结构设计中的计算方法,得出中美英规范在港工构筑物的抗弯、抗剪强度、偏心受压强度计算和裂缝宽度、地基承载力验算的异同,并结合典型工程实例说明按照不同规范计算的具体步骤和差异。结果表明,按照美国或英国规范计算的港工构筑物结构的体积含钢量较大。     

水口电站坝下工程下引航道水流条件治理分析

水口坝下水位治理工程是无闸低坝枢纽,不能控制洪水、调节泄流位置,无论上游来流量高低,对下游引航道通航条件的影响均较大,本文针对其水流运动特点和泥沙淤积问题,利用水力学原理与泥沙运动理论,创建了隔离水流、切断泥沙流路的技术方法,通过增设隔流墙、拦沙底坎和优化靠船墩布置等工程措施,较好地改变引航道内的水流条件,有效地阻止了泥沙淤积。模型试验结果显示引航道内的水深、流速等通航指标均能满足规范要求,文章提出的方法可供类似工程参考。