Automatic Drawbridge Scheduling by Integrating Highway and Waterway Traffic Flow Information

As inland waterway usage intensifies, it increasingly intersects and conflicts with railway and road transportation modes, highlighting the need for efficient management of these critical junctures. In particular, movable bridges represent a key intersection of highway and waterway Traffic but also a potential source of conflict. This paper proposes and analyzes the use of automatic schedulers that consider both highway and waterway Traffic, reduce conflicts, and make key decisions about bridge use. The METANET macroscopic Traffic model is elaborated to allow the simulation of drawbridge openings on the highway mainline, based on the modelling of mainstream metering. Several MPC-based schedulers are proposed using the designed highway Traffic model and key vessel information, aiming to study the impact of the bridge opening and scheduling on highway Traffic. The simulation results indicate a significant reduction in Traffic conflicts at drawbridge intersections due to the implementation of these schedulers. The functioning of the schedulers is shown to be robust and demonstrate verifiable behavior, indicating their high potential in real-world applications.