Tool to evaluate countermeasures at locks to limit freshwater losses and saltwater intrusion while minimizing waiting times for shipping

Climate change puts stress on the efficient operation of lock complexes. During more frequent and more severe periods of drought, freshwater losses and saltwater intrusion fluxes through lock operations have to be kept to a minimum to guarantee sufficient freshwater availability. Reduction of the number of lock operations is a measure that is frequently applied. Such measures, while effective to limit saltwater intrusion, generally lead to delays and economic losses for the transport sector. Tools that simultaneously simulate lock operations and saltwater intrusion, appear not to be available in open literature. To contribute, this paper presents a method that is able to perform such analyses, combining a meso-scale logistical model with a semi-empirical hydrodynamic model of a lock. We demonstrate the applicability of the model through a theoretical experiment on the effectiveness of vessel clustering to reduce the number of lockages. Clustering indeed helps to limit saltwater intrusion, at the expense of a significant increase in vessel delay times. Although the model can still be refined, it already enables us to quantify the relationship between vessels’ delay times and local saltwater intrusion fluxes. As such the presented method is an important step forward in the optimization of lock operation in periods of drought.