PIANC WG 207 Members attended the 2nd Meeting
PIANC WG 207 Members Visited the Jinghong Shiplift
The 2nd Meeting of the Working Group 207 (WG 207) Innovations in Shiplift Navigation Concepts, World Association for Waterborne Transport Infrastructure (PIANC), coordinated by Nanjing Hydraulic Research Institute (NHRI), was held in Nanjing from 10 to 12 April, 2019. 14 experts from China, United Kingdom, France, Belgium, Germany and Korea attended the meeting. Welcome speeches were delivered by Ms. ZHANG Qiaomei, Secretary General of China Water Transportation Construction Association and PIANC China and Prof. LI Yun, Member of PIANC Inland Navigation Commission and Vice President of NHRI. PIANC WG 207 Chairman Prof. HU Ya’an chaired the meeting.
WG 207 Chairman Prof. HU Ya’an introduced the tasks distribution of PIANC WG 207. All the WG 207 members discussed the stage objectives and the timing nodes of stage achievements. Based on their tasks distributions, all the members introduced their work progress in the framework of PIANC WG 207. Mr. Marc Michaux from Le Service public de Wallonie (SPW) introduced 5 Belgian shiplifts’ design, construction and management as well as the annual report of the Strépy-Thieu Shiplift operation and maintenance. Prof. Jean-Michel Hiver from Université Libre de Bruxelles presented the hydraulic problems on the Strépy-Thieu Shiplift design. Mr. Jim Striling from British Waterways presented the design and construction experience of the Falkirk Wheel. Mr. Michael Neil Thorogood from Eadon Consulting Ltd. presented the current status of typical old shiplift, the experiences of its transformation into a world heritage site as well as the definition of “Shiplift”, “Boat Lift”, “Incline Plate” and “Water Slope”. Prof. Jan Akkermann from University of Applied Sciences Karlsruhe introduced the current status of 5 shiplifts in Germany and presented the shiplift’s developing trend in Germany. Mr. Fabrice Daly from French Cerema presented 3 incline plates, 1 water slope and the first hydraulic shiplift in France, and their operation, maintenance and the culture heritage transformation experiences.
Prof. LI Zhonghua with NHRI presented the innovative technology of the Jinghong Hydraulic-Floating Shiplift in China. Prof. WANG Xin with NHRI introduced the impacts of unsteady water level on Chinese large shiplifts’ operation and countermeasures. Dr. ZHAO Gensheng with NHRI presented the building of the world shiplifts database and upgrading of old shiplifts in China. Each member’s working progress was fully discussed after their presentations. The stage tasks and timing were refined further. The meeting laid a solid foundation for the future work of PIANC WG 207. Based on the discussions, WG 207 decided to include new members from Brazil, Russia and Canada. All the WG 207 members agreed that the 3rd meeting of WG 207 will be held in Lyon, France in October 2019.
During the WG 207 2nd meeting, all the members visited Test Hall of Navigation Structures, Test Hall of the Baihetan Project, Test Hall of Lower Reach of the Yangtze River and Centrifuge Laboratory at NHRI Water Experiment Center (WEC).
After the Meeting in Nanjing, all the WG 207 members visited the Three Gorges Shiplift and the Jinghong Shiplift from 13 to 15 April, 2019. On 16 April, all the WG 207 members were invited to deliver keynote presentations at the 15th National Conference of Navigation Structures and International Symposium on Innovative Design of Large Shiplift.
