Modeling the Vulnerability of Waterway Networks

• In some areas, rivers and canals interweave into a network, making inland waterway transportation feasible. Significant losses will occur if a vulnerable waterway (where vulnerability is defined in terms of susceptibility to interference and difficulty in restoring the initial state) that is vital to a network is blocked. System vulnerabilities combined with hazard factors trigger disasters; therefore, reducing the vulnerability of a network system is a useful means of reducing major losses. In this paper, a model to calculate vulnerability based on inherent characteristics of waterways such as channel connectivity, transportation efficiency, and economic cost is developed. Three influence factors-importance, efficiency contribution, and loss-are used to build a vulnerability assessment model in which the relative vulnerabilities of various waterways can be assessed and the most vulnerable waterway can be found. Using this model, a simple waterway network is tested to identify vulnerable waterways. (C) 2014 American Society of Civil Engineers.

Ämnesord

NATURVETENSKAP  -- Geovetenskap och miljövetenskap (hsv//swe)

NATURAL SCIENCES  -- Earth and Related Environmental Sciences (hsv//eng)

Nyckelord

Waterway networks

Vulnerability assessment model

Channel connectivity

Transportation efficiency

Economic cost

Publikations- och innehållstyp

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