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This webinar was co-sponsored by ASCE's Coasts, Oceans, Ports, and Rivers Institute and ASCE Continuing Education
Instructor:
William H. McAnally, Ph.D., P.E., BC.NE, F.ASCE
Dennis W. Webb, P.E. BC.NE
Course Length: 1.5 Hours
Purpose and Background
Navigation channels are the arteries through which economic prosperity flows, providing access to deep draft ships in coastal channels and shallow draft tows in inland waterways. In the U.S., 90 percent of import/export trade travels by ship. 26,000 miles of navigation channels serve thousands of ports and terminals in locations as far inland as Lewiston, Idaho, St. Paul, Minnesota, and Pittsburg, Pennsylvania.
Channel design is both art and science. It balances safety, economic, and sustainability requirements. Channels must be wide and deep enough to safely accommodate vessel traffic but not so large as to require excessive dredging or habitat modification.
Engineers plan, design, and construct new navigation channels and channel enlargements to accommodate larger vessels and modify channels to improve safety and sustainability. Since water levels and continuous access are critical requirements for vessel traffic, all water resources projects in navigable waterways must account for their effect on, and by, navigation projects. Thus, knowledge of channel design fundamentals is an essential component of water resources engineers’ toolkit. The purpose of this course is to provide that basic understanding.
Primary Discussion Topics
This webinar is one in a series designed by the Waterways Navigation Engineering Task Committee of COPRI. The series presents an overarching picture of Navigation Engineering practice and principles and is tied to a similar series of ASCE Manuals of Practice. The webinars presently offered are:
- Navigation Engineering- Understanding the Basics of This Growing Specialty
- Introduction to Navigation Channel Design (new)
- Dredging Fundamentals (August 14, 2013)
- River Information Services—Basics of RIS and plans for US implementation (new)
- Navigation Engineering—Challenges for the New Decade
Learning Outcomes
Upon completion of this course, you will be able to:
- Identify the standard terminology for navigation channels
- Recognize how the principles of navigation projects planning, design, operation, and maintenance are related to engineering ethics
- Obtain rules of thumb for channel width, depth, and curvature and training structures
- Determine how advanced channel design uses simulators to define minimum channel dimensions
Webinar Benefits
- Learn the basics of navigation channel designs and what it means for your job
- Understand the roles of the Corps of Engineers, Coast Guard, and NOAA in navigation engineering
- Learn how waterway morphology and training structures affect navigability
- Identify opportunities for navigation-related services
Assessment of Learning Outcomes
Students' achievement of the learning outcomes will be assessed via a short post-assessment (true-false, multiple choice and fill in the blank questions).
Intended Audience
The webinar will be useful to those who work in the private sector, early career engineers in the Corps of Engineers and other government agencies involved with navigation, and also to those who advise these organizations, such as attorneys. The discussion is technical, involving simple equations. Non-engineers can follow the material, particularly if they have attended the webinar - Introduction to Navigation Engineering.
Webinar Outline
- Overview of Navigation engineering
- Ethics-based engineering principles
- Waterborne vessels and traffic
- Channels – shallow draft
- Channels – deep draft
- Using waterway morphology
- Channel simulations for design and operation
- Economic and environmental sustainability
How to Earn your CEUs/PDHs and Receive Your Certificate of Completion
To receive your certificate of completion, you will need to complete a short on-line post-test and receive a passing score of 70% or higher within 1 year of purchasing the course.
How do I convert CEUs to PDHs?
1.0 CEU = 10 PDHs [Example: 0.1 CEU = 1 PDH]