New PIANC Technical Reports Available
Patrick Dunn / January 30, 2025
PIANC MarCom WG213 – ‘Design Guidelines for Marine Multipurpose Terminals’
PIANC has released its landmark Working Group Report No. 213: Design Guidelines for Marine Multipurpose Terminals (MPTs), offering comprehensive technical guidance for the planning and design of terminals that handle diverse cargo types and vessel sizes. Developed by international experts under the Maritime Navigation Commission, the report addresses key aspects such as terminal layout, equipment, environmental sustainability, operational flexibility, and financial frameworks. It includes case studies from various global ports and is particularly valuable for regions undergoing economic transition. This publication serves as a critical resource for stakeholders involved in maritime infrastructure development.
PIANC InCom WG206 – ‘Design of Navigation Locks’
This report, developed by PIANC’s Working Group 206, provides an updated and comprehensive guide for the planning, design, construction, and maintenance of navigation locks, incorporating technological advances since 1986. It standardizes global best practices to address increasingly complex infrastructure and environmental challenges, emphasizing sustainability and operational efficiency. The guide outlines a phased design process, detailed engineering standards, safety systems, hydraulic and environmental considerations, and modern construction and maintenance methods. It aims to support the creation of adaptable, durable, and high-performing lock systems for future inland waterway transport needs.
PIANC InCom WG 237 – ‘Bottlenecks and Best Practices of Transport of Containers on Inland Waterways’
This report examines the current state and future potential of container transport via inland waterways (IWT), noting its slow growth compared to road and rail despite its environmental benefits. It reviews global examples from Europe, Asia, South America, and North America, highlighting challenges such as high handling costs, unreliable seaport operations, and inadequate infrastructure. However, it also identifies best practices—including enhanced digital cooperation, modernized infrastructure, and remote-control technologies—as key to improving IWT’s competitiveness. The report concludes that IWT must become more efficient, reliable, and customer-focused to realize its untapped potential in a climate-neutral transport future.
PIANC InCom WG 228 – ‘Extended Values of ‘Low-Use’ Inland Waterways’
This report addresses an issue specific to inland waterborne transport infrastructure, which has evolved significantly over recent decades. The overall trend, whether in Europe, Asia or North and South America[1], has led to the construction of new or significantly upgraded waterways, for barges or push-tows carrying thousands of tonnes. As a result, thousands of kilometres of canals and navigable rivers were neglected – in some cases abandoned, or infilled – since the authorities in charge of their maintenance were forced to concentrate their efforts on infrastructure to be maintained or even built from scratch to serve the needs of the modern economy and industry.
PIANC InCom WG 219 – ‘Guidelines for Inland Waterways Infrastructure to Facilitate Tourism’
This report provides a new and broad reference framework and set of guidelines for the development of sustainable infrastructure for recreational navigation on inland waterways. The need for this document stemmed from the observations made in the Terms of Reference. A key initial focus was the potential conflicts of use between commercial and recreational navigation, the associated risks and their possible mitigation by providing adapted infrastructure for smaller craft using the same waterways.
PIANC MarCom WG 224 – ‘Planning of Fishing Ports’
PIANC Working Group 224 ‘’Planning of Fishing Ports’’ is an update of WG18 (1998). Overall, it is an update to account for changes, more than 25 years later, including updates to previous sections on fishery resources, planning, technology, use of IT and auction halls. There are new chapters on Disaster Resilience, and Maintenance. It covers both new fishing ports as well as updates/improvements to existing fishing ports. The working group were from fishery ports, national fisheries organisations, consultants and universities, with 21 members from 15 countries (Argentina, Australia, Chile, Denmark, Egypt, Iceland, Iran, Ireland, Japan, Netherlands, Norway, South Africa, Spain, UK and USA). The document will be of interest to those involved in the planning, design, maintenance and operation of fishing ports of all types, including greenfield ports as well as for ongoing evolution of existing ports.
PIANC MarCom WG 186 – ‘Mooring of large ships at quay walls’
The WG 186 guideline helps in understanding the mooring issues that berth owners and operators may face, especially for container and cruise vessel berths. WG 186 guides the reader through the mooring issues that may affect safe mooring, including the Safe Working Load of future bollards (Chapter 2). All of the aspects that need to be taken into account in executing a mooring assessment are dealt with in Chapter 3, with some case studies included, showing the effects of a passing ship, time-varying wind loading and waves acting on a moored ship. Chapter 4 provides information on a range of measures that can be used to assist in the safe mooring of large vessels, when conventional mooring arrangements are not adequate. Some of these are relatively simple operational measures, and others are more structural and/or required capital investment.
The report developed by PIANC Working Group 226 (EnviCom WG226) is intended to assist port managers, contractors and consultants evaluate the risks and manage the effects of underwater sound associated with port development or maintenance activities. The report provides a review of the potential biological effects of underwater sound from waterborne transport infrastructure activities (including reference to a number of contemporary and widely-adopted impact thresholds) and a framework for the evaluation of the potential ecological risks. The risk evaluation approach draws from existing approaches and best practices worldwide and builds on previous EnviCom Working Group reports addressing various aspects of environmental risk assessment, to provide a transparent, consistent, repeatable, and science-based methodology to inform risk management decisions.
PIANC EnviCom WG 230 – ‘Green Financing of Nature-Based Navigation Infrastructure’
The PIANC Working Group no. 230 encourages port and waterway authorities, developers and financial institutions to embrace NbS in their infrastructure projects and share knowledge, especially on how NbS business models can meet financing and risk criteria. Targeted action, utilising a mix of effective enablers on the system, market and project levels, is essential to accelerate the transition toward sustainable and resilient waterborne transport systems. With international momentum behind climate action and sustainable development, this report aims to provide a contribution to integrating the worlds of waterborne NbS and private capital.
The report of WG 128 offers a best-practice approach (BPA) to implement technical-biological bank protections (TBPs). These measures use, as far as possible, living plants or dead wood as construction elements. Conventional construction components such as sheet piling or riprap (revetment made from heavy, loose stones) shall be avoided as far as possible, resulting in bank protections that are only as strong as technically necessary and as weak or green as biologically possible. Optimally, natural vegetation and succession shall take over the desired protection function short and long term.
Current PIANC members can download their free copy in the PIANC Members Only Section at https://www.pianc.org/login.
Non-members can purchase their copy here:
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- PIANC MarCom WG213 – ‘Design Guidelines for Marine Multipurpose Terminals’
- PIANC InCom WG206 – ‘Design of Navigation Locks’
- PIANC InCom WG 237 – ‘Bottlenecks and Best Practices of Transport of Containers on Inland Waterways’
- PIANC InCom WG 228 – ‘Extended Values of ‘Low-Use’ Inland Waterways’
- PIANC InCom WG 219 ‘Guidelines for Inland Waterways Infrastructure to Facilitate Tourism’
- PIANC MarCom WG 224 – ‘Planning of Fishing Ports’
- PIANC MarCom Wg 186 – ‘Mooring of large ships at quay walls’
- PIANC EnviCom WG 226 – ‘A Guide for Assessing and Managing Effects of Underwater Sounds from Navigation Infrastructure Activities’
- PIANC EnviCom WG 230 – ‘Green Financing of Nature-Based Navigation Infrastructure’
- PIANC InCom WG 128 part 1 – ‘Technical-Biological Bank Protections for Inland Waterways – Part 1: Basics of a Best Practice Approach’
If you’re interested in joining PIANC USA, please visit https://www.pianc.us/membership/ for more information.
