STRUCTURAL INVESTIGATION OF A MARITIME – RIVER CONTAINER SHIP USING FINITE ELEMENT ANALYSIS

The continual growth in the volume of traffic on the road for transporting goods of all kinds is now incompatible with the existing infrastructural system and the environmental needs indicated by the European Union. In this regard Italy is facing an urgent need to find valid alternatives to road and rail transport that is currently inadequate from many points of view. One resource that has never been seriously considered is Italy’s network of rivers and channels, limited mainly to the River Po plane. The study performed regards the main characteristics of a barge suitable to navigate in this network system. The fundamental data on which the barge project is based include the geometric limitations placed by the inclusion of locks, the sizes of the canals, the height of bridges, and the minimum draught within the waterway system. The barge covered by this study fulfils the requirements necessary for river and maritime navigation. The main dimensions are chosen in relation to the dimensional limits imposed by the canal width and height minimum clearances.