1,753 research outputs found
LOSCO A Ship Lock Scheduling Model
No full textA ship lock scheduling model called LOSCO was developed in order to decrease passage times at locks with two parallel chambers. Three locks were chosen to model, as they are some of the busiest locks of the Netherlands. The Krammersluizen, the Sluizen Hansweert and the Kreekraksluizen. Passage times are not collected at the locks, therefore the model was compared to SIVAK. SIVAK is the standard model for research on locks at Rijkswaterstaat. To schedule vessels in locks three types of choices can be made. Every vessel needs to be assigned to a chamber, the initiation time of locking should be decided and the order of sailing in a chamber should bedefined. By optimising these choices, passage times can be decreased. Optimising is however not straightforward, as the problem is an instance of the job shop scheduling problem. No exact algorithm has been found to solve these problems in a practical amount of time. Therefore the challange is to find a balance in solution quality and the speed of the model when creating a lock scheduling model. In this thesis, four ideas to improve the lock scheduling model by Verstichel were researched. The first idea is to change the resolution of the timesteps. The gain in performance was however not found to weight up against the loss in solution quality for resolution to be useful. The second idea is to drop the first come, first serve constraint that Verstichel created. This idea was also not found to be effective. The third idea is to divide the scheduling problem up into chunks. This is called cut separation. Chunks of around 25 vessels were found to be effective. The fourth and last idea is that of a maximum waiting time. The maximum waiting time makes the performance of the model better and also makes the scheduling model fairer. Data from the year 2016 was used to schedule all lockings. The LOSCO model is effective for reducing the average assage time per vessel with about 3.9 ± 0.12 SE minutes for the Krammersluizen and 2.0 ± 0.14 SE minutes for the Sluizen Hansweert compared to the SIVAK model. At the Kreekraksluizen, the model could not find a solution, as the Kreekraksluizen are a lot busier than the other locks that were tested. At the Kreekraksluizen on average every 7.8 minutes a vessel arrives, whereas at the Krammersluizen and the Sluizen Hansweert respectively every 14.0 and 13.0 minutes a vessel arrives throughout the year. The LOSCO model is only better than SIVAK if the lock is relatively quiet. At the busiest time of the day, typically in the afternoon, SIVAK performs better. The models perform equal at inter arrival times of around 8to 10 minutes. Optimisation on economical value of the vessels was found to be less effective than optimisation on time. Optimisation on time was also found to be fairer. The LOSCO model is a step ahead towards a practical lock scheduling model. In order to achieve a fully practical model, some simplifications need to be expanded. It is recommended to first improve the model before it is applied in practice, as the model is able to outperform SIVAK in some cases, but not in the busiest cases. After this some extra features can be implemented, such as the model dealing with vessel delays and locks with 3 chambers
Exploring posthuman pedagogies: the practice and ethics of decentring the human
No full textPhilosophical posthumanism attempts to decentre the human so that in a world dominated by humanity we can learn to understand the complex interdependencies in which we are embroiled. This paper examines the practice of decentring the human as an ethical pedagogical method for environmental education working with two posthumanist pedagogies, firstly Taylor’s (2013) common worlds and secondly Lenz Taguchi’s (2010) intra-active pedagogy. Instances of decentring are drawn from researching the practices of the Manchester Environmental Education Network (MEEN), an environmental education charity working with inner-city schools on the ‘Workshops for Wildlife’ project. As encounters with other beings can be unpredictable the project included pupils’ stories of animal encounters. But can such tales decentre humans into re-imagining ethical human/animal relations? Working with the ethics of encounter, inclusion and diffractive methods this paper explores how responsive pedagogical practices decentre the human
From academia to response-ability
No full textThe need to tackle climate change through both mitigation and adaptation is increasingly urgent with all nations and all sectors of society needing to respond. Given this state of affairs social action is important not only to raise awareness but to stimulate appropriate responses to the climate crisis. As a consequence, social action programmes in schools have been a crucial part of learning about climate change as they provide political and practical engagement. This paper explores the experience of the Manchester Environmental Education Network (MEEN), a small UK charity that runs a social action project with schools focusing on the facilitation of inter-generational activities around climate change. Presenting three vignettes, written by myself as the MEEN coordinator, the aim is to examine the Carbon Classroom programme and discuss the ethical value of these intergenerational interactions. Rather than working with the idea of responsibility, which focuses on duty and accountability, this paper will explore climate change education through the notion of response-ability (Haraway 2016) with the aim of cultivating an ethical and open approach where responses are mutually engaging. Thus, by drawing on Barad’s theory of agential realism, the vignettes will highlight instances where enactments of response-ability occur. The conclusion will discuss the recent rise in young people engaging in activism on climate change, such as the Fridays for Future, Youth4Climate and the Extinction Rebellion movements, and question, in the light of these events, how the role of climate change educators need to be reconfigured to become more response-able
Exploring posthuman pedagogies:The practice and ethics of decentring the human
No full textPhilosophical posthumanism attempts to decentre the human so that in a world dominated by humanity we can learn to understand the complex interdependencies in which we are embroiled. This paper examines the practice of decentring the human as an ethical pedagogical method for environmental education working with two posthumanist pedagogies, firstly Taylor’s (2013) common worlds and secondly Lenz Taguchi’s (2010) intra-active pedagogy. Instances of decentring are drawn from researching the practices of the Manchester Environmental Education Network (MEEN), an environmental education charity working with inner-city schools on the ‘Workshops for Wildlife’ project. As encounters with other beings can be unpredictable the project included pupils’ stories of animal encounters. But can such tales decentre humans into re-imagining ethical human/animal relations? Working with the ethics of encounter, inclusion and diffractive methods this paper explores how responsive pedagogical practices decentre the human
Beyond imagining: enacting intergenerational response-ability as world-building – commentary to Bowman
No full textThis Reflection considers Bowman’s call to researchers to respond to young peoples’ concerns about the climate crisis as a "world-building project" suggesting that researchers can support young people by helping them imagine the future. Drawing on the work of Barad and Haraway, I want to widen the call by suggesting that researchers need to respond to the climate crisis through enactments of mutual response-ability. The challenge is how adults concerned with the climate crisis can work alongside young people to promote and create effective change. But more than that it is about researchers, universities, and others making change. Young people are protesting because they want adults to secure their future: the important question is how we best do this
Exploring posthuman pedagogies:The practice and ethics of decentring the human
No full textPhilosophical posthumanism attempts to decentre the human so that in a world dominated by humanity we can learn to understand the complex interdependencies in which we are embroiled. This paper examines the practice of decentring the human as an ethical pedagogical method for environmental education working with two posthumanist pedagogies, firstly Taylor’s (2013) common worlds and secondly Lenz Taguchi’s (2010) intra-active pedagogy. Instances of decentring are drawn from researching the practices of the Manchester Environmental Education Network (MEEN), an environmental education charity working with inner-city schools on the ‘Workshops for Wildlife’ project. As encounters with other beings can be unpredictable the project included pupils’ stories of animal encounters. But can such tales decentre humans into re-imagining ethical human/animal relations? Working with the ethics of encounter, inclusion and diffractive methods this paper explores how responsive pedagogical practices decentre the human
Mud and MEEN:Urban ES education in the post-industrial landscape of Manchester
No full textAs Maria Puig de le Bellacasa argued recently in her plenary at the Royal Geographic Society Conference in London, ‘soil’ is a perfect metaphor for our troubled rela-tionship with the ‘Earth’. So, that means, for urban ES educators, teaching about mud is more important than ever
Mud and MEEN:Urban ES education in the post-industrial landscape of Manchester
No full textAs Maria Puig de le Bellacasa argued recently in her plenary at the Royal Geographic Society Conference in London, ‘soil’ is a perfect metaphor for our troubled rela-tionship with the ‘Earth’. So, that means, for urban ES educators, teaching about mud is more important than ever
Lock capacity and traffic resistance of locks
No full textLock capacity and traffic resistance are factors which play an important part in the assessment of future traffic through existing locks and in the determination of the number and size of new ones. In this context lock capacity means the maximum quantity of shipping which can be locked per unit of time in the prevailing conditions, if a lock is operating continuously with full chamber(s). The resistance is reflected in the time lost by shipping due to locking. The present publication deals with methods of determining lock capacity and resistance. The methods relate to eargo-carrying inland waterway vessels of the type operating on Western European waterways
Fatigue of steel lock gates
No full textThe Netherlands contains more than 400 hydraulic structures, of which 120 are locks. Inspections carried out since 2010 by Rijkswaterstaat revealed that a number of cracks per lock gate have been found. Based on experience and an evaluation of the photos made during the inspections it is assumed that the cracks occur due to fatigue. At this moment there is no good insight in the fatigue calculation of steel lock gates. The standard EUROCODE 3 used at the moment, has a part dedicated to fatigue strength, but describes that it is only applicable to structures in atmospheric conditions. As lock gates function in (sea) water conditions, it is questionable whether this standard can be used. Another aspect is that there is no guideline how to determine a load spectrum of forces on lock gates. The following topics are covered: a description of the forces on lock gates, a summation of the observations where cracks have been found, which part of the lock gates should be investigated and the standard that should be used and it’s limitations. Two calculations of fatigue damage based on a simplified model of the forces on lock gates are made. The first investigated case is the West lock of Sambeek and the second is the East lock of Terneuzen. For these lock gates the waterlevel spectrum is determined based on the waterlevel measurements of Rijkswaterstaat. From this spectrum a fatigue damage calculation is made. The results of the fatigue damage calculation based on the simplified schematisation of forces on lock gates did not match the fatigue cracks that have been found during the investigations. Some aspects causing this disparity might be that the schematisation of the lock gate is too simplified and the influence of waves is neglected. Another aspect that could influence the fatigue damage is the maintenance. A poor state of the wooden sealing at the back post, the coating layer and/or the cathodic protection system, could result in lower fatigue damage values. All these aspects have a negative influence on the S-N curve. The fatigue damage calculated with a simplified model cannot determine correct fatigue damage values. Therefore a FEM-model should be used to determine the stresses in the lock gate. The stresses in the lock gate itself should be monitored. A lock gate could be fitted with strain gauges to determine the real stresses in the lock gate. These real stresses could be compared with the result of the FEM-model and confirm the reliability of the FEM-model. Research on the influence of the salt and fresh water condition with or without cathodic protection should be done and rules included in the EUROCODE 3 on the influence of salt and fresh water.Hydraulic Engineering StructuresStructural EngineeringCivil Engineering and Geoscience
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