Waterways of communication in Russia. Waterways of central Russia

A river cruise is a trip on a motor ship along inland waterways. Inland waterways mean not only rivers, but also reservoirs, lakes, canals and other structures along which yachts, boats and tourist ships can move. Most of the cities in the European part of Russia are connected by deep-sea waterways.
The most popular are cruises on the rivers of the European part of Russia, most of which are united into a Unified Deep-Water System Russian Federation. The basis of a unified deep-water system is the main water artery of the central part of Russia, the Volga River.
The unified deep-sea system of Russia was created in Soviet time for connection large rivers and improving navigation conditions for ships. Within this system, it is possible to move vessels with a draft of 3.5 meters, a width of up to 15 meters, and a length of up to 100 meters. Moscow began to be called "Port of 5 seas"? This means:

• From Moscow you can get to the Volga along the Canal. Moscow (Moscow-Volga Canal), and along it - to the Caspian Sea.
• The Volga-Baltic Canal (Volgo-Balt) connects the Volga and the Baltic Sea. That is, the passage of ships from Moscow to the Baltic Sea is possible.
• The White Sea-Baltic Canal (Belomorkanal) connects the Baltic Sea and the White Sea. Ships from Moscow to the White Sea can pass through the Volgo-Balt and the White Sea Canal.
• The Volga-Don Canal connects the Volga and the Don River, which flows into the Sea of ​​Azov. Thus, through the Volga from Moscow you can get to the Azov and Black Seas.

In the European part of Russia, in addition to the waterways included in the Unified Deep-Sea System, there are rivers and canals along which smaller vessels, for example, yachts and double-decker tourist ships, can move. For example:

• Oka and Moscow River - navigation from Moscow to Nizhny Novgorod is possible. Navigation on the Oka River often depends on the weather. In dry years, even double-decker ships cannot navigate the Oka River above Murom.
• Belaya River - navigation is possible from the mouth to Ufa. This section is part of the “Five Rivers Route” - a journey from Moscow to Ufa along the rivers: Moscow, Oka, Volga, Kama, Belaya.
• Vyatka - sailing from the mouth of the Vyatka River to Kirov is possible.
• Northern Dvina, Sukhona, North Dvina Canal. The North Dvina Canal connects the Sukhona River and the Volgo-Balt. Along this river channel it is possible to sail to the Kirillo-Belozersky Monastery, Vologda, Veliky Ustyug, and Arkhangelsk.
• Volkhov - sailing to Tikhvin and Veliky Novgorod is possible. The cruises are carried out by the motor ship "Mr. Veliky Novgorod".

Cruises are offered on the Lena, Amur, and other major rivers of Siberia.

The most popular routes are Moscow - Volga and Moscow-St. Petersburg, which runs along two canals: the Volga-Baltic and the Canal named after. Moscow, the Volga and Neva rivers, Rybinsk Reservoir, White, Onega, Ladoga lakes.

TASS DOSSIER. On August 15, 2016, Russian President Vladimir Putin will hold a meeting of the Presidium of the State Council of Russia. It will discuss the problems of developing inland waterways.

Infrastructure

The length of inland waterways in Russia, according to Rosmorrechflot, has remained stable over the past 15 years. In 2015, it was 101 thousand 662 km, but more than half of them did not meet the requirements for standard ship dimensions.

Among the subjects of the Federation in terms of the length of inland waterways, the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia) is the leader - 16 thousand 522 km, Tyumen region. - 11 thousand 834 km and Irkutsk region - 8 thousand 69 km. Among the most important inland water routes are the rivers Volga, Don, Yenisei, Ob, Lena, Irtysh, Kama, etc. Also of greatest strategic importance are the Volga-Baltic waterway, the Volga-Don and White Sea-Baltic canals, etc.

As of 2015, 491 cargo and 496 passenger berths, 723 navigational hydraulic structures, including 128 canals and 108 locks, were in use in Russia. Among hydraulic structures, the condition of 1.2% is assessed by regulatory authorities as “dangerous”, 16.8% - as “unsatisfactory”.

Transportation volumes

Record volumes of freight traffic on inland waterways in the RSFSR were achieved in 1989 - more than 580 million tons. However, in the 1990s. after the breakup Soviet Union and due to the fall in industrial and agricultural production, increased competition from motor transport and the high wear and tear of the river fleet, freight transportation decreased by five times by 2000 - to 110-120 million tons.

In the mid-2000s. there has been a recovery in volumes. In 2007, 157 million tons were transported, but due to the global financial crisis and the fall in world trade volumes, a decline followed again. In 2015, 124.8 million tons of cargo were transported via inland waterways. In particular, river transport is one of the most important ways of delivering goods to the regions of the Far North. In 2015, with its help, the Arctic received 16 million 984 thousand tons of cargo (by sea transport - 3 million 332 thousand tons).

Almost 10 times decreased Passenger Transportation. In the RSFSR in the 1980s. About 100 million people used river transport annually. In 2000, 28 million passengers were transported along inland waterways, in 2015 - two times less - 14 million. Of these, according to Rostourism, about 300-400 thousand accounted for river cruises.

River fleet

The fleet of river vessels in Russia has almost halved over the past 15 years. The number of non-passenger river vessels decreased from 31.8 thousand units in 2000 to 15.6 thousand in 2015. The fleet of passenger river vessels during this period decreased from 1.9 thousand to 1 thousand 383 units. In addition, 641 mixed navigation (river-sea) vessels are registered in the maritime register of shipping, which fly the Russian flag.

The average age of the cargo river fleet in Russia is 32 years, the passenger fleet is 33 years, while on tourist routes vessels with an average age of 41 years are used.

In 2014 and 2015 Only 13 new ships were put into operation. Among them are modern pusher tugs of Project 81 (Srednenevsky shipyard, St. Petersburg), river-sea tankers of project RST27 and RST54 ("Krasnoe Sormovo", Nizhny Novgorod; "Okskaya Shipyard", Navashino, Nizhny Novgorod region), etc. In Russia, the construction of passenger ships, including high-speed ones, has also intensified: projects A45, A45-1, A-45, A145 (Zelenodolsk Shipyard, Tatarstan; Khabarovsk Shipyard) .

Prospects, development programs

According to the Russian government, transport on inland waterways is much more economical than road and rail: specific consumption it has less fuel by 25% and 53%, respectively. Its maintenance requires tens of times less funds. However, a serious barrier to the development of inland river transport is the high deterioration of the infrastructure (which was practically not updated in the 1990s and early 2000s) and the fleet. The purchase of new ships is hampered by their long payback period (for example, for passenger ships it is more than 25 years). Shallowing of rivers is also a serious problem.

The development of inland waterways is envisaged state program"Development of the transport system" for the period until 2020 (approved on April 15, 2014). In total, according to the program, it is planned to spend on the development of inland water transport in 2016-2018. 70 billion rubles, in 2019-2020. - 76 billion rubles.

On February 29, 2016, the government approved the “Strategy for the development of inland water transport of the Russian Federation for the period until 2030.” According to this document, by 2030 it is planned to renew the river fleet, bringing average age cargo ships up to 25.4 years, and tourist ships up to 30 years. Cargo transportation is planned to double from 124.8 million tons to 242 million tons per year, passenger transportation is planned to stabilize at the level of 15-16 million people per year.

The development strategy also provides for the construction of the Nizhne-Sversky hydroelectric complex, the Nizhny Novgorod low-pressure hydroelectric complex on the Volga, and the Bagaevsky hydroelectric complex on the Don - this will ensure a depth of four meters along the entire length of river routes in the European part of Russia. The design of the second string of locks of the Volga-Don Waterway is also underway.

Russia's inland waterways are a vital part of the state's infrastructure, providing transport links to 68 constituent entities of the Russian Federation, as well as export-import transportation in direct water transport to 670 ports in 45 countries in Europe, Asia and Africa. Their importance is especially great for the economic and cultural life of Siberia, the Far East and the Far North.

Navigable waterways – These are inland waterways used for shipping and timber rafting. They are divided into natural (inland seas, lakes and rivers) and artificial (locked rivers, shipping canals, artificial seas and reservoirs). There are main waterways that serve international transport and transportation between large regions within the country, as well as local ones that serve intra-regional communications.

The length of navigable waterways in Russia currently amounts to 101.6 thousand km, including 16.7 thousand km of artificial waterways. There are more than 700 hydraulic structures for various purposes, including 110 shipping locks, pumping stations, hydroelectric power stations, dams, dams, spillways and overflows.

In 1975, Russia was the first European country to complete the process of creating a Unified deep-water system of routes for the country and the continent as a whole, which connected all the seas washing Europe with shipping routes (Fig. 1.1). This became possible thanks to the construction of unique inter-basin connections: the White Sea-Baltic Canal, the Volga-Don Canal, the Moscow Canal, the Volga-Baltic Waterway, as well as a cascade of waterworks on the Volga, Kama and Don.

In pre-revolutionary Russia, transportation of goods and passengers was carried out mainly along the rivers of the European part of the country, therefore

Rice. 1.1. Unified deepwater system

European part of the Russian Federation

Back in the early 18th and 19th centuries. on the site of the former "portages" the first artificial water systems were built, such as: Vyshnevolotskaya (1709), Mariinskaya (1810) and Tikhvinskaya (1811). In 1913, the length of navigable inland waterways was 64.6 thousand km. Cargo transportation along them reached 49.1 million tons, and the number of passengers transported exceeded 11 million people. These transportations took place mainly on the rivers of the European part of Russia. The rivers of Siberia and the Far East were almost never used for navigation. The share of transportation along the rivers of the eastern basins was only 6 percent of the total cargo turnover in Russia.

During the development of inland waterways in our country, four characteristic stages can be distinguished. Due to uneven development for various reasons, each specific waterway or part of it is currently at one of these stages.

At the first stage, the initial formation of the waterway occurs, caused by the needs of developing trade, expanding local communications, etc. At this stage the waterway is used for natural state after carrying out the necessary work (bed cleaning, installation of warning signs, etc.).

The onset of the second stage is characterized by the fact that waterways become a matter of state concern. In some places, artificial waterways are created, such as locked rivers, shipping canals and reservoirs, which hinder the development of the economy and trade. On free rivers, straightening and dredging work is systematically carried out in order to ensure the required dimensions navigation.

The third stage of waterways development is associated with a comprehensive study of the possibilities for their radical improvement in individual regions and in the country as a whole, the development of the necessary projects and the systematic implementation of hydraulic systems.

During the first five-year plans, grandiose work began on the reconstruction of inland waterways. With the commissioning of the Volkhov hydroelectric complex in 1926, the conditions for navigation of ships along the Volkhov significantly improved. The high-pressure Dneproges dam raised the water level on the rapids, and the Dnieper became navigable along its entire length. The commissioning of the first hydroelectric complex on the Svir River in 1933 made it possible to increase the depth in its lower reaches, and as a result of the construction of the White Sea-Baltic Canal, direct water communication between the White and Baltic Seas became possible.

In the mid-30s. Much work began to create a Unified deep-sea network for the European part of the USSR. A cascade of waterworks and reservoirs was built on the Volga, the first of them - Ivankovsky - went into operation along with the canal named after. Moscow. In 1952, the construction of the Volga-Don Shipping Canal named after. IN AND. Lenin, which connected the most important economic regions of the European part of Russia - the Urals, Volga region, Center - with Donbass and the South. In 1955, two largest hydroelectric complexes came into operation on the Volga, as a result of which the guaranteed depth on the Volga and Kama increased by 0.9 m.

The commissioning of the first hydroelectric complex on the Kama, above Perm, in 1957 contributed to a further increase in navigation on the river. In 1964, the Votkinsk Reservoir was put into operation, and in the same year the reconstruction of the Volga-Baltic Waterway named after. IN AND. Lenin, who provided reliable transport links between the economic regions of the Center and North-West of Russia. The construction of the White Sea-Baltic Canal, the Volga-Don Canal and the Volga-Baltic Waterway made it possible to connect the seas washing the European part of Russia with internal deep-water river highways and form a unified transport system. Length Unified deep-sea system amounts to 6.5 thousand. kilometers with guaranteed depth 400/360 cm. On waterways EGS can operate vessels with a carrying capacity of up to 5 thousand tons.

In the 50s and 60s, the construction of waterworks began on the eastern rivers of Siberia. The Irkutsk and Bratsk hydroelectric power stations were built on the Angara, the Novosibirsk on the Ob, the Bukhtarma and Ust-Kamenogorsk on the Irtysh, and the Krasnoyarsk on the Yenisei. Thanks to the creation of reservoirs, powerful Siberian rivers from local communication routes turned into transit highways connected by the Northern Sea Route with the ports of the European part of the country.

The structure of cargo turnover of river transport is dominated by the transportation of bulk mineral and construction cargo, timber, oil and petroleum products, coal, grain, vegetables and fruits. For the period from 1940 By 1990 years, the length of exploited waterways has increased by almost 1.5 times, and cargo turnover increased by 6.5 once. The maximum volume of traffic on inland water transport was recorded in 1988. and amounted to more 580 million tons.

In the last decade XIXcentury During the economic transformations in the country, river transport performance indicators decreased significantly and in the middle 90s years, traffic volumes reached values ​​of the order of 100 million tons. At the beginning of the new century, the situation in the industry began to stabilize and there was a positive trend in the development of inland water transport. IN 2007 year was transported by river fleet 153.4 million tons of cargo, and passenger transportation amounted to 21 million people.

WATERWAYS— water spaces and watercourses used for the transport of goods and passengers and timber rafting; waterways serving only for timber rafting are called timber rafting routes. Waterways are divided into external (sea) and internal (river, lake).

External waterways - seas and oceans - are used for navigation mainly in their natural state. At approaches to ports located on shallow coasts or at river mouths, where depths are insufficient for ships with deep draft, approach sea channels are constructed. Most often these are underwater excavations - cuts made by dredging equipment; in order to protect against sediment or waves, they are sometimes protected by dams. Less commonly, marine access channels run on land. In ports, the water area of ​​which is not sufficiently protected from waves, protective structures are erected - breakwaters, breakwaters; sometimes these structures also serve to protect the water area from sediment and ice. Safety of navigation is ensured by signs and lights that fence off dangerous places for navigation (buoys, milestones) or warn of their presence (lighthouses).

External waterways also include connecting canals between seas or oceans, for example, the Suez Canal, which connected the Mediterranean and Red Seas, the Kola Canal - the Baltic and North Seas, the Panama Canal - the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. The sea routes of the USSR include ice-free seas and ports in which navigation is carried out throughout the year - the southern parts of the Black and Caspian seas, some ports of the Baltic, Barents and other seas, and frozen ones, where navigation is carried out only part of the year. From the latest special meaning has the Northern Sea Route, passing through the Barents, Kara, Laptev, East Siberian and Chukchi seas. The operation of powerful icebreakers, constant monitoring (from the air and at reference weather stations) of the ice situation, the presence of equipped transshipment ports at the mouths and lower reaches of large rivers (Igarka on the Yenisei, Tiksi, on the Lena, etc.) make it possible to increase shipping along the Northern Sea Route, which for a number of northern regions of Siberia it is the only means of communication for the transport of bulk cargo. The large extent of the maritime borders of the USSR (more than 40 thousand km) predetermined the widespread development of sea waterways. In all seas washing the shores of the USSR it is exploited a large number of seaports - in some cases with approach channels and protective structures.

Development plans National economy provide for the further equipping of sea waterways with technically modern ports. In the construction of offshore hydraulic structures, prefabricated, prestressed reinforced concrete, industrial construction methods, and powerful dredging equipment are widely used.

Inland waterways are divided into natural (free-flowing rivers, lakes) and artificial (locked rivers, canals, reservoirs). The strip of water surface within which ships navigate is called a ship channel (navigable fairway); it is furnished with signs indicating the direction of the shipping lane, its width boundaries, the presence of dangerous or difficult places for navigation, etc.; the set of signal signs (and in the dark - signal lights) is called a navigation situation. Within the fenced shipping channel, track work is carried out to maintain navigable conditions. On free (not locked) rivers this includes mainly dredging (see Excavation) and straightening work. Dredging involves deepening the shallowest areas—rifts, passes—with the help of dredgers or dredgers. St. works on inland waterways. 400 dredgers, multi- and single-scoop shells, as well as a large number of service vessels (soil hauling scows, towing and fuel vessels, fire guards, etc.). Corrective work consists of the construction of dams, half-dams, stream-directing dams and other structures in the riverbed, which, using the energy of the river flow, maintain or increase the depth and width of the navigation channel (see Regulation of the riverbed and Regulatory structures).

Artificial inland waterways are created as a result of sluicing of rivers, the construction of pressure waterworks, and the construction of shipping canals. Transport sluicing of rivers consists of the construction of low-pressure dams (dismantled for the winter and during the period of high water) and navigation locks attached to them. A similar scheme for improving navigation conditions is also used in the construction of large hydraulic structures that form capacious reservoirs that regulate the flow of reservoirs. Transit shipping is ensured by the construction (as part of a waterworks) of a lock or ship lift, approach channels, outports, etc.

The main structures erected on inland waterways are dams, locks, ship lifts, protective dams, quay walls, as well as canals and artificial water areas; coastal construction is represented by ship repair industrial enterprises, warehouses and sites, various office buildings. The main types of construction work in the construction of navigable main structures are usually earthen (cuts and embankments), rock, concrete, reinforced concrete and metal structures. With significant development earthworks Mechanization plays a major role in the construction of waterways - the use mainly of floating equipment: dredgers, multi- and single-scoop dredgers. Shipping canals can be connecting (inter-basin), approach, or bypass. Channels can also be free or gated.

The dimensions of the navigation channel - depth, width and radius of curvature on curved sections - are determined in accordance with the size of the largest vessels (or their convoys) operating on a given Waterway. Smallest sizes These elements of the navigation are called guaranteed dimensions. They are guaranteed from a certain low water level, called the design level, which has a long-term average security of 85 to 99%; The higher the transport value (class) of a vehicle, the higher the design level security should be.
The inland waterways of the USSR are divided into 7 classes. Class I includes those above the highway; main waterways include class II and III waterways; Waterways of classes IV and V form a group of routes of local importance; Waterways of classes VI and VII - access roads and small rivers.

The dimensions of locks, navigable spans of bridges, depth, width and radius of curvature of the navigation channel, etc. on waterways of each class are established such that they allow the operation of vessels of the most economical types and sizes. Thus, on Class I waterways, cargo ships with a carrying capacity of 5000 tons and pushed barge trains with a carrying capacity of up to 18 thousand tons can be operated; For waterways of this class, depths of at least 3 m are guaranteed, the width of the navigation channel is 85–100 m, the minimum radius of curvature is 600–1000 m; locks have chambers with a width of 18 and 30 m, a length from 145 to 290 m. In the navigable spans of bridges, the height above the design level is at least 13.5 m, the width is at least 120 m, etc. On Class VII waterways, vessels with a carrying capacity of from 20 to 100 tons, minimum depths of 0.35-0.70 m, widths of 8-20 m, radii of curvature of 60-100 m are provided here. The navigable spans of the bridges have a height of 3.5 m with a width of 10-20 m.

In 1961, the USSR operated 139.4 thousand km of inland waterways, the USA - 46.5 thousand km (excluding the Great Lakes), the Federal Republic of Germany - 4.4 thousand km, and France - 8.5 thousand km. The inland waterways of the USSR consist mainly of rivers in a natural (free) state. The length of artificial waterways - locked rivers, canals, reservoirs - 13 thousand km; however, more than 60% of river transport freight turnover is concentrated on these waterways.
The further development of artificial waterways is ensured by the large-scale complex hydraulic construction ongoing in the USSR—hydraulic systems for generating electricity, water supply, flood control, irrigation, etc.

The effectiveness of improving waterways based on integrated hydraulic construction is very high.
This is due to an increase in navigable depths: in the upper pool due to the backwater of the river and in the lower pool due to an increase in regulated flows discharged from the reservoir. The formation of reservoirs on rivers causes some complications for water transport due to the wave regime: the creation of new types of vessels with durable hulls (more expensive to build and operate) is required; there is a need to build ports of refuge on reservoirs for the laying of vessels during storms. Despite these and some other conditions caused by reservoirs that complicate navigation, positive factors generally prevail, and shipping tends to become more economical, mainly due to increased depths and the carrying capacity of ships.

On the Volga, Kama and Dnieper, the construction of complex waterways hydroelectric complexes continues; the formation of continuous cascades on these rivers will be completed in the near future. In the future, it is planned to improve the navigation conditions of the Neman, Sukhona, Upper Irtysh, Tom, Yenisei, Angara and Amur by constructing cascades of waterworks along a large length of these rivers. On the Belaya, Pechora, Ob, Lena and many other rivers, a significant improvement in navigation conditions will be achieved through the construction of separate powerful waterworks.
Large irrigation canals also serve as water supply points, for example. The Karakum Canal, which supplies water from the Amu Darya for irrigation of the lands of Turkmenistan. It is planned to use for navigation canals intended to transfer part of the flow of the northern rivers - Pechora and Vychegda - to the Kama and Volga (Kama-Vychegda-Pechora connection), etc.

Of the artificial inland waterways in the USSR, canals, lock rivers and systems are also used: the technically advanced Volga-Don Canal named after. V.I. Lenin, Channel named after. Moscow, White Sea-Baltic, Dnieper-Bug, North Crimean canals, sluice rivers - Moscow, Oka (in the middle reaches), North. Donets (in the lower reaches), etc. The reconstruction of the Volga-Baltic waterway connecting the Volga basin with Leningrad is being completed. It is planned to lock the lower Don, reconstruct the Moskvoretskaya and North Dvina systems, and lock the river. Pripyat, etc.

As a result of complex hydraulic engineering and transport construction a single deep-water system of the European part of the USSR will be created, connecting all the seas washing the European territory of the USSR, and all the main river basins - the Volga-Kama, Pechora, North Dvina, Northwestern, Don, Dnieper and Neman. At the same time, the navigation conditions of the main river highways of Siberia - the Irtysh, Ob and Tom, Yenisei, Angara, Lena and Amur with its tributaries - will be significantly improved. This will significantly expand the scope of application of economical large-capacity vessels (self-propelled and barge trains), reduce the cost of transportation and greatly increase the cargo turnover of inland waterways.

The duration of the navigation period on the inland waterways of the USSR ranges from 141 to 291 days on average per year (according to long-term observations). The shortest duration is on the northern, the longest - on the southern rivers of the country. The most short time navigation in the mouth areas of the Lena and Pechora rivers, 141 and 151 days, respectively; the longest - in the mouth areas of the Dnieper and Volga rivers, 291 and 250 days, respectively.

Waterways are those used for various transportations water spaces - oceans, seas, lakes formed by river hydraulic structures, reservoirs and backed-up pools, and watercourses (rivers, their tributaries and canals).

Waterways are usually divided into external and internal, and ports - into sea and river (on inland waterways), which usually include ports (piers) at river mouths, on lakes, reservoirs and canals.

Due to the great depths, external waterways - seas and oceans - are used for navigation mainly in their natural state. Only on the approaches to seaports located in shallow coastal areas or at river mouths, where the depths are insufficient for the passage of ships with deep draft, do external waterways include artificial sections - sea canals. Artificial external waterways also include connecting canals between seas and oceans (for example, the Suez Canal between the Mediterranean and Red Seas). Sea transportation along external waterways is usually divided into foreign, serving foreign trade (export and import), and coastal (internal), carried out between ports of one country.

Inland waterways are divided into natural and artificial. Natural inland waterways are free rivers and lakes. Loads on small vessels can be transported in the upper reaches of large rivers and along their tributaries even at depths of 0.6 - 0.7 m. Rafting round timber - moving it afloat - along rivers is advisable at even shallower low-water depths. In this regard, natural waterways can be navigable or only raftable. The length of rafting rivers significantly (in the Russian Federation more than 2 times) exceeds the length of rivers used for navigation.

On rivers, water flows during low water periods, and therefore navigable depths, decrease upstream. In many cases, large industrial centers and economic regions that determine the formation of cargo turnover are approached or are only approaching the headwaters or tributaries of large rivers. The depths on these rivers in their everyday state often did not meet the requirements of developing navigation. In these cases, to increase navigable depths on rivers, track work (dredging, regulation) is carried out. However, the possibilities of increasing navigable depths on free rivers are limited by hydrological conditions, and the expedient limits of this increase are economic factors. The basins of rivers flowing into different seas are separated by watersheds, which limits the water transport of goods within these basins. Thus, the river network in many cases does not provide, even when work is carried out on it to improve navigation conditions, the possibility of water transportation of goods between different economic regions. All this necessitates the creation in some cases of artificial waterways or their individual sections - the construction of river waterworks, shipping canals and inter-basin water transport connections.

On the waterways in last years mixed river-sea vessels are widely used, which can go through river mouths into the sea and sail to ports located on it or enter the mouths of other rivers. They are used, in particular, for transporting goods between ports in the Volga river basin and many seaports on the Baltic, North, Mediterranean and other seas. Along some artificial waterways, including the river. St. Lawrence, after locking it to the Great Lakes of the United States, sea vessels also sail. An artificial sea canal like the Panama Canal is laid between the Atlantic and Pacific Ocean along river valleys, across the watershed between them. From the above it follows that the division of artificial waterways into external and internal is somewhat arbitrary. Transportation of goods across seas and oceans between countries of different continents is carried out mainly (more than 98%) by water transport. With the development of the air fleet, from passenger transportation to maritime transport, mainly tourist, resettlement and local (between nearby ports and marinas) transportation remained.

Within continents and countries, goods can be moved from one point to another by all modes of transport: rail, water, air, road, or successively two or more modes of transport. Under a planned socialist economy, for each cargo the most profitable transport scheme are chosen based on general economic feasibility, assessed by a general indicator - the total cost of transportation, taking into account all costs of transport and transported goods.

Main technical features The main factors affecting the transportation of goods along inland waterways are the relatively low speed of vessels moving along them and the seasonality of cargo transportation. The specific (per 1 ton of transported cargo) resistance to the movement of ships along inland waterways of limited depth at low speeds is several times less than that of railway cars on rails and, even more so, of motor vehicles on roads. But as the speed of movement of displacement vessels through water increases, the resistance to it increases very quickly and at the high technical speeds currently common for railway trains, it becomes even greater than that of the latter. Therefore, on inland waterways, even self-propelled cargo ships sail at relatively low speeds, rarely exceeding 20 - 22 km/h in calm water.

The technical advantage of waterways over other modes of transport is the ability to transport large-sized cargo along them. For example, delivery by waterways of huge hydraulic turbine impellers from the factory pier in Leningrad via the Northern Sea Route to the Krasnoyarsk and Sayano-Shushenskaya hydroelectric power stations under construction.

The main and significant disadvantage of inland waterways is the seasonality of cargo transportation due to breaks between navigations in the winter, when the rivers are covered with ice. The further north the waterway is located, the greater the interruption of transportation for the winter. Thus, the duration of navigation on the Northern Dvina is only 5-6 months, on the Volga - 7-8 months, and only on rivers such as the Danube - 10-11 months. However, in recent years, real results have been obtained in extending navigation (by 0.5-1.0 months or more) by icebreaking operations.

The winter break in navigation forces some of the cargo to be stored during this time, which requires appropriate areas of port territories and warehouses and causes additional capital investments and operating costs.

The development and improvement of navigable conditions of natural waterways - free rivers and lakes - requires small investments in comparison with the construction of railways and highways, as well as main oil pipelines. Only the creation of artificial waterways - inter-basin water transport connections and sluicing of shallow rivers - requires large specific capital investments, comparable (and sometimes exceeding) with the costs of building a railway or highway, along which the same amount of cargo can be transported. However, the capital investments for them relate essentially to the entire length of the deep-sea routes that are formed in this case.

The cost of loading onto ships and unloading cargo from them is most the total cost of cargo transportation, the shorter the distance between the points of departure and destination. At short distances, cargo is transported to berths on waterways (and from them) not by water, but by car. In the Russian Federation, the average distance of water transportation of goods by river fleet in recent years has been over 500 km, and on main waterways - about 1000 km.

In addition to long-distance transportation along waterways of all categories over any, even short, distances, goods are transported in areas where there are no railways or roads between points of departure and destination, for example in many areas of Siberia and the Far East, in which rivers are currently the only means of communication , except for the very expensive air routes for transporting goods.

The above-mentioned transport features of inland waterways determine the transportation through them of predominantly bulk bulk and bulk cargo - coal, ore, non-metallic, construction and other similar materials, the loading and unloading of which is easily mechanized and relatively cheap, and storage during non-navigation periods does not require warehouses. premises. These cargoes make up the majority of traffic on inland waterways (in recent years, more than 60% of total traffic). A significant portion of round timber is also transported in rafts along inland waterways, and oil cargo is also transported in directions where there are no main oil pipelines.

In general, in the Russian Federation, cargo transported along inland waterways by the public river fleet makes up about 14%, and together with those transported by the departmental fleet - about 16% of cargo transported by railways. Moreover, more than 60% of these cargoes fall on the Unified Deep-Water System of Waterways of the European Part of the Russian Federation, although its length is less than 15% of all navigable rivers in the country. Long-distance transportation of passengers along inland waterways and along sea coasts on conventional ships is very slow compared to other modes of transport. At the same time, local passenger transportation continues to develop on high-speed ships (hydrofoils and hovercraft), moving at speeds of up to 100 km/h, between closely located (up to about 500 km) ports and marinas.

Classification of inland waterways.

The dimensions of the shipping channel on the waterway, as well as the depths on it, must correspond to the dimensions, draft and composition of the largest ships and rafts navigating on it. A ship's passage is a continuous strip of water space on the rivers, lakes and seas included in the waterway, as well as backed-up pools and reservoirs, within which the specified dimensions - width and depth - are provided.

Inland waterways are divided according to their transport significance into four categories: superhighways, highways, local routes and small rivers

Composition and main elements of hydraulic units

A hydraulic unit (a unit of hydraulic structures) is a group of water-retaining hydraulic structures united by a common location on a waterway and interconnected in operational activities.

According to their purpose, river waterworks are divided into energy, water transport, water intake, etc. On large navigable rivers, complex waterworks are usually built that simultaneously perform several functions.

A complex hydroelectric complex may include: a hydroelectric power station building, a concrete spillway dam, a blind earthen dam, a shipping lock with approaches and berth structures, a transformer substation, and fish passage structures. From the downstream side, ships approach the lock via the approach channel. If available in the upper pool large reservoir In front of the lock, an outport is set up - a water area protected from waves by protective structures.

Based on the pressure, hydraulic structures are divided into three types:

Low-pressure (pressure 2-8 m);

Medium pressure (9-40 m);

High-pressure (more than 40 m).

Low-pressure waterworks are usually for departmental purposes - transport, water intake.

Most of the medium-pressure hydroelectric power plants are for complex transport and energy purposes. A reservoir with a medium-pressure hydraulic system usually carries out annual (seasonal), weekly and daily flow regulation.

High-pressure hydraulic structures are often built on mountain and semi-mountain rivers and have an energy purpose. On some rivers, such a waterworks complex includes a shipping lock (Ust-Kamenogorsk and Bukhtarma on the Irtysh River, Pavlovsky on the Ufa River) or a ship lift (Krasnoyarsk waterworks on the Yenisei River). Reservoirs at a high-pressure hydraulic system can sometimes regulate flow over a long-term period.

TO relative position The main structures of a complex waterworks (layout) are subject to twofold requirements. On the one hand, the costs of constructing a waterworks facility should be minimal. This condition is achieved with a compact arrangement of the main structures - in a small area. On the other hand, during the subsequent operation of the hydroelectric complex, all structures should operate in the most efficient mode, without causing the need to introduce any restrictions on their operation. To satisfy this requirement, it is often necessary to move individual structures away from each other and place them over a large area.

Due to such contradictory requirements, when designing any waterworks, based on local conditions - the size and configuration of the river valley, geology, the presence of settlements - several options for the layout of the main structures are always considered. The optimal option is selected based on detailed technical and economic calculations.

Due to the diversity of local conditions and requirements, there are no standard layouts of complex waterworks. However, taking into account the requirements of navigation, large transport and energy waterworks based on the type of structure layout can be divided into the following two groups: mixed-bank and single-bank.

Waterworks with a multi-bank layout include Samara on the Volga, Votkinsk on the Kama and many others. For such hydroelectric complexes, the shipping lock is located a considerable distance from the hydroelectric power station building and the spillway dam. During the period of their design and construction, it was believed that the distance of the approaches to the lock from the hydroelectric power station weakens the adverse impact of releases on navigation. At the same time, from the downstream side, the lock is connected to the river bed by a long approach channel. The tight shipping lanes on the canal limit the speed of ships, which reduces the overall capacity of shipping facilities. Separate construction of large structures on different banks of the river increases the cost of construction work.

At hydroelectric complexes with a single-bank layout, transport and energy structures are built on one site - compactly, for example: Cheboksary on the Volga, Kakhovsky and Kremenchug on the Dnieper, Nizhnekamsk on the Kama, etc.

The experience gained in operating a number of hydroelectric power plants has shown that the negative impact of water releases through hydroelectric power stations on ships approaching the lock can be mitigated by installing barrier dams. Already 1.5 - 2.0 km from the hydroelectric power station and the spillway dam, the influence of the discharged flow on the controllability of modern ships is insignificant. In the upper reaches, the role of the enclosing dam separating the approach to the lock from the hydroelectric power station is played by the breakwater of the outer port.

Taking into account the reduction in construction costs when carrying out work on one site, all other things being equal, in recent years, the option of joint (single-bank) placement of the main structures of the hydroelectric complex is increasingly recognized as optimal.

Based on the location of the hydroelectric power station, spillway dam and sluices with approaches, floodplain and channel layout options are distinguished.

In the floodplain option, usually used for medium and high heads, the main structures are built on the floodplain. Their construction outside the channel facilitates the work and does not interfere with navigation during the construction process. By the time construction is completed, the river bed is blocked by a dam and navigation is transferred to approaches prepared in advance.

In the case of a low-pressure hydroelectric complex, the spillway dam and sluice are built within the low-water channel (Kochetovsky and Nikolaevsky on the Don River, Kuzminsky and Beloomutsky on the Oka River, etc.).

The construction of a large transport and energy hydroelectric complex has been ongoing for several years. At different stages of construction work, the objects being built have different effects on navigation and require the adaptation of water transport to temporary local conditions.

The bases and lower part of all large hydraulic structures of the waterworks - hydroelectric power stations, spillway and blind dams, sluices and others - are located significantly below the natural low-water level, the floodplain surface and the river bottom. Therefore, for their construction a deep pit (or several pits) is required. All construction works- installation of formwork, installation of reinforcement and numerous metal structures, subsequent concreting of the body of the structure is carried out dry. To ensure the possibility of carrying out work under these conditions and to prevent flooding of the pit at any water level in the river, the pit is fenced with soil dams - lintels. Dams play the role of temporary dams that retain high water pressure during flood periods.

With a single-bank floodplain layout of the hydraulic system, the main pit is located outside the low-water channel, on the floodplain. During the construction of large waterworks, the pit area can reach 1-2 km 2 . In the case under consideration, the construction of a lock, a hydroelectric power station and a spillway dam will take place in one pit. The lintels (dams) enclosing the pit will have a U-shape in plan.

At this first stage of work, the river flow during the low-water period is not yet constrained and navigation is carried out as usual. During high flood periods, the flow floods the floodplain and moves within the river valley. If there are bridges enclosing the pit, the movement of the spring flow along the right-bank floodplain is impossible. Due to the concentration of the flow within the boundaries of the low-water channel and the rather narrow floodplain, the flow speed here in spring turns out to be significant. In some cases, in order to weaken the effect of flow restriction by bridges and reduce the flow speed, they resort to temporary (for the construction period) deepening and widening of the low-water channel. This measure turns out to be necessary because, in order to speed up the progress of construction, simultaneously with work in the foundation pit, construction of the left-bank floodplain part of the blind dam begins.

When the main concrete structures The waterworks are built to levels that cannot be flooded in the spring; there is no need to fence the pit with lintels. The upper and lower temporary soil bridges are partially dismantled, and the pit around the still unfinished hydroelectric power station, lock, and spillway dam is filled with water.

The completion of these structures continues as before - dry, with the supply of materials and equipment from the bridges.

Thanks to the flooding of the pit, it becomes possible to pass part of the water through the already operating bottom spillways of the hydroelectric power station. This measure allows us to continue work on the counter-building of the right-bank and left-bank parts of the blind dam. The gap between their ends is called prorana. During the navigation period, the hole is brought to a minimum width at which the current speed should not exceed 3.0 m/s. Considering that under these conditions shipping is experiencing serious difficulties, such a narrowing of the opening is usually timed to coincide with the end of navigation.

During this construction period, work on creating the upper and lower approaches to the lock is accelerated. The approaches and the still unfinished lock can be used to guide ships through a canal, without pressure.

They try to attribute the closure of the hole to the inter-navigation period. With the opening of the next navigation, transit shipping begins to be carried out through the lock. Sometimes at first the gateway works without pressure. As the reservoir gradually fills, the pressure on the sluice begins to increase. To allow vessels to pass from one pool to another, they begin to lock them,

When the hydroelectric power station and sluice are arranged on different banks, their construction is carried out in separate pits, fenced off by lintels. The general construction sequence is similar to that described above.

With the river-bed version of the location of the waterworks structures for navigation, it is necessary to create a temporary bypass channel - a canal.

In order to increase the safety of navigation in the area of ​​construction of the hydroelectric complex, the number of signs for the navigational fence of the shipping lane is significantly increased. In the area of ​​the hole, a one-way navigation regime is introduced with alternate passage of ships from above and below. Large sectional and raft trains are carried out section by section, braced. Temporary additional raids are organized on the approaches to the construction site. To maintain controllability of vessels and overcome strong currents, additional thrust is provided. In some, extremely rare cases, they resort to a short-term interruption of transit shipping.

Basic concepts, design forms and types of gateways

A shipping lock is a hydraulic pressure structure designed to move ships from one pool to another.

Modern shipping locks are built from reinforced concrete, and equipment elements are made from metal. The gateway consists of three main parts - the upper and lower heads and the chamber. Sluice heads perceive water pressure and are designed to accommodate equipment and plumbing systems. The lock chamber is designed to accommodate locked ships.

Rice. 95 Scheme of a single-chamber gateway

a- longitudinal section; b - longitudinal section of the gateway with the fall wall; v-plan; 1-upper head; 2- camera; 3- lower head; 4- highest level NB; 5 - lowest level of NB; 6 - lowest level of WB; 7 - highest level of WB

Based on the number of chambers and their location, shipping locks are divided into single-chamber, multi-chamber and paired (double-thread). The number of lock chambers depends on the pressure on the hydraulic system, geological and other local conditions and is established by calculation.

Single-chamber sluices are most widespread (Fig. 95).

Previously, single-chamber locks were built with pressures not exceeding 20 m. modern conditions, as the construction industry develops, it is considered possible for a single-chamber sluice to overcome a pressure of up to 40 m.

At relatively low pressures (up to 6 - 8 m), the bottom on the approaches to the lock from the upper and lower tails and the bottom of the lock chamber are approximately at the same level.

At high pressures, for structural and economic reasons, sluices with a fall wall are built. The fall wall equalizes the depths at the thresholds of the gate heads, allows you to reduce the height of the gates of the upper head, and reduce the costs of building the gateway.

If it is necessary to overcome significant pressure (or for other technical and economic reasons), multi-chamber sluices are built. A multi-chamber gateway consists of several gateways arranged in series with common middle (intermediate) heads. On the waterways of the Russian Federation there is a two-chamber lock at the Volgograd hydroelectric complex of the river. Volga and a number of locks on the White Sea-Baltic Canal, three-chamber locks on the Novosibirsk hydroelectric complex of the river. Ob, six-chamber lock on the Perm river hydroelectric complex. Kama, etc.

With stable water levels in the upper and lower pools, the total pressure on the hydraulic system is evenly divided into the chambers of the multi-chamber sluice. However, in most cases, the levels in the pools are subject to significant and inconsistent fluctuations. For example, during deep pre-flood drawdown of a reservoir, sharp fluctuations in the water level in the downstream are possible during daily flow regulation. In this case down Cam a multi-chamber sluice will not be able to accommodate the entire volume of water entering it from the upper chambers. To prevent water from overflowing through the sluice walls and gates, it is necessary to install special lateral water discharges. This increases the cost of the gateway and complicates its operation.

In some cases, at high pressures (30 m or more), mine sluices are built. The design of the mine sluice makes it possible to reduce the height of the lower head gate and make their operation easier. Part of the pressure on the lower head is absorbed by the concrete elements of the sluice. There are two mine locks in operation on the waterways of our country - Ust-Kamenogorsk on the river. Irtysh and Pavlovsky on the river. Ufa.

In areas with intense navigation, paired locks are built (Fig. 96). The paired - two-thread - gateway has a higher throughput and reduces the time spent on passing the fleet. The paired system may include gateways of any of the listed types. On the most heavily loaded sections of the Unified Deep-Water System - the Volga and Kama rivers - all shipping locks are paired.

To increase or decrease the water level in the lock to the level of the upper or lower tail, the chamber is filled or emptied. Water is supplied and discharged through special water supply systems by gravity, using the principle of communicating vessels. The volume of water supplied or discharged is called the drain prism.

Shipping lock design

On the inland waterways of the Russian Federation, the single-chamber lock with a fall wall is most widely used (Fig. 99).

The lock heads contain equipment, mechanisms, plumbing systems, and control panels.

The lock chamber is separated from the upstream by a gate (1), most often in the form of a flat metal shield. The length of the shield is slightly greater than the width of the airlock chamber, and its height is slightly greater than the depth at the threshold of the upper head. In front of these working gates, there is an emergency gate (2) on the upper head, which is usually also a flat up-and-down metal shield.

For a gateway of this type, the working gate simultaneously functions as a hydraulic shutter. To fill the sluice, the working gates are slowly raised to a height of 1.5 - 2.5 m. Through the gap formed under the gates, water rushes from the upper pool into the sluice chamber. This powerful jet falling from a great height in the lock chamber can cause strong fluctuations in the water. To reduce the adverse effects of the flow on ships in the lock chamber, water from under the gate is directed into a special space separated by a reinforced concrete screen (4) and called the flow energy damping chamber (3). From the extinguishing chamber to the lock chamber, water flows through the cracks between the reinforced concrete beams. This beam damper (5) helps to regulate the flow of water - equalizing flow velocities across the width and depth of the lock chamber.

In the section of the lock chamber adjacent to the beam damper, the flow movement remains quite turbulent. Within the boundaries of this area, called the calming area (6), the placement of sluice vessels is not allowed.

The lock chamber is usually separated from the tailwater by double-leaf gates (7). When closed, the gate leaves form a three-hinged structure that transmits water pressure to the side supports of the lower head. The angle between the leaf and the normal to the sluice axis (6) is usually 18-22°. When the lock chamber is empty, the gate opens to allow a vessel to pass through. In the open position, the gate leaves are placed in cabinet niches (8). The depth of a cabinet niche is usually 5-10% greater than the thickness of the sash and the usable width of the airlock chamber.

The space in the area of ​​movement of the leaves (for opening and closing the gate) is called the cabinet part of the gateway (9). Vessels placed in the lock chamber with the bow or stern parts of the hull should not fall within the boundaries of the cabinet part.

Water is discharged from the sluice when it is emptied through two short water supply galleries of the lower head (10). The height and width of the galleries are determined using hydraulic calculations. The water supply galleries are covered with hydraulic gates (11); flat lifting and lowering metal shields are widely used as gate valves. The height and speed of their rise regulates the flow of water through the galleries.

To repair the lock and equipment, the chamber can be separated from the downstream by a repair gate (12). Repair gates are designed for water pressure equal to the depth at the threshold of the lower head, and due to this they have a small height.

The chambers of most shipping locks have a solid bottom and walls with a vertical front surface, made of reinforced concrete. Toward the lower part of the wall, due to the slope of the rear surface, they become somewhat thicker.

The dimensions of the lock chamber, and therefore the lock itself, affect both the capital investment in its construction and the costs of transporting goods. A gateway with small chamber dimensions requires lower construction costs. In this case, transportation of goods can be carried out in light-duty vessels. The use of small vessels requires more frequent locking; operating costs for the fleet and the lock are significant. The capacity of such gateways is small.

A gateway with increased chamber dimensions has a high construction cost, but at the same time operating costs are reduced.

In connection with the above, the dimensions of the lock chamber are determined using variant technical and economic calculations. Promising types of vessels and cargo turnover are taken as the initial ones at the site of the designed hydroelectric complex. Ultimately, the calculated dimensions of the airlock chamber are rounded to standard ones. Within the boundaries of a certain section of the waterway, they try to keep the dimensions of the cameras the same.

The estimated cargo turnover is established based on the study of cargo flows gravitating towards water transport.

This condition is sometimes waived for economic reasons. For example, as cargo turnover increases down the river, the dimensions of the chambers in plan (mainly the length) also gradually increase. The width and depth of the chambers are kept constant. A similar approach to establishing the dimensions of locks is acceptable for isolated river basins.

When connecting river systems with lock canals, the difference in the dimensions of the locks within individual waterworks creates some difficulties in organizing transit inter-basin navigation.

The dimensions of a shipping lock are characterized by the useful length and width of the lock chamber and its depth.

The useful length of the airlock chamber is limited by the stilling section and the cabinet part of the lower head of the airlock.

With a calm supply of water into the chamber, its useful length can begin directly at the protruding structures of the fall wall. For design reasons, the depths at the thresholds of the upper and lower heads are sometimes less than the depth within the lock chamber.

When calculating the depth, the increment in the vessel's draft during movement must be taken into account. The depth at the threshold of the upper head of the lock is measured from the level of the navigational drawdown of the reservoir, at the threshold of the lower head of the lock - from the lowest level of the tailwater (design).

The given relationships between the dimensions of the lock chamber and the vessel (convoy) are used when designing locks.

On the main inland waterways of the Russian Federation, the useful length of lock chambers is unified and ranges from 100 to 300 m, the useful width is from 15 to 30 m. The most common type of lock is single-chamber. Passage pools between locks somewhat limit the speed of ships and are rarely used. On the upper heads of the locks, up-and-down gates predominate, on the lower ones - double-leaf gates.

Rice. 101 Schematic plan of a single-chamber lock with restrictive gates.