Inland waterway transport

While waterways are natural spaces for mobility and circulation, inland waterway transport in France, which accounts for less than 5% of the modal share in terms of the transport of goods, continues to play second fiddle to road transport (80%) and rail transport (10%) respectively.

Producing only 1/5 of the C02 emissions of road transport, waterways remain a key part of the solution to the issue of serving conurbations and increasing the density of flows. By reinforcing the wide-gauge network, not least the interconnection between various navigation basins, and by promoting the competitiveness of capacity-enhancing infrastructure, efficient services and the pursuit of a smaller and smaller environmental footprint, inland waterway transport will continue to develop.

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The issues and our solutions

The development of inland waterway and maritime transport involves a combination of different approaches, which cover the development of inland waterway infrastructure, strictly speaking, multimodal management and energy supply:

Developing inland waterway infrastructure to accommodate more logistics activities in surroundings areas and factoring in the desire to increase density flows.
Helping to accelerate the multimodal shift in ports: irrespective of the transport method in question (sea, inland waterway, rail or road), it must strike the best possible balance between the flow of goods and carbon footprint.
Promoting “green ports” and particularly hydrogen resources which are emerging as the fuel of choice for transport, whether by sea, inland waterway or road.

BG Consulting Engineers draws on its multi-disciplinary expertise to undertake inland waterway and sea transport projects for a wide range of customers:

public authorities located near to inland waterways or coastal areas
inland waterway and sea port operating companies
public bodies responsible for coast and waterway management

We share our expertise of inland waterway hydrology, undertake strategic analysis relating to the development of transport sectors, management of multimodal flows in port areas, or energy supply.