Abstract
Author investigated the traffic characteristics of ships passing through the Nakaura Locks which were constructed under the project of reclamation and water-refreshening of Nakaumi, Simane prefecture. There are three lock chambers of different dimensions, one of which was designed so that a ship with maximum size of 3,000GT may pass through. A computer simulation of bulk service type queueing model has been developed from a base of detailed data collected over a five-month period. The various arrival patterns and serving patterns by ship types, sizes, and so on, together with the simulated lock conditions are then used to generate delay distributions throughout the various stages of the system. Subsequently, the model was used to test alternative strategies in order to improve both the lock performance and ship passing time.
