Water transport. The importance of water transport in the development of the country's economy

The importance of river transport for the national economy must be considered in close connection with other modes of transport that form a single transport system. Despite the relatively small share of river transport in the total freight turnover of the country's transport in many areas, as well as in the transportation of a number of goods, it plays a leading role. Transport costs for the delivery of bulk cargoes by waterways in large volumes and over long distances, as a rule, are significantly lower than in other modes of transport. This is facilitated by significant depths on the main inland waterways, which allow the use of large-tonnage vessels (the carrying capacity of dry-cargo vessels reaches 5300 tons, oil tankers - 9000 tons) and heavy-duty trains with a carrying capacity of up to 22,500 tons. At the same time, high labor productivity in transportation is achieved, relatively low specific fuel costs , low energy and metal consumption. River transport is also indispensable for the delivery of non-standard large-sized and heavy equipment.

The main advantage of river transport is that it uses natural waterways, with the exception of artificial navigation channels. There is no other country in the world with such a well-developed network of inland waterways as Soviet Union. The total length of rivers in our country is over 2.3 million km (of which about 500 thousand km are suitable for navigation and timber rafting). Of the 70 large rivers flowing through Europe and Asia, half are in the Soviet Union. Among them are such large rivers as the Volga, Dnieper, Don, Kama, Pechora, Irtysh, Ob, Yenisei, Angara, Lena, Amur, and others. The USSR has more than 2,000 large lakes. The most significant are Ladoga, Chudskoye, Onega, Beloe, Balkhash, Baikal.

The total length of the country's operating navigable routes is about 126.6 thousand km. The most important are waterways with guaranteed depths, which allow uninterrupted transportation of goods and passengers. The total length of tracks with guaranteed depths is about 84 thousand km, of which more than 21.1 thousand km are artificial.

Thanks to the construction of the White Sea-Baltic Canal, the Volga-Baltic Waterway named after V.I. Lenin, the Moscow Canal, the Volga-Don Canal named after V.I. Lenin, the main rivers of the European part of the country are combined into a single water transport system that provides transport links located here economic regions. The construction of a cascade of large hydroelectric power plants and the creation of reservoirs on the Volga, Kama, Don and Dnieper turned it into a single deep-water system (UGS) with guaranteed depths of 3.5 m, and 4 m or more for 90% of the length. With the implementation of a number of technical measures, it is possible to further increase the length of waterways with guaranteed and increased depths. Currently, over 160 lock chambers are in operation on the country's waterways.

About 96% of the total length of operated waterways is equipped with a navigable environment; about 60% of the routes have illuminated navigation signs.

The inland waterways of our country are characterized not only by their great length, but also by their considerable branching, which makes it possible to effectively use them for transport services in the interior. Almost all major main rivers have numerous lateral tributaries with relatively shallow depths - up to 1.2 m. They are classified as small rivers. There are especially many such rivers in Siberia and the Far East. Of the total length of waterways used by the shipping companies of the eastern basins for transport purposes (72.7 thousand km), small rivers account for about 55%, including the Irtysh shipping company, their share (in length) is about 59%, the West Siberian - 67%, Yenisei - 55% and Lena United - 58%.

By blue roads countries annually transport large volumes of grain and other agricultural products, timber, salt, coal, ore, products of various industries, Construction Materials and other cargo. In 1985, 632.6 million tons were transported by the country's river transport, and in terms of the volume of cargo transportation in tons, it came out on top in the world.

Waterways, including small rivers, play a particularly important role in the transport service of the newly developed regions of the North, Siberia and Far East, where other land modes of transport, due to natural and climatic conditions, are usually poorly developed. Here, river transport plays a pioneering role, delivering machinery, equipment, food and other goods to exploration and survey parties to hard-to-reach areas. For the newly discovered and planned for industrial exploitation of deposits, a wide variety of cargoes are delivered by waterways in significant volumes, thereby ensuring the accelerated development, and then the development of these areas. A large number of river transport delivers national economic cargoes to oil and gas producing regions Western Siberia, the Norilsk Mining and Metallurgical Combine, the enterprises of the diamond and gold mining industry of Yakutia, the timber industry, the oilmen of Sakhalin, and many important construction projects.

For recent years characterized by the most intensive development of transportation along the rivers of Siberia and the Far East.

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Saratov 2007-2013

The role of water transport in Russia has always been enormous. In which regions of the country is it especially high? What natural features of rivers and lakes are important for the development of water transport? How do human activities and the development of science affect the possibilities of using water transport in the country's economy?

Water transport includes river (inland water) and sea transport. The importance of river transport is greatest in the Volga region, the Volga-Vyatka region, the European North, in the north of Siberia and the Far East, where it accounts for more than a third of all transported goods.

The development of river transport requires large flat navigable rivers (Volga, Neva, Svir, Dnieper, Don, Northern Dvina, Ob, Irtysh, Yenisei, Angara, Lena, Amur, etc.) and lakes (Ladoga, Onega, etc.). For most regions of Russia, river transport is seasonal, due to ice formation in the winter season. A great difficulty for river transport in the north of Siberia and the Far East is ice jams that form in the spring. A huge role is played by navigable river channels (the Moscow Canal, the Volga-Baltic, the White-Sea-Baltic, the Volga-Don), which together with the system of rivers and lakes form a single deep-water system of the European part of Russia, thanks to which Moscow is called the “port of five seas”. The emergence of new types of ships (hydrofoils, hovercraft, river-sea, container ships, modern icebreakers) significantly expand the possibilities of river transport.

Maritime transport is of great importance in the coastal regions of Russia: in the North-Western region (Baltic Sea), in the North Caucasus (Azov-Black Sea and Caspian basins), in the European North and northern Siberia (access to the North Atlantic and the Northern Sea Route), and also in the Far East (Pacific basin). For the development of maritime transport in Russia, it is necessary to modernize existing and build new deep-water ports, modernize the existing merchant fleet and build modern specialized ships (ferries, tankers, gas carriers, container ships, lighter carriers, refrigerators, nuclear icebreakers, etc.), as well as the development of a cruise fleet. Without the development of water transport, it is impossible to develop the regions of the Far North and develop foreign trade Russia.

The freight river transport of the Russian Federation, created during the years of the planned economy, has now lost its position as the main freight carrier serving enterprises in the area of river navigation. The unwillingness of the market economy to spend huge amounts of money to maintain the inefficient operation of river transport and the industry served by it in the winter is affecting. The economic policy of using the river fleet of the Russian Federation in the winter to work in the seas of Europe and Asia ("River - Sea") ultimately brings nothing but harm, because the fleet serves the economy of other states, transporting their goods 9-10 months a year. In addition, the economic efficiency of using river vessels in the seas, due to their design features, is much lower than when using sea vessels. In order for the river transport of Russia to be able to work effectively all year round for the Russian manufacturer, it is necessary to solve the problem of forced downtime of the river fleet in the winter.

What are the main advantages of shipping by sea?

The need for maritime transport is obvious. What are the advantages of maritime transport? There is:
lower cost compared to other modes of transport. The construction of large specialized ships, the use of the latest technological advances, including for the organization of loading and unloading operations in ports, has reduced the share of transportation in the final price of goods from 11% to 2% in recent years. The construction of large-tonnage vessels gives "scale effect": the greater the carrying capacity of the vessel, the cheaper the delivery of a unit of goods.
high load capacity. No type of land or air transport is able to carry as much cargo at a time as a sea vessel. The Norwegian supertanker Knock Nevis simultaneously transported over 0.5 million tons of oil.
the practical absence of restrictions on the dimensions of cargo and the capacity of maritime transport. Even if the parameters of the ports (for example, depth) do not allow a large-tonnage vessel to approach the shore, modern technologies are used for reloading goods on the high seas or in the roads.
unified standards. Modern ships are built according to uniform standards, which significantly speeds up the processes of loading and unloading.
the use of containers for shipping protects the cargo not only from criminal encroachments and accidental damage, but also from the adverse effects of nature.
high security. In general, in the world, losses from shipping by sea are only 1 - 1.5% of the cost of goods. Maritime transport has the lowest share of catastrophes and accidents.
single legal field. Maritime transport is regulated by common international documents - the Brussels and Athens conventions.

What are the main disadvantages of this type of transportation?

As analysts of the Lithuanian community of the Masterforex-V Academy note, sea transportation also has disadvantages:
low speed compared to other modes of transport. Moreover, this indicator is affected not only by the speed of the vessel, but also by the time spent on loading and unloading operations. However, modern technologies can significantly speed up these works, not least through the use of multimodal transportation, when the cargo is immediately transferred to another mode of transport (railway or road);
technological difficulties of the loading and unloading complex. The multimodal system allows you to reduce the number of repacking and save the cargo.
dependence on weather conditions. Unfavorable weather conditions can increase the time of transportation of goods by sea and make it difficult or even suspend loading and unloading operations.
dependence bandwidth ports, canals and other structures.
maritime piracy.
significant investment. The construction of modern maritime transport and ports with developed infrastructure is a very expensive undertaking.

Maritime transport is important primarily because it provides a significant part of Russia's foreign trade relations. Domestic transportation (cabotage) is essential only for supplying the northern and eastern coasts of the country. The share of maritime transport in cargo turnover is 8%, although the mass of transported goods is less than 1% of the total. This ratio is achieved through the longest average transportation distance is about 4.5 thousand km. Passenger transportation by sea is negligible.

On a global scale maritime transport ranks first in terms of cargo turnover, standing out for the minimum transport of goods. In Russia, it is relatively underdeveloped, since the main economic centers of the country are far from the sea coasts. In addition, most of the seas surrounding the country's territory are freezing, which increases the cost of using maritime transport. A serious problem is country's outdated navy. Most of the ships were built over 20 years ago and should be scrapped by world standards. Virtually no ships modern types: gas carriers, lighter carriers, container carriers, ro-ro ships, etc. There are only 11 large seaports on the territory of Russia, which is not enough for a country of such magnitude. About half of the Russian cargoes going by sea are served by the ports of other states. These are mainly the ports of the former Soviet republics: Odessa (Ukraine), Ventspils (Latvia), Tallinn (Estonia), Klaipeda (Lithuania). The use of seaports of other states leads to financial losses. To solve this problem, new ports are being built on the coasts of the Baltic and Black Seas.

The leading sea basin in Russia in terms of cargo turnover is currently the Far East. Its main ports are rarely frozen Vladivostok and Nakhodka. Near Nakhodka, a modern port Vostochny was built with terminals for the export of coal and timber. Great importance It also has the port of Vanino, located on the final section of the Baikal-Amur Railway. A ferry operates in this port, connecting the railway network of mainland Russia with the network of Sakhalin Island (the port of Kholmsk).

In second place in terms of cargo turnover is the Northern Basin. The main ports in it are: Murmansk (non-freezing, although located beyond the Arctic Circle) and Arkhangelsk (timber export, both sea and river). Large ports also operate at the mouth of the Yenisei. These are Dudinka, through which ore concentrates are exported from Norilsk, and Igarka, through which timber and forest products are transported. Plot of the Northern sea route between the mouth of the Yenisei and Murmansk is a year-round operation, which is ensured by the use of powerful icebreakers, including nuclear ones. Navigation east of the mouth of the Yenisei is carried out only 2-3 months in the summer

The third largest is the Baltic basin. The main ports in it are St. Petersburg (freezing) and Kaliningrad (non-freezing). The use of the convenient port of Kaliningrad is difficult, as it is separated from the main part of Russia by territories foreign states. Near St. Petersburg there is a small port of Vyborg, through which mainly timber cargoes go. The ports of Ust-Luga and Primorsk are under construction.

In fourth place in terms of cargo turnover is the Cheriosea-Azov basin. Two non-freezing oil export ports are located here - Novorossiysk (the most powerful in Russia) and Tuapse. Maritime transport also includes transportation in the Caspian Sea. The largest here are the ports of Astrakhan (both sea and river) and Makhachkala, through which mainly oil cargoes go.

River transport

River transport (or inland waterways) was the main one in Russia until the end of the 19th century. At present, its significance is small - about 2% of cargo turnover and the mass of transported goods. Although this cheap look transport, but it has serious shortcomings. The main one is that the directions of river flow often do not coincide with the directions of cargo transportation. Expensive canals have to be built to connect neighboring river basins. On the territory of Russia river - seasonal view transport, as the rivers freeze for several months of the year. The total length of navigable river routes in Russia is 85 thousand km. 3/4 of the goods currently transported by river transport in Russia are mineral building materials. Passenger transportation by river transport is insignificant, as well as by sea.

More than half of the cargo turnover of the country's river transport falls on the Volga-Kama basin. It is connected by canals with neighboring basins (Don, Neva, Northern Dvina, White Sea), being the basis of the Unified deep-water system of the European part of the country. The largest river ports are also located here: Nizhny Novgorod, Northern, Southern and Western in Moscow, Kazan, Samara, Volgograd, Astrakhan. The second place in terms of cargo turnover is occupied by the West Siberian basin, which includes the Ob with tributaries. In it, in addition to building materials, a significant share in transportation is oil cargo. The main ports are Novosibirsk, Tobolsk, Surgut, Labytnangi, Tyumen. The third in Russia is the basin of the Northern Dvina with tributaries of the Sukhona and Vychegda. In it, a significant share in transportation is timber cargo. The main ports are Arkhangelsk and Kotlas.

River transport is of great importance in the northeastern part of Russia, where there are virtually no networks of other modes of transport. The main amount of cargo is delivered to these territories in the summer or from the south of railway(along the Yenisei from Krasnoyarsk, along the Lena from Ust-Kut), or from the mouths of the rivers, where goods are delivered by sea.

Transport is one of the key industries of any state. Volume transport services largely depends on the state of the country's economy. However, transport itself often stimulates an increase in the level of activity of the economy. It releases opportunities hidden in the underdeveloped regions of the country or the world, allows you to expand the scale of production, link production and consumers.

Special place transport in the sphere of production lies in the fact that, on the one hand, the transport industry is an independent branch of production, and therefore a special branch of investment of production capital. But on the other hand, it differs in that it is a continuation of the process of production within the process of circulation and for the process of circulation.

Transport is an important component Russian economy, as it is material carrier between regions, industries, enterprises. The specialization of regions and their integrated development are impossible without a transport system. The transport factor has an impact on the location of production, without taking it into account it is impossible to achieve a rational distribution of productive forces. When locating production, the need for transportation, the mass of raw materials for finished products, their transportability, availability of transport routes, their throughput, etc. are taken into account. Depending on the influence of these components, enterprises are located. The rationalization of transportation affects the efficiency of production, both of individual enterprises and regions, and of the country as a whole.

Transport is also important in solving social and economic problems. The provision of the territory with a well-developed transport system is one of the important factors attracting the population and production, is an important advantage for the placement of productive forces and gives an integration effect.

The specificity of transport as a sphere of the economy lies in the fact that it does not produce products itself, but only participates in its creation, providing production with raw materials, materials, equipment and delivering finished products consumer. Transport costs are included in the cost of production. In some industries, transport costs are very significant, such as, for example, in the forestry, oil industries, where they can reach 30% of the cost of production. The transport factor is of particular importance in our country with its vast territory and uneven distribution of resources, population and basic production assets.

Transport creates conditions for the formation of local and national markets. In the conditions of transition to market relations, the role of rationalization of transport increases significantly. On the one hand, the efficiency of the enterprise depends on the transport factor, which in the conditions of the market is directly related to its viability, and on the other hand, the market itself implies the exchange of goods and services, which is impossible without transport, therefore, the market itself is also impossible. Therefore, transport is the most important integral part market infrastructure.

Maritime transport plays an important role in the country's foreign economic relations. It is one of the main sources of foreign exchange funds. The importance of maritime transport for Russia is determined by its position on the shores of three oceans and the length of the sea border of 40 thousand kilometers. Ports in the Baltic: Kaliningrad, Baltic, St. Petersburg, Vyborg; on the Black Sea: Novorossiysk (oil and cargo), Taganrog. Other major ports: Murmansk, Nakhodka, Argangelsk, Vladivostok, Vanino. Other ports (about 30) are small.

The production capacities of the ports make it possible to meet only 54% of the need for cargo handling. The main cargoes transported by sea are oil, ores, building materials, coal, grain, timber. Large ports - St. Petersburg, Murmansk, Arkhangelsk, Astrakhan, Novorossiysk, Tuapse, Nakhodka, Vladivostok, Vanino, etc. In connection with the development natural resources Far North and Far East, year-round navigation to Norilsk, Yamal, New Earth. Here highest value have ports: Dudinka, Igarka, Tiksi, Pevek. The construction of two ports in St. Petersburg is planned.

Russia has transshipment complexes for dry cargo ships and tankers, but after the collapse of the USSR, the country was left without complexes for transshipment of potassium salts, oil cargo and liquefied gas, without railway crossings to Germany and Bulgaria, there was only one portside elevator for receiving imported grain and one specialized complex for receiving imported raw sugar. 60% of Russian ports are not able to receive large-tonnage vessels due to insufficient depths. The structure of the transport fleet is very irrational. The problems of maritime transport in Russia require an immediate solution, as they big influence on the economic situation of the country.

River transport has a small share in the cargo and passenger turnover of Russia. This is due to the fact that the main mass flows are carried out in the latitudinal direction, and most navigable rivers have a meridional direction. Also Negative influence renders seasonal character of river transportations. Freezing on the Volga lasts from 100 to 140 days, on the rivers of Siberia - from 200 to 240 days. River transport is inferior to other types and in speed. But it also has advantages: lower cost of transportation, requires less capital costs on the arrangement of ways than in land modes of transport. The main types of river transport cargo are mineral building materials, timber, oil, oil products, coal, grain.

Most of the turnover of river transport falls on the European part of the country. The most important transport river artery here is the Volga with its tributary Kama. In the north of the European part of Russia, the Northern Dvina, Onega and Ladoga lakes, r. Svir and Neva. Of great importance for the development of river transport in the country was the creation of a unified deep-water system and the construction of the White Sea-Baltic, Volga-Baltic, Moscow-Volga and Volga-Don canals.

In connection with the development of natural resources in the east of the country, the transport significance of the Ob, Irtysh, Yenisei, Lena, and Amur is increasing. Their role is especially noticeable in providing areas of pioneer development, where there are practically no overland transport routes.

Inland river navigation routes of Russia are 80 thousand kilometers. The share of inland water transport in the total freight turnover is 3.9%. The role of river transport is increasing sharply in a number of regions of the North, Siberia and the Far East.

The main in Russia is the Volga-Kama river basin, which accounts for 40% of the cargo turnover of the river fleet. Thanks to the Volga-Baltic, White Sea-Baltic and Volga-Don canals, the Volga became the core of the unified water system of the European part of Russia, and Moscow became the river port of five seas.

Other important rivers of European Russia include the Northern Dvina with its tributaries, the Sukhona, the Onega, the Svir, and the Neva.

In Siberia, the main rivers are the Yenisei, Lena, Ob and their tributaries. All of them are used for shipping and timber rafting, transportation of food and industrial goods to separate regions. The significance of the Siberian river routes is very significant, due to the underdevelopment of railways (especially in the meridional direction). The rivers connect the southern regions of the Western and Eastern Siberia with the Arctic. Oil from Tyumen is transported along the Ob and Irtysh. The Ob is navigable for 3600 km, the Yenisei - 3300 km, the Lena - 4000 km (navigation lasts 4-5 months). The ports of the lower reaches of the Yenisei - Dudinka and Igarka - are available for sea vessels following the Northern Sea Route. The largest transshipment points for cargo from rivers to railways are Krasnoyarsk, Bratsk, Ust-Kut.

The most important river artery of the Far East is the Amur. Navigation is carried out along the entire length of the river.

At present, due to economic crisis there is a reduction in the volume of transportation of goods and passengers by river transport, the length of inland waterways, the number of berths.

In terms of cargo turnover, maritime transport ranks 4th after railway, pipeline and road transport. The total cargo turnover is 100 billion tons. It plays a leading role in the transport services for the regions of the Far East and the Far North. The importance of maritime transport in Russia's foreign trade is great. It accounts for 73% of cargo shipments and more than 90% of international cargo turnover.

Advantages sea view transport over other modes. Firstly, transport has the largest unit carrying capacity, secondly, the unlimited capacity of sea routes, thirdly, a small amount of energy required to transport 1 ton of cargo, and fourthly, the low cost of transportation. In addition to the advantages of maritime transport, there are also significant disadvantages: dependence on natural conditions, the need to create a complex port economy, and limited use in direct sea communications.

After the collapse of the USSR, 8 shipping companies and 37 ports remained in Russia with a total cargo handling capacity of up to 163 million tons per year, of which 148 million tons are in the Baltic and Northern basins. The average age of Russian ships is 17 years, which is much worse than the corresponding characteristics of the world merchant fleet. There are only 4 large shipyards left in the country, 3 of which are located in St. Petersburg. Only 55% of the deadweight of the Union's transport fleet, including 47.6% of the dry cargo fleet, became the property of Russia. Russia's sea transportation needs are 175 million tons per year, while the country's fleet is capable of carrying about 100 million tons per year. The remaining seaports on the territory of Russia can only handle 62% of Russian cargo, including 95% coastal and 60% export-import. For the transportation of incoming imported food and for the export of goods, Russia uses the ports of neighboring states: Ukraine, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia.

In 2000, the rise of the port industry. Russian ports in the foreign trade subsystem increase their competitiveness with the ports of neighboring states. With great difficulty, our sailors managed to maintain the unique system for ensuring the functioning of the Northern Sea Route. Inland water transport is still key in providing resources to the northern and remote territories of Russia. But water, as well as road, rail, and air transport, lacks sources of funding. It is necessary, first of all, to preserve the established system of navigable routes with a length of over 100,000 km, on which there are over 700,000 navigable hydraulic structures. And we have to take care of today technical condition these structures so that they are reliable in the future.

River transport plays a significant role in the intra- and inter-district transportation of the country. The advantages of river transport lie in natural routes, the arrangement of which requires less capital expenditure than the construction of railways. The cost of transporting goods by rivers is lower than by rail, and labor productivity is 35% higher.

The main disadvantages of river transport are seasonal nature, limited use due to the configuration of the river network, and low speed. In addition, large rivers in our country flow from north to south, and the main flows of bulk cargo have a latitudinal direction.

The further development of river transport is associated with the improvement of navigation conditions on inland waterways; improvement of port facilities; extension of navigation; increasing the capacity of waterways; the expansion of mixed rail-water transportation and transportation, such as river-sea.

The role and importance of water transport for the economic economic activity RF.

Ways of communication - a kind of vital important system economic organism of the country. In its unified transport system important place occupies inland water transport, which carries out transportation on inland waterways (GDP) of Russia.

Inland water transport – a complex consisting of waterways (rivers, shipping channels, lakes and reservoirs), a fleet, ports, ship repair and shipbuilding enterprises.

GDP is subdivided into natural ( inland seas, lakes and rivers) and artificial (lock rivers, navigable canals, artificial seas, reservoirs). Main waterways are singled out, including international ones serving foreign trade transportation of several states (Danube, Oder, Rhine, Amur, Paraguay, Niger), and main waterways serving transportation between large areas within the country (Volga, Yangtze, Mississippi), as well as local serving intra-district communications.

Russia was the first of the European countries to complete (1975) the process of creating the Unified deep-sea system of routes for the country and the continent as a whole, which connected all the seas washing Europe by shipping routes. There is no such water transport system in any country and on any continent (Fig. 1). The creation of an intracontinental system of deep waterways stimulated the construction of a new type of vessels (mixed "river-sea" navigation), carrying out transportation along all waterways of the specified system - rivers, lakes and seas, made it possible to reduce the delivery time of goods and the cost of transportation, eliminate transshipment operations in intermediate sea ports of the transportation route.

They are expanding GDP through: the construction of hydroelectric facilities (Svirsky, Ivankovsky, Uglichsky, Rybinsk, Perm, Volgograd, Saratov, Nizhnekamsky, etc.); construction of canals (White Sea-Baltic, Moscow, Dnieper-Bug, Volga-Don, etc.); formation of reservoirs (in the Volga basin, West and East Siberian, etc.); development of port facilities (commissioning of new ports and berths, modernization of existing ones); extensive dredging and straightening work; improving navigation conditions on rivers with shallow depths (the so-called "small rivers").

The main feature of inland water transport is the relative cheapness of transportation. An additional advantage is the smaller specific consumption metal and fuel for a comparable volume of transportation of straightening work; improving navigation conditions on rivers with shallow depths (the so-called "small rivers").

The main feature of inland water transport is the relative cheapness of transportation. Its additional advantage is a lower specific consumption of metal and fuel for a comparable volume of transportation and lower initial capital investments. The latter is greatly facilitated by the fact that inland water transport uses mostly natural waterways - rivers and lakes. Artificial canals and reservoirs are built for the purpose of their integrated use not only for transport, but also for energy, water supply to industry and Agriculture, i.e. the cost of their use is only partly charged to transport.

Fig. 1.1 Scheme of a single deep-sea continental system

The advantage of inland waterway transport – high throughput of GDP, which is provided by the creation of traffic flows of ships.

The traffic flow of ships can be represented as a sequence of movement of non-uniform ships that is uneven in time. Vehicle. Thus, it is possible to simultaneously move vessels and trains with a large carrying capacity while simultaneously overtaking them by high-speed vessels. The capacity of the Volga River is more than 100 million tons per navigation, which is much more than the capacity of a double-track railway of the same length.

In 1913, the length of navigable GDP was 64.6 thousand km. Carriage of goods on them reached 49.1 million tons, and the number of passengers transported exceeded 11 million people. These transportations were mainly on the rivers of the European part of Russia. The rivers of Siberia and the Far East were almost never used for navigation. Only a few ships sailed along the Ob, Irtysh, Yenisei, Lena, Amur. The share of transportation along the rivers of the eastern basins was only 6% of the total cargo turnover in Russia.

During the years of the first five-year plans, grandiose work began on the reconstruction of the GDP. With the commissioning of the Volkhov hydroelectric complex in December 1926, the conditions for navigation of ships along the Volkhov improved significantly. The high-pressure dam of the Dneproges raised the water level at the rapids, and the Dnieper became navigable throughout. The commissioning in 1933 of the first hydroelectric complex on the Svir River increased the depth in its lower reaches, and in the same year the White Sea-Baltic Canal connected the White Sea with the Baltic Sea.

In the mid 30s. large-scale work was launched to create a Unified deep-sea network of the European part of the USSR. A cascade of hydroelectric facilities and reservoirs has been built on the Volga, the first of them, Ivankovsky, was put into operation along with the Moscow Canal. In 1952, the construction of the Volga-Don Shipping Canal named after V.I. Lenin was completed, which connected the most important economic regions of the European part of Russia - the Urals, the Volga region, the Center - with the Donbass and the South. In 1955, the 2 largest hydroelectric facilities, Gorky and Kuibyshev, were put 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 in 1957 of the first hydroelectric complex on the Kama, upstream of Perm, contributed to the further improvement of navigation on the river. In 1964, the Votkinsk reservoir was put into operation, in the same year the reconstruction of the Volga-Baltic waterway named after V.I. Lenin was completed, which provided a reliable transport connection between the economic regions of the Center and the North-West. Russia. The construction of complex ship canals of the White Sea-Baltic, Volga-Don and Volga-Baltic waterways made it possible to connect the seas washing the European part of Russia with internal deep-water river routes and form a single transport network.

In the 50-60s. the construction of hydropower plants began eastern rivers Siberia. Hydroelectric power stations were built: Irkutskaya and Bratskaya on the Angara, Novosibirskskaya on the Ob, Bukhtarminskaya and Ust-Kamenogorskaya on the Irtysh, Krasnoyarskaya on the Yenisei.

Thanks to the creation of reservoirs, the powerful Siberian rivers have turned from local means of communication into transit routes connected by the Northern Sea Route with the ports of the European part of the country.

The waterways are mainly used for goods that do not require urgent delivery and are transported in large masses. These are the so-called bulk goods timber, oil, grain, ore, coal, building materials, chemical fertilizers,

Fig.1.2 Passenger ships.

salt. Some especially bulky cargoes are also transported exclusively by water.

The river fleet has a wide variety of vessels both in terms of purpose and carrying capacity. According to the purpose, ships can be cargo, passenger, mixed - cargo-passenger, of various carrying capacities from 150 tons to 5300 tons. Passenger ships are divided by passenger capacity and by the number of decks. There can be displacement and non-displacement hydrofoils and air cushions. These are the so-called high-speed vessels, the speed of which is 30 km / h or more. (Fig. 2,3)

Fig.1.3 Hydrofoil

Large tugs and pusher tugs with a capacity of 883 to 1472 kW, as well as pushers and tugs of medium power from 446 to 588 kW, operate on the main rivers, which can transfer large and complex trains consisting of non-self-propelled vessels and rafts. (Fig. 4.5 .6)

Of great interest are ships of mixed (river-sea) navigation, which are designed for non-transshipment transportation of goods by sea and inland waterways. These vessels are limited to waves up to 6 points and to the distance from ports of refuge up to 50-100 miles. Such ships include ships of the type "Baltic", "Volgo-Balt", "Sormovsky", "Volgo-Tanker", etc. (Fig. 7)