Technical requirements of traffic circulation on inland waterways in Vietnam

Technical requirements of traffic circulation on inland waterways in Vietnam (Internet image)

These technical requirements are specified in Article 6 of Circular 40/2010/TT-BGTVT, specifically as follows:

- Traffic circulation station in Vietnam must be able to operate with ease, has good coverage and unobstructed vision and is placed in following positions:

+ Circulation stations for traffic heading towards the upper course must be placed no more than 800 meters away from circulated areas;

+ Circulation stations for traffic heading towards the lower course must be placed no more than 500 meters away from circulated areas;

+ Central circulation stations must be placed no more than 200 meters away from construction sites in the lower course;

2. Traffic circulation signs:

+ Land signs in a traffic circulation station include:

+ Water signs:

• If circulated areas are situated entirely within vicinity of a channel, utilize at least 4 buoys to restrict navigation channels;

• If circulated areas are situated on one side of a channel, utilize at least 2 buoys to restrict the waters or 2 buoys to restrict the navigation channel;

+ Position of signs shall be adjusted to match actual conditions of channels to guide vehicles to pass the areas safely:

• Information signs (consisting of unexpected danger signs, no passing signs, limited vertical clearance signs, limited depth signs, towage regulation signs, no parking signs, no U-turn signs and limited width signs) shall be attached to poles which are situated on land in stations in the upper or lower course. The first sign must be at least 500 meters away from circulated areas to the upper course and lower course;

• Parking allowed signs shall be located on land in the middle of the waters where vehicles are allowed to park while waiting for channels to open (use buoys for restricting waters to locate the signs if locating the signs on land is not possible);

• Movement control signs and signal lights shall be attached to poles which are situated in stations in the upper course and lower course;

• Order of installation of guiding signs is as follows: unexpected danger signs, towage regulation signs, no parking signs, no passing signs, limited vertical clearance signs, limited depth signs and limited width signs;

• Poles carrying information signs must be situated at least 5 meters away from each other;

• With respect to transport routes that operate around the clock, signs must have signal lights as per the law.

- Vehicles and personnel for traffic circulation in Vietnam

+ In case of vehicles: Each station must have at least 1 vessel with capacity of 33-90 horsepower (CV) and at least 1 speedboat with capacity of 25-40 horsepower (CV);

+ In case of personnel:

• Planning of personnel on vehicles shall comply with applicable regulations and law.

• Personnel for traffic circulation shall be assigned as follows (at least):
  • Circulation commander (rank 4-5); 1 person/shift;
  • Standby employees in each station (rank 3-5): 2 people/shift;
  • Cooperative forces in each station (when necessary): 1 person/shift.

+ Other tools and equipment:

• Other fundamental tools and equipment for 1 station include:

More details can be found in Circular 40/2010/TT-BGTVT, which comes into force from February 14, 2011.

Nguyen Phu

>> CLICK HERE TO READ THIS ARTICLE IN VIETNAMESE