PIANC Design Guidance

The International Navigation Association (PIANC ) addresses the issue of safety for navigation project design in their June, 1997 publication, Approach Channels, A Guide for Design (PIANC 1997). It provides the following in Section 2.3  

It is implicit in this process that the Concept Design Method should provide adequate navigational safety in accordance with good modern practice. It contains within it the implied safety margins used in many ports throughout the world. 

A thorough analysis of ship accidents shows that only a small percentage of accidents and marine casualties in approach channels and ports are due to channel design, but it is essential, with future commercial, economic and environmental pressures placed on port operators, that this percentage remains low. 

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