Dortmund · canal port and Westfalenhütte

A ship in port (riding along, key F)

1. 01

   waiting at anchor

2. 02

   coming in

3. 03

   at the quay: being unloaded and loaded

4. 04

   leaving

What is shown – why – for whom

Facilities and areas in the model

• Container terminal at the canal

  Three container gantries, four tracks, 450 m quay; about 212,000 units in 2024. Canal barges fit under the bridges with two tiers only.

• Dortmund-Ems Canal

  Via Henrichenburg lock and the Rhine-Herne or Wesel-Datteln canal to the Rhine at Duisburg.

• Trucks to the Westfalenhütte

  The last kilometres by truck via Mallinckrodtstrasse and Brackeler Strasse (route simplified).

• Westfalenhütte

  Industrial customer: steel processing (coating). It is documented that goods from Duisburg go here; shown by rail (coils) and truck (example).

Processes in the model

How a canal port can use the model

• Operations and planning

  Canal, tracks and road are linked: in the model, 70 % of the volume travels by road. Higher tolls shift freight to rail and water, and quay, tracks and gate show the consequences at once.

  Per chiTerminal operations, port planning, works logistics

• Onboarding and training

  Ride along with key F: a canal barge to the quay, a train being loaded, a truck from the gate to the loading point. One line says what is happening.

  Per chiNew staff, port and logistics trainees

• Local authorities and economic development

  The supply chain ‘Containers Rotterdam → Dortmund’ shows how the city depends on the seaport via the Rhine-Herne and Dortmund-Ems canals, and how the last 4 km to the plant run.

  Per chiCity, economic development, chambers

• Schools, universities, museums

  Why do canal barges carry only two tiers of containers? The model shows ship, bridge and canal together – also as a demo without anyone at the controls.

  Per chiSchools, universities, museums and exhibitions

• Public communication

  The ‘Winter chaos’ scenario brings snow and ice: roads lose up to a third of their capacity and the canals partly freeze. Four times the speed shows how it develops, and one tap brings back today.

  Per chiPublic relations, associations

What you can change

What the model gives a canal port

• 01

  Where two chains end

  Containers from Rotterdam and steel from Duisburg arrive here. The model shows both routes up to the Westfalenhütte plant.

• 02

  The limits of the canal

  Ships up to 110 m, two tiers, a lock on the way: you see why the canal works differently from the Rhine.

• 03

  Disruptions without damage

  Trigger snow and ice, a rail strike, a Rhine closure or low water, see the consequences, then return to today.

• 04

  Site and map in one model

  Throughput, stock and utilisation are the same figures as on the Germany map, shown with live values in the site profile.

• 05

  For visits and big screens

  Runs in the browser and on large projections, with a demo that starts without anyone at the controls.

• 

  Duisburg · logport I (Rheinhausen)

  A trimodal inland port on the Rhine as a walkable model: Rhine barges with sea containers from Rotterdam, gantries and yard, trains to the south, Eastern Europe and Asia, trucks into the region.

• 

  Duisburg-Schwelgern · works harbour and blast furnaces

  A raw-material chain as a walkable model: push convoys with ore and coal from Rotterdam, grab unloaders, ore and coal stockyards, conveyor belts and the Schwelgern 1 and 2 blast furnaces.

• 

  Ludwigshafen · chemicals on the Rhine

  A large chemical site on the Upper Rhine as a walkable model: tankers at loading arms, tank wagons on the works railway, pipe bridges, the Friesenheimer Insel tank farm and the container quay.

• 

  Germany · freight flows and nodes

  All of Germany as a map of blocks: 27 nodes, 55 freight flows as bands of light, eleven bottlenecks with traffic lights. Controls, seasons, disruptions and ten scenarios change every flow at once, compared with today.

• 

  Hamburg · Container Terminal Altenwerder

  An automated container terminal as a walkable model: up to 14 container gantries, driverless transport vehicles, the block yard, a rail station for trains up to 740 m and the truck gate.

• 

  Bremerhaven · car terminal and river quay

  Bremerhaven as a walkable model: almost five kilometres of river quay for the largest container ships, straddle carriers, car trains and parking for about 95,000 vehicles at the mouth of the Weser.

• 

  Wilhelmshaven · JadeWeserPort and LNG terminal

  Germany’s only deep-water port as a walkable model: the container quay on the Jade with straddle carriers and rail, plus the floating LNG terminal, a tank farm and the crude-oil pipeline to the refineries.

• 

  Frankfurt interchange (A3/A5)

  One of Europe’s busiest motorway interchanges as a walkable model: the A3 and A5 cross, the weaving section becomes the bottleneck, and the tailback grows with freight, holidays or snow.