The Dutch construction sector must reduce emissions while delivering nearly one million new homes before 2030. Construction logistics contribute significantly to emissions, congestion and costs, while the potential of inland waterways remains underexplored.
This study developed a multimodal logistics model and applied it to the Cartesius urban development project in Utrecht, based on 2,299 monitored truck arrivals. Three scenarios were evaluated: road-only, waterway-only and cost-optimized transport.
The results show that inland shipping can substantially improve sustainability. Compared to road transport, the waterway-only scenario reduced transport distance by 77%, CO₂ emissions by 82% and NOx emissions by 73%. The cost-optimized scenario achieved both lower emissions and lower transport costs, but transshipment costs are highly uncertain and can strongly influence the choice between road and waterway transport. The findings indicate that inland waterway transport can be a viable option for reducing emissions and costs in large urban construction projects located near inland waterways, especially as transport volume and number of trips to the building site increase. However, as transshipment costs increase, fewer routes remain suitable for a modal shift, reducing both the environmental and economic benefits of inland waterway transport.
This report is the second of three reports of the ‘Data as an Enabler’ work package of the TKI Dinalog SYNERCIZE research project: [SYNERCIZE | Hogeschool Utrecht](https://www.hu.nl/onderzoek/projecten/synercize)
