Research Focus Areas

Initial broad research focus areas for GLMRI were mandated by Congress. These general focus areas have been refined with input from the Maritime Administration and various stakeholders. Each year at the GLMRI annual meetings, discussion is had with the Advisory Board as to future areas of research that can build upon completed studies and take into consideration current issues and opportunities for research within the Great Lakes maritime community.

• Click here for a complete list of GLMRI research focus areas.

Current Studies

2009-2010 Funded Projects

• Great Lakes Maritime Education Program for K-12 Teachers, Students and Communities
  Ms. Joan Chadde, Michigan Technological University
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  The overall goal of the project is to increase K-12 teachers’ understanding of shipping on the Great Lakes, and increase their ability to teach their students about Great Lakes Maritime Transportation in the core subjects of science, math, language arts, and social studies. We will accomplish the following objectives:

  1. Conduct a Great Lakes Maritime Transportation Summer Teacher Institute in collaboration with the Toledo Maritime Academy and University of Wisconsin in Toledo, Ohio, in summer 2010.
  2. Conduct a Mathematics & Navigation Summer Teacher Institute at Michigan Technological University in summer 2010 in collaboration with a ship captain and mathematics instructor.
  3. Conduct two teacher workshops at: Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum at Whitefish Point in Paradise, Michigan; Michigan State Historical Museum in Lansing, Michigan; or other facilities in a Great Lakes state.
  4. Conduct presentation on Great Lakes Maritime Transportation at one state or national conference to recruit workshop and summer institute participants and disseminate teaching tools.5. Regularly update the Great Lakes Maritime Transportation Education website and maintain communication with past participants.
  6. Assemble eight Great Lakes Maritime Transportation Education teaching chests.

• WebGIFT: Expanding Access to the Great Lakes Geospatial Intermodal Freight Transportation (GL-GIFT) Model
  Dr. Scott Hawker, Rochester Institute of Technology
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  In prior GLMRI projects, we developed and demonstrated the value of the Great Lakes Geospatial Intermodal Freight Transport (GL-GIFT) model – an innovative, dynamic, network optimization model for analyzing: (1) the economic, energy, and environmental impacts associated with Great Lakes freight movement, including the ability to make tradeoffs among different freight modes operating in the Great Lakes; (2) decisions related to various highway and intermodal facility infrastructure development; and, (3) decisions and policies aimed at improving maritime transport efficiency in the Great Lakes. GL-GIFT allows users to conduct route analyses based on various network attributes, including: cost, time-of-delivery, distance, energy use, and emissions. Our case studies have shown that Great Lakes marine shipping demonstrates certain advantages when compared to other landside modes.
  
  This new proposal requests funding to help move GL-GIFT from a desktop computing environment to a web-based platform so that it will be accessible to many users via the internet. We will also develop user-friendly interactions to support case study definitions, data management and sharing, and analysis. We will make this new tool, called WebGIFT-GL, available to GLMRI affiliates and other selected users for a period of at least four months, including an evaluation/training workshop and user support.

• Evaluation of Integrated Electric Plants for Great Lakes Self-Unloaders
  Dr. David Singer, University of Michigan
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  The feasibility and potential benefits of using Integrated Electric Plants in future Great Lakes self-unloaders will be evaluated. Integrated Electric Plants, the all-electric ship, utilize electrical propulsion motors and central station power generation that would power all propulsion, thruster, self-unloading equipment and other ship service needs. Integrated Electric Plants have become a popular choice in recent non-nuclear naval vessels, cruise ships, high technology cargo vessels and many special purpose vessels, such as offshore supply and service vessels and icebreakers. This study will consider arrangements, effects on cargo capacity at constant draft, fuel usage and environmental emissions over all operating modes, maintenance requirements, manning, and overall ship life-cycle economics. The comparison will be made on two notional self-unloading bulk carriers covering the length range from about 660 to 1000 feet.

• Refinement of the Ballast-Free Ship Concept
  Dr. Michael Parsons, University of Michigan
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  The Ballast-Free Ship Concept will be further analyzed and refined to resolve outstanding issues related to its effectiveness and operational practicality and economics. Recent testing has shown that the optimum use of the Ballast-Free Concept could result in a significant improvement in propulsion power requirement. This savings needs to be better understood to ensure that this major advantage will actually be realizable. The remaining confounding situation is that in the laboratory experiments conducted to date it has been necessary to use stock propellers available in the laboratory library. Part of the indicated required power reduction may be due to the stock propellers being more optimal for the Ballast-Free case. An optimum propeller will be designed for the vessel and a new propeller will be manufactured using rapid prototyping. This propeller will be used in the next towing tank experiments. The detailed design of the incorporation of bulkhead isolation valves and their effect on the internal trunk flow will be investigated. Finally, various draft and trim control operational scenarios will be investigated to establish the capability and limitations of the Ballast-Free Concept ballast control in ship operations.

• Modal Comparison of Great Lakes Freight Transportation Effects on the General Public
  Dr. Christopher McIntosh, University of Minnesota Duluth
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  This project will provide a case study similar to a December 2007 report sponsored by MARAD (A Modal Comparison of Domestic Freight Transportation Effects on the General Public) based on the impact of closing barge traffic on the transportation system in and around St. Louis MO. This project will focus on comparing modal impacts on the Great Lakes from a Soo Lock closure. The case study will provide specific impact measures and effects based on a comparison of the marine system to rail and truck (truck if necessary – see Section 7 for details) for the following categories: cargo capacity, congestion, air emissions, accidents, and infrastructure effects.

• Economic Impact of the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Seaway System (GLSLS) Phase II
  Dr. David Doorn, University of Minnesota Duluth
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  The first phase of this project, now underway and to be complete as of October 2009, will determine data needs for Great Lakes Maritime Economic Impact project and address organizational data-related challenges to the impact modeling.
  
  The second project phase will focus on specific maritime industrial sectors, and the regional study area will be refined to report economic impacts for selected ports and communities. The IMPLAN model as well as models provided by MARAD and others will be utilized to derive the benefits stemming from the port system to the extended communities and the U.S. in general. The impact will look at which industries are directly impacted by the port systems and transportation sectors that extend from them, as well as the secondary economic effects stemming from the direct employment, output and value added measures. The effects will be reported as direct, indirect, and induced economic effects. Secondary impacts will be reported as indirect and induced effects. This evaluation can be extended to include the value projected for future activities of facilities. The impact report will be of interest to all Great Lakes region stakeholders as well as for questions of national transportation policy. Reported impacts can be used to inform affected industries, St. Lawrence Seaway corporations, maritime industries involved with the Great Lakes ports, and government agencies that develop and maintain the Seaway infrastructure.
  
  A third project phase, Phase III, Great Lakes Maritime Economic Indexes, will build economic indicators to index and measure progress over time for the affected stakeholders. This phase has yet to be formally proposed but will build upon Phase II being proposed here.

• Developing a Risk Assessment Tool to Predict the Accelerated Corrosive Loss of Port Transportation Infrastructure
  Dr. Randall Hicks, University of Minnesota Duluth
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  Coastal communities around the Great Lakes have historically been dependent upon maritime transportation. Even in this challenging economy, planned expansions in the mining and steel industries and growing tourism indicate an even greater future need for adequate port infrastructure. Yet, Lake Superior ports face a severe problem – accelerated corrosive loss of their docks and piers. Although no one has yet proven what causes the accelerated corrosion of steel structures in the Duluth-Superior harbor (DSH), results from previous research indicate an approach that can be used to predict the risk of similar corrosion at other ports within the Great Lakes. During the first year, sulfate, chloride, and DOC concentrations, abundances of iron-oxidizing and sulfate-reducing bacteria, and estimates of accumulated steel corrosion (corrosion tubercle abundance, pit depth) will be measured in the DSH to parameterize a model that predicts the severity (i.e., risk) of accelerated corrosion of steel structures. In a subsequent proposal (second year), data collected from other ports in the Great Lakes will be used to validate this model. Our ultimate goal is to create a tool that can assist economic forecasts companies and governments make to decide when to repair or replace their docks, bulkheads, and piers.

• Year 4: Building Sustainable Solutions to the Issue of Ballast Water Treatment: Testing Relationships between Propagule Pressure and Colonization Success of Invasive Species
  Dr. Donn Branstrator, University of Minnesota Duluth, along with the University of Wisconsin-Superior’s Lake Superior Research Institute and Great Ships Initiative
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  During the last century the use of ballast water by commercial ships has created a highly efficient, global transfer mechanism for invasive species. In an effort to eliminate ballast water as a viable vector, the U.S. Congress passed legislation that requires vessels to manage their ballast water through Ballast Water Exchange (BWE) or Ballast Water Treatment (BWT). It is widely recognized that no BWT technology can be expected to perform with 100% effectiveness. Hence, accepted standards will allow a certain level of biological pollution to escape in the post-treated water. Few experimental data are available from which to quantify levels of invasion risk associated with specific numbers of viable organisms released in ballast discharge (propagule pressure). This presents a serious challenge in identifying permissible thresholds for ballast water treatment technologies that will be environmentally protective. Our project experimentally evaluates the quantitative relationship between the size and frequency of populations of zooplankton in a new environment (propagule pressure) and their colonization success in an effort to provide rationale that will guide the International Maritime Organization in setting BWT standards for discharge. Experiments will be conducted in a series of mesocosms (each 1 m³ volume) housed at the Ballast Water Testing Facility in Superior, Wisconsin.

• The Great Lakes Maritime Information Delivery System: A Resource for the Regional Analysis of Intermodal Freight Flows in the Great Lakes Region (Phase V)
  Dr. Peter Lindquist, University of Toledo
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  This project is the fifth phase of a long-term endeavor to develop and manage a comprehensive data repository and information clearinghouse for the maritime community in the Great Lakes. This proposed phase marks a transition from previous development phases; new approaches will be incorporated into the system featuring automated data collection programs linked to AIS acquisition and web-based entry of dock and port facilities. This phase will also focus on the incorporation and demonstration of analytical tools built into to the project’s Midwest FreightView (MWFV) data delivery system. A new emphasis will also be placed on technology transfer through workshops, standardized documentation of data, user guides, and publications to increase the profile of the system. These objectives are designed to move the system toward self-sustaining longevity by focusing on system applications and creating public-private partnerships with stakeholders in Great Lakes maritime commerce. As with previous phases of the project, this proposed work continues with data collection and management activities and will provide support for maintaining and updating the web site. Furthermore, the project team will continue to work with outside institutions and GLMRI affiliates to deliver data and cooperate in joint research

• Great Lakes Marine Container Service Feasibility Study: Connecting Green Bay to Global Container Service providers serving ports on the St. Lawrence Seaway (Phase II)
  Dr. Earl Ray Hutchinson, Jr., University of Wisconsin-Green Bay
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  This analysis will investigate the feasibility of connecting the Port of Green Bay and its catchment area of approximately 300 inland miles to ocean carriers providing global container service accessing the Great Lakes via the St. Lawrence Seaway. An analysis of potential freight flows, user transportation requirements and container networks operated by Great Lakes vessels will be analyzed. A first year findings report will identify strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats for connecting the Port of Green Bay to global container service providers operating in the Atlantic service.

Completed Studies

2008-2009 Funded Projects

• Economic Impact of the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Seaway System (GLSLS)
  Dr. David Doorn, University of Minnesota Duluth
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  This project proposes to evaluate the impacts associated with the existence of current Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Seaway facilities. The project will build an IMPLAN data model and estimate the economic impact of both the Great Lakes and the St. Lawrence Seaway, based on ports and industries in the region. The study region will include major ports and the Great Lakes region. The IMPLAN model will be utilized to derive the benefits stemming from the port system to the extended communities as well as throughout each state and the U.S. in general. The impact will look at which industries are directly impacted by the port systems and transportation sectors that extend from them, as well as the secondary economic effects stemming from the direct employment, output and value added measures. The effects will be reported as direct, indirect, and induced economic effects. Secondary impacts will be reported as indirect and induced effects. This evaluation can potentially be extended to include the value projected for future activities. The impact report will be of interest to all Great Lakes region stakeholders as well as for questions of national transportation policy. Reported impacts can be used to inform affected industries, St. Lawrence Seaway corporations, maritime industries involved with the Great Lakes ports, and government agencies that develop and maintain the Seaway infrastructure.

• Year 3: Building Sustainable Solutions to the Issue of Ballast Water Treatment: Testing Relationships Between Propagule Pressure and Colonization Success of Invasive Species
  Dr. Donn Branstrator, University of Minnesota Duluth
  + View Summary

  During the past century the use of ballast water by commercial ships has created a highly efficient, global transfer mechanism for invasive species. In an effort to eliminate ballast water as a viable vector, the U.S. Congress passed legislation that requires vessels to manage their ballast water through Ballast Water Exchange (BWE) or Ballast Water Treatment (BWT). It is widely recognized that no BWT technology can be expected to perform with 100% effectiveness. Hence, accepted standards will allow a certain level of biological pollution to escape in the post-treated water. Few experimental data are available from which to quantify levels of invasion risk associated with specific numbers of viable organisms released in ballast discharge (propagule pressure). This presents a serious challenge in identifying permissible thresholds for ballast water treatment technologies that will be environmentally protective. Our project experimentally evaluates the quantitative relationship between the size and frequency of populations of zooplankton in a new environment (propagule pressure) and their colonization success in an effort to help guide the International Maritime Organization in setting BWT standards for discharge. Experiments will be conducted in a series of mesocosms (each 1 m3 volume) housed at the Ballast Water Testing Facility in Superior, Wisconsin.

• Cold Flow Testing of Biodiesel Blends with Additives
  Dr. Daniel Pope, University of Minnesota Duluth
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  There are several potential advantages associated with the use of biodiesel blends in shipboard diesel-powered systems: reduced overall emissions, reduced engine wear through increased lubricity, and reduced consumption of petroleum. However, the increase in cold flow properties associated with the use of biodiesel could lead to operational problems during cold weather operations in ship systems exposed to the external environment. The increase in cold flow properties is related to the gelling of fuel at higher temperatures. Cold flow additives are usually mixed with the fuel to prevent gelling and plugging of fuel filters. The cold flow properties of a fuel are quantified via Cloud Point (CP), Pour Point (PP), and Cold Filter Plugging Point (CFPP) tests. The proposed project would consist of performing CP, PP, and CFPP tests on varying levels of soybean-based biodiesel blends with and without cold flow additives. The specific “brands” of cold flow additives used in the tests will be determined via consultation with ship operators on the Great Lakes. The amount of additive required when using biodiesel blends as compared to no. 2 diesel will be quantified. Multiple tests will be performed to define the variability of the test results. Results such as these would provide guidance for the appropriate amount of additive to use with a given biodiesel blend.

• Energy, Economic, and Environmental Tradeoffs Associated with Freight Transportation in the Great Lakes Region: Development and Application of the Great Lakes Geospatial Intermodal Freight Transportation Model
  Dr. James Winebrake, Rochester Institute of Technology
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  This project will build off last year’s successful development of an innovative, dynamic, network optimization model aimed at improving decision-making associated with freight transport in the Great Lakes region. The results of the 2007-08 project led to the creation of the Great Lakes Geospatial Intermodal Freight Transport (GL-GIFT) model. This GIS-based model allows for analysis of: (1) the economic, energy, and environmental impacts associated with Great Lakes freight movement, including the ability to make tradeoffs among different freight modes operating in the Great Lakes; (2) decisions related to various highway and intermodal facility infrastructure development; and, (3) decisions and policies aimed at improving maritime transport efficiency in the Great Lakes. The model provides a tool that allows users to conduct route analyses based on various network attributes, including: cost, time-of-delivery, distance, energy use, and emissions.

  This new proposal builds off of the GL-GIFT success, and is divided into two concurrently timed tasks. In Task 1, we will conduct several case studies that explore environmental, energy, and cost tradeoffs associated with freight flows in the Great Lakes region. Our hypothesis is that from an environmental perspective, Great Lakes marine shipping will demonstrate certain advantages when compared to other landside modes. These case studies will also help us refine our data and integrate with other data collection efforts ongoing through GLMRI.

  In Task 2, we will conduct outreach and a special workshop to introduce GL-GIFT to users. In both phases, we anticipate working with other GLMRI projects, government agencies, and the private sector to identify and improve the data supporting GL-GIFT.

• Determining if Microbiologically Influenced Corrosion is Responsible for the Accelerated Loss of Port Transportation Infrastructure
  Dr. Randall Hicks, University of Minnesota Duluth
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  The hypothesis guiding this research is that microbiologically influence corrosion (MIC) is responsible for the accelerated corrosive loss of sheet steel docks and bulkheads in the Duluth-Superior harbor (DSH). While data from our field research leads us to suspect that MIC may be responsible for the accelerated corrosion seen in this harbor, they do not provide conclusive evidence. A controlled laboratory experiment to examine this possibility is now justified, considering that we have isolated a bacterium from these corroding structures which is potentially capable of causing the corrosion and that sulfate concentrations are now known to be higher in waters near structures with the most severe corrosion. A microcosm experiment will be conducted to determine if the activities of iron-oxidizing (FeOB) and/or sulfate-reducing (SRB) bacteria are responsible for the accelerated corrosion loss of port transportation infrastructure. Results from this experiment will help conclusively demonstrate if the metabolism of microbial biofilms attached to these steel structures is accelerating the corrosive loss of maritime transportation infrastructure in this harbor. This laboratory experiment is a departure from our field-based research and represents a new line of inquiry that will help determine the cause of this accelerated corrosion and guide mitigation efforts

• Development of a Performance Evaluation Methodology for the Port/Terminal Sector Participation in the Green Marine Voluntary Environmental Program of the Saint Lawrence and Great Lakes Maritime Industry
  Dr. Lynn Corson, Purdue University
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  This project - a partnership between Purdue University, Green Marine and the American Great Lakes Ports Association - will complement and supplement the work completed to date by Green Marine in the development of its voluntary Environmental Program of the Saint Lawrence and Great Lakes Maritime Industry.

  The current environmental issues being addressed by ports and terminals include aquatic invasive species, greenhouse gases/pollutant air emissions, cargo residues and conflicts of use (noise, dust, light and odor). Each issue is defined by a recommended action plan for both collective and corporate actions and each has performance indicators established to measure up to five levels of performance by participants in Green Marine that seek “to minimize the environmental impacts of their operations and to continuously improve their environmental performance.” (Executive Summary, Green Marine Environmental Program, “Guiding Principles”)

  Members of the Great Lakes Environmental Committee (GLEC), one of two geographically-based committees of the Green Marine program and chaired by Co-Investigator Baxter, are currently discussing the inclusion of two or more additional port/terminal-related issues, which are expected to be identified by September 2008. The GLEC plans to identify 6 to 8 additional issues over the next three years.

  Through collaboration with Green Marine participants, its staff and other stakeholders, the project team will establish the definition and application of the indicators and levels of performance for the additional issues.

  The inclusion of the reference to “continuous improvement” in the Guiding Principles and the commitment of Green Marine to “encourage and support the adoption of environmental management systems to ensure continuous improvement” (Executive Summary, “Training R&D and Environmental Management Systems”) mandate that this feature of the program be emphasized in the project research. The level 3 criteria, “Integration of best practices into an adopted management plan…” underscores the importance of an EMS for Green Marine participants. This project will also provide technical assistance to participants interested in developing and/or implementing an environmental management system.

• Expanding Regional Freight Information Resources for the Upper Midwest Phase IV, The Great Lakes Maritime Information Delivery System: A Resource for the Regional Analysis of Intermodal Freight Flows in the Great Lakes Region
  Dr. Peter Lindquist, University of Toledo
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  This project is the fourth phase of a long-term endeavor to develop and manage a comprehensive data repository and information clearinghouse for the maritime industry in the Great Lakes. The project team will continue work devoted to the acquisition, storage, and management of data involving vessel and commodity flows, port facilities, physical characteristics of the lakes, navigation facilities, and the economy of the Great Lakes Region. In addition, the next phase of the project will concentrate more fully on identifying gaps in the database and acquiring the necessary data to remove those gaps. Work will also continue on implementing the data delivery system more fully. The general objectives of the project include the following:

  • Continued acquisition and manipulation of highly detailed current economic data over a wide range of sectors at the county level in the U.S.
  • Acquire and incorporate the necessary technology for receiving, processing and storing AIS data for tracking vessel movements in the system.
  • Integrate Great Lakes waterborne commerce data with additional data acquired for a wider range of modes in the upper Midwest from other funded projects
  • Work with industry partners and other researchers to identify gaps in the database and identify data sources to remove those gaps
• Great Lakes Marine Container Service Feasibility Study: Connecting Green Bay to Global Container Service providers serving ports on the St. Lawrence Seaway
  Dr. Earl Ray Hutchinson, Jr., University of Wisconsin-Green Bay
  + View Summary

  This analysis will investigate the feasibility of connecting the Port of Green Bay and its catchment area of approximately 300 inland miles to ocean carriers providing global container service accessing the Great Lakes via the St. Lawrence Seaway. An analysis of potential freight flows, user transportation requirements and container networks operated by Great Lakes vessels will be analyzed. A first year findings report will identify strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats for connecting the Port of Green Bay to global container service providers operating in the Atlantic service.

• Erie Pier Re-Use Facility Phase II: An Optimized Cost-Effective Strategy for Increased Transport and Handling of Dredged Materials
  Dr. Hongyi Chen, University of Minnesota Duluth
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  Growing constraints on options for placing dredged materials at the Erie Pier CDF urged action on a plan for re-cycling the material being placed at the pier. A recycle operation was studied. The findings for the project “Process Re-Use Cost and Market Analysis,” which studied removal of dredged materials from Erie Pier CDF, reconfigured as a re-use facility, under a break-even strategy, will be presented by the Erie Pier Phase I team in the fall of 2008. Phase I of the Erie Pier project is based on cost minimization rather than profit maximization. Landed costs and re-use facility cost analysis from Phase I suggest that significant removal of fines material from Erie Pier may require additional infrastructure to expedite. Therefore, Phase II of this project, described in this proposal, will propose a cost-effective strategy for increased transport and handling of commodities. Infrastructure improvements will be suggested. A systematic approach will be used in developing the optimized strategy, so that findings from this project will continue to be of use as a model for other ports for the Great Lakes.

• Bio Diesel Usage in the R/V Blue Heron
  Dr. Douglas Ricketts, University of Minnesota Duluth
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  to be added

2007-2008 Projects

• Click to view the 2007-2008 Funded Projects

2006-2007 Projects

• Click to view the 2006-2007 Funded Projects

2005-2006 Projects

• Click to view the 2005-2006 Funded Projects

*Reports are in PDF format. Download the latest version of Adobe Reader.