BMT Design & Technology (BMT), a subsidiary of BMT Group Ltd, the leading international maritime design, engineering and risk management consultancy, using their simulation modelling expertise have developed an innovative simulation tool to assess long standing issues of congestion and increasing usage demand at recreational boat ramp facilities. The problem of excessive waiting times and overflowing car parks in local boat ramp facilities has been frustratingly clear for some time, however the root cause of the issue has been, until now, less obvious.
Working with sister company, BMT WBM and Mornington Peninsula Shire Council (MPSC), BMT has developed a highly configurable Discrete Event Simulation (DES) model using FlexSim®. This model enables rapid simulation of recreational boat ramp facilities whilst providing key performance metrics to enable the identification of problems and evaluation of potential solutions. The model can be customised to accommodate a range of parameters including launching and retrieval times, layout and traffic flow, traffic volume and time and predicted shifts in demand across a network of boat ramp facilities.
By determining the underlying demand and capacity issues of the public facilities, optimised solutions can be identified and upgrades can be assessed far more quickly and effectively. The impacts and effectiveness of a range of potential solutions can be simulated to assess the best mix of additional boat ramps, additional car parking spaces, ramp upgrades, site layout reconfiguration and traffic management across a network of boating facilities.
BMT’s simulation modelling capability is a highly cost-effective means for clients to realise the savings achievable through identification and implementation of the optimum solution.