The Stevelduct is, in essence, a simple concept. It envisions freight containers placed in unmanned barges that are transported in an aquaduct. The barges move along with the water current in the channel as well as by way of an ancient technique that the Dutch called “steveling.”
Steveling is a technique that has fallen out of use. It was a method of water transport by which a ship without any other source of power made use of the force of gravity to sail down a stream or a river. It is a natural phenomenon that eventually the ship will sail faster than the current it is drifting on. The reason for this is the fact that a flowing water surface is in fact an inclined plane.
Steveling can be most easily compared to what happens to an automobile parked on a slope without the benefit of the handbrake. The automobile is likely to start rolling downhill. In some train marshalling yards, a variation of stevelen is still in use: namely by allowing railcars to coast to their destinations. There is a long history of steveling on the world’s great rivers. It remains the most environmentally friendly form of transport, because of all of the methods of transportation, it requires the least amount of energy. However, it is no longer allowed due to the congestion of marine traffic. However, Stevelduction will enable this form of transport to be revived.
There is absolutely no reason, other than pure, corrupt profit interests, that every single vehicle in the world cannot be electric and utterly clean, with zero need for gasoline.
(het contextuele woordenboek)
© 2017 AADVISE Adviesbureau, Den Haag.