Bangladesh Inland Waterways Benefit from UK Environmental Monitoring Data Platform

OceanWise was contracted recently by Next Generation Graphics Ltd (NGGL) working for the Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority (BIWTA). Established in 1958, BIWTA controls, manages and develops the inland water transport capacity of Bangladesh. NGGL was chosen to supply, install and maintain water level gauges at 53 locations across the inland waterways network including tidal and non-tidal waters. OceanWise was selected to provide the data telemetry, management and visualisation components for the project.

‘Port-Log’, OceanWise’s commercial off-the-shelf environmental monitoring platform, was installed at BIWTA’s offices in Dhaka and is being used to collect, manage and display the data collected from the extensive network of tide gauges. Port-Log is already widely used in the UK and overseas and is particularly popular across the Ports, Harbours and Energy sectors. This project extended Port-Log’s capability to include non-tidal waters. OceanWise also provided consultancy and advice to the project team on sensors, station location, and data acquisition and management.

As part of the project, eight senior members of BIWTA attended a training course in the UK, which included core elements in data management and Port-Log administration, plus guidance on successfully setting up a complete sensor network, including geodetic levelling, sensor calibration, data analysis, data interpretation etc. Training was also provided by Dr Steve Taylor of Geomatix on ‘GeoTide’, which was supplied by OceanWise to provide BIWTA with a tidal analysis and prediction capability for its coastal sites.

A K M Mazibur Rahman, Director of Planning at BIWTA commented "BIWTA decided on Port-Log because it was the best system we had looked at. We have been delighted with our decision and are pleased how well the project has proceeded. We also appreciate all the support and expertise that OceanWise has provided to NGGL throughout the project and the professionalism and hospitality shown to our personnel during the training course".

Bangladesh is the eighth most populous country in the world, home to nearly 163 million people. The waterways, along with the seaports, make-up a key part of the country’s infrastructure providing important logistic and transportation routes across the country. The country boasts numerous rivers and inland waterways which provide the dominant geographic feature of Bangladesh including the Ganges delta, as well as the combined waters of several other river systems, including the Brahmaputra and Ganges rivers which flow into the Bay of Bengal.