{{Short description|Area of sea where ships can navigate safely}} {{Other uses|Fairway (disambiguation){{!}}Fairway}} {{distinguish|Fairwater (disambiguation){{!}}Fairwater}} '''Fairway''' is a part of a water body (bay, harbor, river) containing the navigable channel (also known as a ''ship channel''), a route suitable for ships of the larger size<ref name="Kerchove1961"/> (with draft closer to the draft limit).

== Fairway depth, width, and height == The underwater cross-section of a ship in the channel is limited by the fairway depth and width (bridges may create restrictions for the height above the waterline). '''Fairway depth''' is a distance between the seabed/riverbed and the water surface. The fairway depth of a river varies with the season, so some standardized depth value is used, usually the one corresponding to the low navigable water level (LNWL) defined as the water level that the river stays above during almost the entire navigation season: statistically, the level shall stay below the LNWL for 20 ice-free days per year, corresponding to 5-6% of the ice-free period on European rivers.<ref>{{cite book |last1=UNECE |title=Inventory of Main Standards and Parameters of the E Waterway Network (Blue Book) |date=2017 |publisher=United Nations Economic Commission for Europe |location=New York and Geneva |edition=3rd |url=https://unece.org/sites/default/files/2021-01/ECE-TRANS-SC3-144-Rev.3e_0.pdf | page=15}}</ref> The '''fairway width''' is defined as a width of the cross-section of the river that corresponds to the fairway depth,{{sfn|Muilerman|Maierbrugger|Armbrecht|Schepper|2018|p=65}} the '''fairway height''' under the bridges is usually specified with respect to the highest navigable water level (HNWL).{{sfn|Muilerman|Maierbrugger|Armbrecht|Schepper|2018|p=66}}

== Fairway and navigable channel == The term "fairway" usually means all the navigable waters between the fairway buoys (that indicate the ends of the channel), even the routes only accessible to the lighter-draft vessels.<ref name="Kerchove1961">{{cite book | author = René de baron Kerchove | date = 1961 | title = International Maritime Dictionary: An Encyclopedic Dictionary of Useful Maritime Terms and Phrases, Together with Equivalents in French and German | edition = 2 | publisher = Van Nostrand Reinhold | page = 273 | isbn = 978-0-442-02062-0 | oclc = 1039382382 | url = | chapter=Fairway}}</ref> Some authors restrict the definition to the linear approach part of a marine waterway, the '''approach channel''' leading into a port. <ref name="GucmaZalewski2020">{{cite journal | last1 = Gucma | first1 = Stanisław | last2 = Zalewski | first2 = Paweł | title = Optimization of fairway design parameters: Systematic approach to manoeuvring safety | journal = International Journal of Naval Architecture and Ocean Engineering | date = 2020 | volume = 12 | pages = 129–145 | issn = 2092-6782 | doi = 10.1016/j.ijnaoe.2019.08.002 | pmid = | bibcode = 2020IJNAO..12..129G | s2cid = 203036943 | doi-access = free }}</ref>

Legal definitions of the navigable channel differ depending on the context. In many cases any part of water body that can be navigated is considered to be navigable waters, although in the US (per Title 33 of the United States Code) the term applies to the waters over which the US Congress has jurisdiction to regulate the commerce,<ref name="Kerchove1961-2">{{cite book | author = René de baron Kerchove | date = 1961 | title = International Maritime Dictionary: An Encyclopedic Dictionary of Useful Maritime Terms and Phrases, Together with Equivalents in French and German | edition = 2 | publisher = Van Nostrand Reinhold | page = 531 | isbn = 978-0-442-02062-0 | oclc = 1039382382 | url = | chapter=Navigable waters}}</ref> individual states apply similar criteria.<ref name="Administrative Publications of the Office of Administrative Law.1986">{{cite book | date = 1986 | title = New Jersey Register, Volume 18, Issues 1-8 | publisher = Administrative Publications of the Office of Administrative Law. | pages = | oclc = 1375930 | url = | quote = Navigable channel means a channel marked with navigational markers including poles, piling or buoys, by the Coast Guard or the State.}}</ref> The courts, however, use an expanded definition and include into the scope of Title 33, for example, waters "frequented by small, pleasure-fishing crafts".<ref name="NixonDalyFarady2022">{{cite book | author1 = Dennis W. Nixon | author2 = Michael J. Daly | author3 = Susan E. Farady | author4 = Read D. Porter | author5 = Julia B. Wyman | date = 31 March 2022 | title = Marine and Coastal Law: Cases and Materials | edition = 3 | publisher = ABC-CLIO | page = 513 | isbn = 978-1-4408-7740-7 | oclc = 1303558946 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=NNljEAAAQBAJ&pg=PA513}}</ref>

The center of the navigable channel lies on the thalweg, so in the international river law in case of disputed borders the border is assumed to follow the thalweg, as doing otherwise would deny the navigation rights to one side.<ref name="Antunes2022">{{cite book | author = Nuno Marques Antunes | date = 16 May 2022 | title = Towards the Conceptualisation of Maritime Delimitation: Legal and Technical Aspects of Political Process | publisher = BRILL | page = 170 | isbn = 978-90-04-48205-0 | oclc = 1321803406 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=6JFwEAAAQBAJ&pg=PA170}}</ref>

== Fairway management in Europe == Many major European rivers (e.g., Rhine, Danube, Moselle, Meuse, and Sava) have long-established systems for waterway management.{{sfn|Muilerman|Maierbrugger|Armbrecht|Schepper|2018|p=61}} Some countries, primarily in Scandinavia, charge the ships '''fairway dues''', fees intended to support maintenance of the fairways (e. g., dredging).<ref name="Brodie2013">{{cite book | author = Peter Brodie | date = 3 June 2013 | title = Dictionary of Shipping Terms | edition = 6 | publisher = Taylor & Francis | page = 83 | isbn = 978-1-135-04622-4 | chapter-url = https://books.google.com/books?id=sRqk-NfgEY0C&pg=PT83 | chapter=Fairway dues}}</ref> The following table contains the parameters of some of the European waterways.{{sfn|Muilerman|Maierbrugger|Armbrecht|Schepper|2018|p=62}}

{| class="wikitable" |+ Fairways on European river systems |- ! River basin !! Authority !! Depth !! Width !! Height !! Days of availability |- | Danube || Danube Commission || 2.50 m (draft) || 50–180 m || 6.40-10.00 m || 343 |- | Moselle || Moselle Commission || 1.90-3.00 m (fairway depth) || 40m || 6.00 m || 365 |- | Rhine || Central Commission for Navigation on the Rhine|| 1.90-3.00 m (fairway depth), depending on the section || 88–150 m || 7.00-9.10 m || 345 |- | Sava || International Sava River Basin Commission || 2.50 m (draft), 2.80 m for Class IV sections || 55 m || 7.00 m || 343 |- | Elbe || || 1.5–1.6 m (navigation channel depth) for section Geesthacht, 1.9 m (navigation channel depth) for other free-flowing sections, 2.2 m (draft) for regulated section || || || |- | Meuse || International Meuse Commission || 2.50 m (draft) || || 5.25 m || |- | Oder || || 1.80 m (navigation channel depth) for border section, 3.00 m (navigation channel depth) for Klützer Querfahrt || || || |- | Scheldt || International Scheldt Commission || 2.50 m (draft) || || 5.25 m || |}

== Fairway management in the US == Inland waterways in the United States are managed by the US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE).{{citation needed|date=June 2023}} A mechanism similar to the fairway dues, a Harbor Maintenance Tax on imports is used to finance the maintenance (primarily dredging) of the ports on the coasts and Great Lakes.{{sfn | Merkel | Lindgren | 2022 | p=}}

{| class="wikitable" |+ Fairways on US rivers |- ! River basin !! Authority !! Depth !! Width !! Height !! Length !! Days of availability |- | Missouri River{{sfn|Alshareef|2019|pp=2-3}} || USACE || 2.70 m || 91 m || || 1181&nbsp;km || 245 |- | Upper Mississippi River (UMR)-Illinois Waterway (IWW){{sfn | USACE | 2004 | p=620}} || USACE || 9&nbsp;ft || 300–500 m || || 1200 miles || 245 for UMR;{{sfn | U.S. Army Engineer District, Rock Island | 1989 | p=2}} IWW operates year-round{{sfn | USACE | 2004 | p=49}} |}

== References == {{Reflist}}

== Sources == * {{cite book |last1=Muilerman | first1=Gert-Jan | last2=Maierbrugger | first2=Gudrun | last3=Armbrecht | first3=Henrik | last4=Schepper | first4=Karin de | last5=Turf | first5=Sim | last6=Liere | first6=Richard van | last7=Quispel | first7=Martin |title=Good Navigation Status: guidelines towards achieving a Good Navigation Status |date=2018 |publisher=Publications Office of the European Union |location=Luxembourg |url=https://data.europa.eu/doi/10.2832/148049 | isbn=978-92-79-81043-5 | doi=10.2832/148049 }} * {{cite thesis |last=Alshareef |first=Mohammed Hamed |date=2019 |title=Three Essays on Waterborne Transportation |publisher=North Dakota State University |degree=PhD |place=Fargo, North Dakota | url=https://library.ndsu.edu/ir/bitstream/handle/10365/29961/Three%20Essays%20on%20Waterborne%20Transportation.pdf}} * {{cite book | author=USACE | title=Upper Mississippi River-Illinois Waterway System Navigation Feasibility Study, Integrated Feasibility Report: Environmental Impact Statement | year=2004 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ogwzAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA49 | access-date=2024-08-19}} * {{cite book | title=Upper Mississippi River Navigation Charts | publisher=U.S. Army Engineer District, Rock Island | year=1989 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=88ZKhQgZuJUC&pg=PP2 | language=it | ref={{sfnref | U.S. Army Engineer District, Rock Island | 1989}} | access-date=2024-08-19}} * {{cite journal | last=Merkel | first=Axel | last2=Lindgren | first2=Samuel | title=Effects of fairway dues on the deployment and utilization of vessels: Lessons from a regression discontinuity design | journal=Transport Policy | volume=126 | date=2022 | doi=10.1016/j.tranpol.2022.07.018 | pages=204–214}}

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Category:Nautical terminology Category:Navigation