The aim of the paper is presenting the issue of the method of testing the economic effectiveness of innovative undertakings in reference to inland shipping. The specific character of inland shipping calls for application of general methods analyzing innovative undertakings effectiveness for the need of inland waterway transport.

The paper presents a method of safety evaluation of inland ships passage under the Kolejowy Bridge in Szczecin. It is a complex method which consists of real time ship manoeuvring simulation and a photogrammetric method used for verification of simulation results. Such method allows the evaluation of bridge safety in respect to possible ship's collision with bridge pillars and designing the guide fender layout which minimise the consequences ofpossible collisions.

Genetic algorithms are a very interesting optimization method, which use the natural selection idea for the optimal decision taking. These methods are usable for the solution taking in non-deterministic problems and with incomplete knowledge of the decision situation. River ports localization seems to be an interesting optimization problem of inland shipping organizing. It is necessary to find the places for ports with the lowest cost of goods distribution center localization problem and balanced or non-balanced transportation problem. This paper is focused on the. idea of using genetic algorithm for solving it.

The sea port in Elbląg is a typical example of the sea and inland waterways communication junction. The port is connected with the ports of Gulf of Gdańsk through inland waterways: with the Jagielloński Canal through Szkarpawą, Wisła, Wisła Martwa and the River Elbląg - through Zalew Wiślany and Szkarpawą. The port is also connected with the Russian ports - the River Elbląg and Zalew Wiślany, with Pojezierze Iławskie through Elbląg Canal and with the inland waterways of Dolna Wisla (including the possibility of entering the Odra waterway through the Bydgoszcz Canal, Noteć and Warta). This paper presents the conditions for navigation in the communication junction of sea and inland waterways of Elbląg.

The development of sustainable transportation means and systems is one of the European policies. Different criteria are taken into consideration to find an optimum solution when urban transport is investigated - in both traditional and innovative technical solutions. In the paper an alternative proposal to inland systems is proposed and the concept of design solutions is presented as well. The proposal is addressed partly to the local waterways in Szczecin and Western Pomerania region and is based on a sustainable passenger traffic analysis. It may also be interesting for application in the conditions of other cities and regions - Wroclaw, Dresden and Praha.

This paper presents an idea of probability estimation of navigational safety on the intersection of narrow fairways. It is based on the concepts of the vessel's domain at the intersection. The optimal speed of the subordinate ship, which guarantees safe crossing through the intersection, has been determined.

Analyses of energy distribution of monochromatic light crossing through pollinated area were executed. On the basis of models of measure positions with cuvette as well as flow chamber the possibility of scattering measurement under definite angles was studied and on this basis a dustmeter model was built. In the dustmeter the measure detectors were disposed along the edge of optical element so that it was possible to measure the intensity of scattered light on dust particles of definite granulosis.

The Oder Waterway is the only waterway in Poland suitable for transport. It interconnects and integrates major industrial agglomerations in Poland. OWWmay constitute an important link in a transport corridor providing the shortest connection between the Scandinavian countries and the Balkans. Its transport function gains much in importance in the light of the EU transport policy. Currently, because of years of neglect, OWW cannot be fully used as a shipping route. The realization of the Program for the Oder 2006 will significantly improve the navigation conditions on the Oder but it will not lead to full integration of this waterway with Europe's system of waterways. The effectiveness of transport on the Oder can be substantially improved by building a new generation of push trains adapted to operation on shallow waters.

The work presents quantitative specification of spills of dangerous substances which took place in the years 1992 - 1996 on waters under US jurisdiction. The work also presents physical and chemical properties of monomers most often transported by sea as well as propositions of neutralizing the spills.

The chief aim of the report is to bring closer the subject of dangerous goods in the aspect of their transport by vessels of inland navigation. There have been presented: the main features of latest regulations concerning transport of these goods by vessels of inland navigation - ADN; the degree of harmonisation with respective regulations in other transport branches; also the possibilities of applying ADN for transport of dangerous goods packaged and in solid and liquid state in bulk.

New conceptions predict the involvement of coastal vessels to cargoes transport by European inland waterways. The paper presents the use of small sea ships (coaster-class) for inland navigation and the future adaptation of barges and pusher tugs to sea navigation. This article also shows the norms according to which coasters ships and inland ships are built. Differences are described between these classes and solutions to them are indicated. Moreover, forecasts are presented as well which predict a growth of inland waterway transport of agriculture and wood products by the Odra river. Finally, the possibilities of using a new class of ships to transport these cargoes to Świnoujście and by sea to Scandinavia are mentioned in detail.

The article presents the application of the classical and sound intensity method of measuring the acoustic characteristics of ship partitions. The ami of the paper is to show the estimation of sound intensity technique applied for in-situ measurement of airborne sound insulation of inhomogeneous ship bulkheads and vector analysis of acoustic power radiated from these partitions.

The article presents the verification of the commonly used analytical method of determining the safety waterways' parameters. The verification is conducted by means of the method based on the real time experiment using the landbome laser range finder. The analysis concerns the inland passenger crafts navigating on the straight waterway lying under the Długi Bridge in Szczecin.

Inland navigation is the oldest mode of cargo and passenger traffic, counting nearly 5000 years. Now this transport mode gets the main importance again, which requires innovative changes in the inland waterway networks, vessels and its service systems. This is due to the fact that combined rail/road transport widely used in XX century is currently struggling with high external costs along the main traffic corridors of the Trans-European Transport Network, including costs of environment renewal, congestion consequences and refund of traffic accidents charges. Experience of some EU countries has shown that innovative approaches to the organization of inland navigation as element of integrated transport systems could help to solve these problems.

The paper contains propositions of design and decisive criteria to be applied for selection of the fast cargo inland ships, i.e. operating at supercritical speed on determined transition depth of water way. Well-founded solutions (technical-economical) may become an alternative for transportation means development and intensification of inland waterway transportation service, particularly related to general cargoes.