A Population-Based Ant Algorithm for the Lock Chamber Arrangement Problem

With the fast development of the inland waterway transport and the increasing of quantity ships, it is obviously exposed the deficiency of inland river ship locks navigation capacity and even though the inland navigation resources are abundant with many rivers in our country, and the contradiction is more and more acute. In order to improve the ship lock navigation capability, to ensure safe, convenient, stable and orderly navigation through the ship locks. This paper used a population-based ant algorithm to solve the lock chamber arrangement optimization problem. The population-based ant algorithm uses the population queue as a strategy to update the pheromone, meantime it established the population-based ant algorithm for the lock chamber arrangement, implemented corresponding algorithm through further design, and tested the validity through the lock chamber arrangement of the Qingyuan Water Conservancy and the Yangtze Gorges. The examples are provided to illustrate the validity and practicality of the population-based ant algorithm for the lock chamber arrangement.