Ships navigate freely when in the open sea, but their freedom of movement is reduced in areas with intense traffic, restricted draught or obstacles. In such cases, a traffic separation scheme (TSS) can be established to guide the ship traffic. This paper is based on work performed in connection with a proposed bridge across Fehmarnbelt between Denmark and Germany, and the purpose is to estimate the efficiency of a TSS guiding traffic through the main bridge openings. The efficiency in terms of getting the traffic through the traffic lanes without the TSS hindering traffic flow is an important decision parameter in the bridge design process. In this paper, we present a new “free flow” paradigm based on an innovative, dynamic application of the ship domain theory.
