The waterway is an important public welfare transportation infrastructure for the country and the foundation of high-quality development of inland waterway shipping.Under the strong guidance of policies such as new infrastructure construction and digital transportation,the development of smart channels faces significant opportunities.Currently,large-scale smart waterway projects are about to start construction,but a specific evaluation index system for the effectiveness of smart waterway construction has not yet been established.To guide and standardize the construction of smart channels,the study has proposed an evaluation index system.The analytic hierarchy process is used to construct a score evaluation model for construction effectiveness.This study also proposed a classification definition for smart channels.The results can evaluate the effectiveness of smart waterway engineering construction objectively and quantitatively.It is conducive to promoting the digital and intelligent transformation and upgrading of waterway infrastructure.