Abstract: The maintenance of the channel bottom width is one of the important indicators for maintenance and management of the inland waterway. Reasonable maintenance of the width of the waterway is an important guarantee for the scientific management of the waterway and the green development. In order to explore the method of determining the bottom width of the restricted channel maintenance, and to guide the channel maintenance and management, and based on the theory of navigation and reliability, and the width of the channel bottom which should meet the requirements of the Inland River Navigation Standard, the characteristics of the ship motion and the reliability of the navigation are analyzed and calculated. A cost-benefit model for the inland river restrictive channel maintenance is also developed. The benefits in the model include ship transportation, energy saving, emissions reduction, alternative highway transportation and flood control. The costs in the model include one-time dredging and daily maintenance expenditures. Based on this model, a comprehensive coupled multi-factors analysis was carried out to assess the channel maintenance width for the Zhenjiang reach of the Beijing-Hangzhou Canal. The analysis results show that the 40 m width of the waterway is reasonable. The method of determining the bottom width of the restricted channel has taken into account the multi-factors and multi-targets demand of the inland river restricted channel and has a high practical value.