Pictures from the Mighty Mississippi

[Cinder & Smoke]

Did I read Phred's barge info right -
your boat can push up to 40 barges at once?!? Wowzers!

Yuppers!

The UPPER Missippi, Illinois, and Ohio Rivers limit "tows" to 15 barges ---
stretching 1/4 mile front to back!

" A Typical 15 Barge Tow, which operates on the Upper Miss, Ohio & Illinois, is restricted in size to a Maximum size of 15 Loaded or 16 Empties. This rule applies to all tows - above St. Louis, which must pass through - Locks & Dams to reach upper points, because the rivers is more narrow. Plus the limited space within locks, allows only a certain amount of tonnage to fit within them. A tow of 15 - Hopper barges, lashed together ( 3 - wide ) and 5 - Long ( "Lashed End To End" ), are equivalent to a 1/4 mile in overall length with the boat included, being approximately 1145 feet long. If Loaded, a 15 barge tow carries a "Whopping 22,500 tons of cargo, more than 4 1/2 times what the average Cargo Ship - carries!"

On the LOWER Mississippi (below St, Louis) there aren't any Locks & Dams to restrict things ...
so the tows are lashed up 8 barges wide (280 feet) by 5 deep ahead of the Boat! WW!

"Below St. Louis to the Gulf of New Orleans, tows can attain numbers of over 40 to 50+ barges in a single tow. Pushed by a single vessel. which is the largest class of Long Haul - boats. Rated above 6000 to 10500+ horsepower in the biggest vessels, powered by Twin, or Triple Screws as the ... "The Big Boys" of PUSH. With no locks to restrict - tow-size below St. Louis, the only restrictions or exceptions that reduce things are restrictions by the rivers conditions, depending on safe navigation rules, set by the Coast Guard. For Example - during low water or high water - flooding, or in towing accidents, or when the river channels are being dredged, or during bad weather .... Such things can and often do, reduce barge tow sizes or can halt traffic completely. Otherwise the vessel and/or its Capt, or owners, set the towed number of barges that it will push - safely, naturally following the CG - laws for safe navigation. So occasionally when there's a bottleneck of barges in a fleet, a boat with the power to handle massive tows, gets a chance to show it stuff. The results, a record size number of barges, pushed at one time, which boggles the mind to its massive size!"

Information from:
http://oldriverbillzumwalt.members.ktis.net/barges.htm

/s/ Phred

[Cinder & Smoke]

When does a "boat" become a "ship?"

Sorta depends on WHERE you go sailing.

Sail on an inland RIVER or LAKE ... and chances are they're gonna say they're on a BOAT.

Sail on the high SEAS ... and most folks say they're on a SHIP.

"Size" doesn't really matter.

[ramanth]

How neat! I always envisioned you worked on a boat that went out to sea (for fish or whatnot).

Very cool that you get to go up and down the mighty Mississip.