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Transportation on Inland Waterways — Development of Modern River Boats from Early Types—Lines and Equipment Operating — Various Services Described — Discussion of Freight Savings ODERN types of economical Me: efficient. river towboats have been developed through years of experience with conditions peculiar to river operation. A gradual but definite improvement is noted in design and construction of the vessels themselves, and in addition a marked advance recently in propulsion ma- chinery. As we look at a river towboat of today, capable of moving large tows of barges each with a capacity of 1000 or more tons, it is difficult to realize that these modern boats grew out of the uncertainties and inefficiencies of the craft which were used in the early days of river transportation. The canoe, the pirogue, the flatboat and the keelboat—these were some of the original types from which the mod- ern towboat has been developed. There is one element in river opera- tion that has no counterpart in water transportation elsewhere. This is the fact that it is possible to float a flat- boat or barge down a river with the current, the latter supplying the only means of propulsion. Realization of- this in the early history of the rivers produced a wide range of types includ- ing the ark, flatboat, and broadhorn, which it was a comparatively simple matter, through the use of sweeps or oars, to float down with the current. The necessity of getting the craft back upstream gave rise to all sorts of means of propulsion. In the case of the flatboat which was broken up after completing its journey down- stream and sold for lumber, there was no need of the return upstream. For those craft which the owners deemed valuable enough to warrant moving them back upstream, the means of propulsion might have been oars, poles, towlines or even sails. In some in: stances, the barge was towed by ani- mals. Branches of overhanging trees were also made use of, the method be- ing referred to as “bushwacking’”— moving the barge along by pulling on the tree branches. The keel boat which appeared in 1808, was usually about 50 feet in length, pointed at bow and stern and having a means of propulsion peculiar to itself. Through the use of push poles on running planks along the side of the hull, the boatmen would, by exerting pressure on the river bot- tom and walking from bow to stern, move the craft slowly and strenuous- 22 Part Il BY E. GC. POWERS ly along, repeating the operation over and over again. By this method, these boats moved on an average of 20 miles per day. Between 300 and 400 keel- boats were in use on the Ohio river in 1811. Sails were tried on the river craft but with no success, due to tortuous channels. The application of steam to river boat propulsion began in 1811 with the construction of the steamboat New ORLEANS, 116 feet in length and 20 feet breadth. Steamboats entered service in rapidly increasing numbers and by 1842, there were 450 steamers in oper- ation on the Ohio and Mississippi. Even though other types of propul- sion have appeared, steam is still the power most generally used. Today, practically every type of propelling equipment is in use on the rivers in- cluding diesel twin screw direct drive, diesel electric sternwheel drive, steam turbine electric drive and for fuel, pulverized coal and oil. The use of steel in the construction of river boats began in the year 1881 with the building of the sternwheel steamer CHATTAHOOCHEE, but was not employed to any great extent until ITH a total valuation of over $150,000,000, the floating equipment operating on the inland waterways of the country represents a means of transportation which annually saves millions of dollars in freight shipping costs. The accompany- ing article on the lines and boats conducting services on the var- ious important waterways, is the second part of a comprehensive article covering the business of transportation by inland water- ways. The third part which is to appear in the June number will cover river terminals and cargo handling facilities. The first part which appeared in the April issue dealt with improve- ment of 15 of the most important waterways. MARINE REVIEW—May, 1931 1915. During the war, there was little activity in river boat building, but with the declaration of peace there was a revival in river vessel construc- tion which has continued to the pres- ent time. During the years 1918-1919, due to this great revival of interest in inland waterways as natural avenues of com- merce, astudy was made by the govern- ment of the types best adapted for river service. Attention was given to building materials, economical sizes, lines and propelling arrangements. In October, 1919, 13 vessels were under construction for service on the Missis- sippi, Warrior, Tombigbee, Alabama, and Black Warrior rivers. The type of towboat designed for use on the Mississippi was 200 feet long, 40 feet molded beam, 10 feet molded depth, and 6 feet draft. The craft was an all-steel deck vessel with a continuous deck house about 150 feet long, upper deck house about 30 feet long and pilot house about 20 feet long. Power for propulsion of these vessels was provided by. two triple expansion inverted type up- right engines with cylinders 15% x 25 x 44 inches by 26-inch stroke. Each of the engines developed 900 indi- cated horsepower. Steam for these en- gines was supplied by two watertube boilers, oil fired, having a total of about 8000 square feet heating surface. These vessels are electrically lighted throughout and are equipped with a wireless set with a radius of 600 miles. Electric current for wireless and lighting purposes is provided by two generating sets of 5 and 10 kilowatts respectively. The type of barge used in conjunction with these boats was 230 feet long, 45 feet molded beam and 11 feet molded depth. These barges were constructed throughout of steel. The cargo box was 184 feet long by 37 feet wide. The type of tunnel stern towboat designed for use on the Warrior river was 140 feet long, 24 feet beam, 8 feet 9 inches molded depth, and 6 feet draft at full load. The vessels were single deck type fitted with a continu- ous deckhouse 112 feet long. This type of vessel was powered with two triple expansion inverted type upright engines with cylinders 10% x 17 x 27 inches and stroke of 18 inches. Each engine developed 400 horsepower at 200 revolutions per minute. Steam was