Introduction of barge A barge is a type of vessel which is mainly used for the purpose of carrying cargo.

However, the most important thing about barge is the fact that they are not independent boats or vessels. They have to be tugged or towed along by tugboats or towboats. Barges are mostly used in smaller water parts like rivers, lakes or canals, and today their service also involves at the sea ports. A barge has flat-shaped on its bottom which is to ensure that the cargocarrying capacity is improved and more bulk can be hauled and transferred. As an example, a (195ft X 35ft) barge can carry fully load to 1,500 tonnes of cargo. Some of the newer barges today are 290 feet by 50 feet, double the capacity of earlier barges. Early, barges were very similar to "Flat Boats" used in the earliest days of river travel. This vessel brought about the need for what became known as Towboats. So the barge itself, really invented these boats to handle them in great numbers on all rivers. By around 1840, barge designs had become a fairly basic thing and most everyone copied them to save time and money. Naturally, a barges size depended upon what it was used for or what it would transport and upon which rivers. For example, fresh goods had to be protected from the elements. So those barges usually always had structures like Keel Boats, for example. If the cargo was raw materials like timber or coal for example, they were open and basic in shape.

Figure 1: early design for barge-wood as material

Early design of barge is small, but still very similar to modern barges, made from hand shaped, using timbers which held together with wooden pegs that were tar- pitch sealed to avoid leaks. That meant they only lasted - a short period of time and so most early barges were sold along with their cargo, when they reached delivery points. Then they were broken up for their lumber, which then was used to build homes and businesses among other things like wagons and even furniture. Self-propelled barges may be used as such when traveling downstream or upstream in calm waters. They are operated as an unpowered barge, with the assistance of a tugboat, when traveling upstream in faster waters. Canal barges are usually made for the particular canal in which they will operate.

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Before, barge is widely used in primitive regions today and in all pre-development where there is lacking highways or railways. They were most efficient transportation in many regions of the world. This is true even today, for many areas of the world such as at Mississippi river.

Type of barge. Barges also come in various types and can be classified into several types including but not limited to hopper barges, log barges, pleasure barges and so forth. For example a car float barge is used for the transportation of cars across a river and a pleasure barge serves the purpose of entertainment rather than carrying any freight. Construction Barges A construction barge is designed to carry or store construction equipment needed to fix or assemble water-based vessels and structures. Construction barges are often used to help assemble or rebuild water-spanning bridges, tunnels and roadways, and can relocate offshore for the construction of stationary rigs and platforms. These barges also help expedite clean-up and reconstruction efforts for regions impacted by natural disasters such as floods and tsunamis. Crane Barge A crane barge is a wide, rectangular vessel with a flat, reinforced deck containing a mounted crane. The barge is designed to carry heavy loads, or more specifically, large cranes for dredging, salvaging, or other commercial use. Cutterhead Dredge Barge A cuttterhead dredge barge is used for mechanical dredging of the sediment off of a river or lake bottom. Due to the relatively shallow water, the dredging is done with the aid of a crane, and not the more advanced equipment required for deep-water dredging offshore. Cutterhead dredge barges are most often used when the area being dredged is too small and too costly for the more common hydraulic dredging. Deck Barge A deck barge has a flat, reinforced top surface designed to carry cargo. Deck barges are for flat or calm water transport only. They also can be anchored for use as temporary or permanent work platforms and floating docks. Drilling Barge
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Drilling barges are large, floating platforms used mostly for inland, shallow water drilling. This typically takes place in lakes, swamps, rivers, and canals. These barges are not selfpropelled, and must be towed by tugboat from location to location. Suitable for still, shallow waters, drilling barges are not able to withstand the water movement experienced in large open water areas. Fuel Barge Fuel barges are essentially what the names implies, a vessel that transports or stores fuel for the use and distribution of and among boats, barges and other maritime vessels. Fuel barges are most often stationary and used as re-fueling stations, but are also can transport fuel with the aid of tow-boats via calm-water canals, rivers and bays. Inland Hopper Barge Inland hopper barges are large vessels that are designed to carry bulk dry cargoes, such as grain or coal, across inland waterways. Hopper barges load material dumped into it by a dredger and discharge the cargo through the bottom. A hopper barge carries its cargo inside, which is loaded directly through the top of the vessel. Jack Up Barge Jack up barges are a self-contained combination of a drilling rig and a floating barge, fitted with long support legs that are dropped to the sea floor once the barge reaches the desired drilling location. Once the barge is properly positioned, the support legs are dropped to the seafloor and driven into the bottom to ensure vessel stability. A pre-loaded jacking mechanism attached to the barge and drilling system then raises the barge above the water to a predetermined height, so that it is unencumbered by wave, tidal and current conditions. Lay Barges Lay barges are vessels specially equipped to lay submarine pipelines. These pipes serve as transportation for collected oil from water to land. The pipe is welded together on the barge and is then released in the form of a long, continuously welded pipeline down behind the barge as it moves forward. Lift Barge Lift barges are large, flat-decked vessels designed to haul and transfer products and equipment too heavy for standard transportation. Many lift barges can also function as mobile dry docks; capable of lifting and securing vessels in excess of 15,000 tons.

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Living Quarters Barge A living quarters barge houses the captain, officers and shipmen who are employed to work aboard a adjoining rig, boat or other maritime vessel. Living quarters barges, or barracks barges as they are sometimes known, may also be used to house military personnel who are operating in the vicinity. Some living quarters barges have been modified for recreational use, such as "floating hotels", gaming casinos and other commercial entities. Spud Barge A spud barge is a vessel that uses heavy timber or pipe as a means by which to moor. The timber or pipe is located in a well at the bottom of the boat, and acts in the same function as would an anchor. Spud barges are riverboats that are most commonly used was work barges, or as a loading or unloading platform. Ocean Barge An ocean barge is designed for the transportation of large amounts of products or equipment across great distances. Their size, speed and relative fuel economy allows companies a cheaper option to air transport for their goods and services, though many of the products shipped are too large for standard freight-carrying airplanes. Ocean barges most commonly transport items such as tow-boats, various watercraft, automobiles and heavy lift equipment. Ocean Hopper Barge Ocean hopper barges function in much the same capacity as inland hopper barges; carrying large or bulk commodities and products from port to port. However, these barges are designed to travel in open water, and have increased vessel mobility as a result. Tank Barge Tank barges haul liquid cargo in holding tanks located inside the barge hull. They carry commodities such as antifreeze, molasses, petroleum, liquid fertilizers and bulk chemicals. Tank barges can carry up to 30,000 barrels of liquid cargo, but are not used as frequently as the more modernized transport barges.

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Other type of barge.

Admiral's barge Barracks barge Car float Crane Barge Dutch barge Dry bulk cargo barge Hopper barge Jackup barge

Lighter and Dumb steel lighter Liquid cargo barge Log barge narrow boat Oil barge and Dumb steel oil barge Pleasure barge Power barge Royal barge

Row barge Sand barge Severn trow Spitz barge Thames sailing barge Tom Pudding Vehicular barge Canal Motorship

Functions and Advantages of Inland Transportation - Barge.

1. THE INLAND BARGE INDUSTRY IS ENERGY EFFICIENT Number of miles one ton can be carried per gallon of fuel:

By truck will travel 59 miles

By rail will travel 202 miles

..

By barge 514 miles

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In a study to compare rail, truck, and barge in shallow-draft water the most energy efficient method of freight transportation for moving bulk raw materials. The analysis of rail and waterway fuel efficiency shows the average BTUs expended per ton-mile totals 433 for barge, and 696 for rail transport. It is much more efficient to move cargo through water than over land. The capacity is the answer to water transport's efficiency. The capacity (1,500 tons) of an inland barge, which is five times its own weight and the industry as a whole is enamours capacity. For barge, it is 15 times greater than one rail car and 60 times greater than one semi truck. To move the same amount of cargo transported by a standard tow (15 barges) require a freight train 2 3/4 miles long or a line of trucks stretching more than 35 miles.

CARGO CAPACITIES Barge 1,500 Tons 52,500 Bushels 453,600 Gallons Rail 100 Tons 3,500 Bushels 30,240 Gallons Truck 25 Tons 875 Bushels 7,560 Gallons

Table 1: the differences of cargo capacities between barge rail and truck.

Barge transportation is a low-energy form of transportation, and shifts of traffic to high-energy forms would be inconsistent with the nation's energy conservation efforts.

2. THE INLAND BARGE INDUSTRY IS EXTREMELY SAFE Transporting cargo safely is an important measure and water transport has the fewest number of accidents, fatalities, and injuries as compared to truck or rail.
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Shallow-draft water transportation has definite advantages because it generally involves less urban exposure than either truck or rail, operates on a system that has few crossing junctures, and is relatively remote from population centers. All factors can reduce both the number and impact of waterway incidents. Truck and rail tank car spills occur more often than barge spills. Barges, because of their much larger capacity, require far fewer units than either rail or truck to move an equivalent amount of cargo, and so the chance of a spill is less likely. Also, design features of barges such as double- hulls and navigational aids help reduce accident frequency. Recent legislation requires all new inland tank barges carrying liquid cargoes to be built with both an inner and outer hull. However, for some time water transport operators have realized the need to protect the environment, and about two thirds of the inland tank barges that have been constructed in the last ten years have complete double hull, double sides, or a double bottom. 3. THE INLAND BARGE INDUSTRY PRODUCES LITTLE AIR AND NOISE POLLUTION Some of the most persistent and disturbing sources of noise and air pollution are transportation systems. Noise levels come from road traffic the chief offender have been rising. Air pollution comes from a wide variety of man-made and natural sources via fossil fuel combustion are the largest contributor. Air pollution caused by transportation includes pollutants directly emitted by engines as well as secondary pollutants formed by chemical reactions. Road traffic is the greatest source of air emissions. Water transport, conversely, causes far less air pollution than trucking, and less or comparable amounts than rail. It has a relatively minor effect on air quality, consumes much less energy (and as a result, produces less air pollution) per ton-mile of freight carried than either rail or truck. For the most part, waterway operations are conducted away from population, which reduce the impact of its exhaust emissions. Little data exists on noise levels of barge operations, mainly because they are not considered a problem. Towboats operate well away from shore, with the sound of their engines quiet below the water line and any noise levels are hardly audible beyond the immediate area of the tow. 4. HAS MINIMAL LAND/USE SOCIAL IMPACT Trains rumble through cities and trucks travel streets and highways. Barges, on the other hand, quietly make their way along isolated waterways. Reduced social interaction, reduced access to other neighbourhoods, and increased
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traffic congestion and traffic patterns are -often a result of increased surface traffic. The impact of rail lines passing through urban areas, and trucking operations occurring in close proximity to high-density population areas, can become a disturbing element to an otherwise reasonably calm environment in settled areas. By contrast, water transport has little impact on densely populated areas, well away from shore, and because of the large tonnage moved at one time, tow passages are rare. Since most of the right-of-way for water transport is provided by nature, navigation is less likely than other transport forms to compete with non-transportation uses for land area, an important consideration in urban locations. Extensive land area can be taken up by new highways and railroad corridors, but apart from a few connections and waterside terminals, waterways block very little land. 5. PRODUCES MULTIPLE BENEFITS Transporting bulk commodities by water has many other positive benefits and many recipients. When a new navigation project is completed, more than water transportation benefits. The other major beneficiaries of developed waterway systems include recreation, flood control, public water supply, irrigation, and industrial use, all uses that can be as important as the navigation project itself. Navigation not only creates opportunities for new industries, but may also change trade patterns that can have a major economic impact on local and regional development.

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Bibliography
Planning, t. o. (2001). container barge feeder service study. Connecticut Department of Transportation. Ricky, L. S. (18 March, 2009). Type of ship-Barge.

Wikipedia_barge Types of Ships Barge Written by: Ricky Edited by: Lamar Stonecypher Updated Mar 18, 2009 article 2011 Bright Hub Inc. All rights reserved .-- Resource 4 Admiralty Law > Types of Maritime Accidents > Barge Accidents This is a publication of the U.S. Department of Transportation, Maritime Administration

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