Page 17 - Louisiana Loop (manuscript Edition)
P. 17
A barge is a flat-bottomed boat, built mainly for river and
canal transport of heavy goods. Originally they were used in
the canal systems of the eastern United States and the word
“tow” comes from the use of a draft animal walking along the
bank of the canal towing the barge.
Beginning in the 1840s non-scheduled steamboats often pushed
one or more barges to increase cargo capacity. By the 1850s
experienced river men found that lashing barges together and
pushing them provided more control and allowed more barges to
be moved at once.
The practice of pushing barges favored sternwheel propelled
boats over sidewheelers and promoted other improvements as
well.
As a result towboats became a distinct type of boat by 1860.
Combustion engines were first used about 1910 but did not
become commonplace until the late 1930s, when diesel-powered
propeller boats appeared.
Today’s towboats range in size from about 117 feet long by 30
feet wide to more than 200 feet long and 45 feet wide and have
diesel engines that can produce up to 10,000 horsepower.
North of St. Louis on the Upper Mississippi River towboats are
usually 3,000 to 5,000 horsepower.
