10 or 11 barges is a long unit. I remember watching tugs pushing a half dozen barges struggling to avoid burrying the lead barge into the bank on tight bends or to enter locks on the Texas ICW and occasionally causing damage sometimes requiring extensive repairs. I’m not aware of any length or tonnage limitations imposed on the number of barges pushed ahead. Someone in the know can correct me on this if I am wrong.
Does Occam’s Razor provide the most logical explanation, ie, too many barges creating handling problems?
I got in the Guinness Book of Records once for towing a car 975 miles.
That was a long tow.
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On the upper Mississippi and Ohio rivers you’ll find a 15-barge tow to be very common. On the Ohio river, a tow that size can pass through the locks in one shot. In my youth I did time on a towboat. I recall that number typical on the tow from St. Louis to Minneapolis.
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I can never hear the term “breakaway barge” without thinking about that Budweiser commercial. Back in '84, there was always a washtub full of ice and Bud at the dock.
I had to look that one up.
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Ah, beer on board, those were the days.
Sigh.
Ah I recall working for Budweiser…Clydesdale Operations. We ALWAYS had had 6 cases on ice.
Yes those were the days.
Talk about the good ole days, back in '86. my first trip into Port Everglades we dropped off 185K bbl barge of gasoline. Then moved down the dock near the only tree in the port. The safety man meet us under the tree with 2 cases of beer iced down. Now that’s a safety meeting!!
That commercial for Bud is funny as hell. those guys were far too thin to be deck hands:)
I cant get a sense of perspective of the location. as i do not have local knowledge. are those dam gates that the burgers are up against ie spill way or a navigable underpass. Looks like a spillway?