Barges and Tows

East Dubuque Local Area History Project

	Barges & Tows by J. S. 4/25/00

	Around 1840, barge use appeared. The cost of barges around 1810 was about five dollars for each foot of length. They were from thirty to seventy feet long and from seven to twelve feet in width. They carried a mast, sail, and a rudder. Going downstream, they used four long oars and could move from four to five miles an hour. When they went upstream, they used poles and could move at best about two miles an hour. That was considered very good going against the current.

	From 1866 to 1910, there developed a new structure called a log raft. It consisted of logs all tied together and a crew that camped on the surface of the raft. The raft was always headed for a sawmill. Many rafts were built that six-hundred, eighty rafts passed under the Government bridge by 1873. That number increased to 1,056 by 1884. Companies identified their logs by branding them. The log rafts soon were improved but it made the rafts hard to control. Their solution to this problem was to push them by boats. All of their tries were unsuccessful except for the boat of J.W. Van Sant. A few years later, rafts were pushed by smaller boats called bow boats.

	The barges were hard to steer and push, starting about 1840, barges were pushed by steamboats. Steamboats were modified by removing their decks and their decorations. Very strong engines and many rudders to help control them. These steamboats were allowed to carry only fuel, the cargo, and the crew.

	Soon, railroads were developing and their bridges were being made. Competition began between railroads and river traffic. The railroad bridges were making it hard for boats to fight the current through draw spans. Traffic on the Upper Mississippi River was hurt the most by the railroads. Railroads got to their destinations faster than boats because their routes were shorter and they were able to go anywhere in the country. Boats could only transport on water. Railroads could deliver goods year round but boats couldn’t. The railroads turned very aggressive and added better passenger seats and better freight cars. Railroads wouldn’t do anything to let their competitors through their bridges easily. The railroad tracks that ran parallel to the river as close as the waterfront were boats biggest problem. That made loading and unloading hard. Steamboats did not help each other defeat railroads, they only fought more with each other trying to wipe each other out of river traffic. The Diamond Jo Line was the survivor of the competition in 1890, but they knew that they could not survive against the railroads. After all of that, the railroads won.

	Freight traffic on the river continued to decrease. Soon, they only shipped coal from the Ohio River to power plants. From 1914 to 1940, the biggest user of the river was the Corps of Engineers. After World War I, river transportation was needed. Soon, more tries to bring back river traffic were made. In 1922, business men began having barges carry high class packages. Some John Deere and Moline equipment was being sent by river, and automobiles made by Ford were also being transported, but no one followed their examples. During World War I, they were short of railroad facilities. The Chief of Engineers tried to find a way to replace this loss of railroad facilities. They decided to use water transportation. 3.9 billion dollars was given from the United States Shipping to work towboats and barges. The Federal Barge Service was commonly called the Federal Barge Lines. It was controlled by the Railroad Administration until 1920, and then by the Secretary of War. The Inland Waterways Transportation Act was passed making the Inland Waterways Corporation. In 1927, an agreement was made for a private group to build many towboats and barges that would be leased by Inland Waterways Corporation and worked north of St. Louis. Early that year, three towboats and barges were built. Traffic rose from 14,061 tons in 1927 to 119,648 tons in 1928.

	The Inland Waterways Corporation succeeded with its experiments with towboats and barges and encouraged building public and private terminals. New terminals were built and opened between 1927 and 1931 at Minneapolis, Dubuque, Burlington, St. Paul, and Rhode Island. By 1928, a new barge was designed that could carry 1,000 tons on the 6-foot channel and double that amount on the 9-foot channel. The price of building these barges decreased and they could use both the Upper and Lower Mississippi avoiding transferring freight to different barges at St. Louis. Another change to the new towboats was to get diesel engines instead of steam and propellers instead of paddlewheels. Now, the towboat is back in competition and can now tow 40,000 to 50,000 tons each. Railroads could pull 150 cars with 50 tons each.

	Twenty-six locks and dams were needed for the 9-foot channel. The chosen roller gate let fish by, helped aerate the water, and stabilized the water levels. Some gates were hollow and could be raised to let the right amount of water inside.

	In 1977, the W.S. Rhea set a record by pushing 17 barges in a single tow. Barges at the head of the tow have slopes. The barges in the middle have no slopes. The trailing barges have a small slope. Barges are specialized for the type of cargo. Today’s standard barge is 195 ft. long and 35 ft. wide with an 8 to 9 foot draft. Usually now there are no more than fifteen barges in a tow because that is how much fit in a lock.

	In 1977, the W.S. Rhea set a record by pushing 17 barges in a single tow. Barges at the head of the tow have slopes. The barges in the middle have no slopes. The trailing barges have a small slope. Barges are specialized for the type of cargo. Today’s standard barge is 195 ft. long and 35 ft. wide with an 8 to 9 foot draft. Usually now there are no more than fifteen barges in a tow because that is how much fit in a lock.

	In 1977, the W.S. Rhea set a record by pushing 17 barges in a single tow. Barges at the head of the tow have slopes. The barges in the middle have no slopes. The trailing barges have a small slope. Barges are specialized for the type of cargo. Today’s standard barge is 195 ft. long and 35 ft. wide with an 8 to 9 foot draft. Usually now there are no more than fifteen barges in a tow because that is how much fit in a lock.

	The Mississippi River has been an important route for moving freight since the early 1800’s. Although there have been many changes over the years, tows and barges are still common all along the Mississippi.

	Bibliography Peterson, William J. Steam boating on the Upper Mississippi. New York : Dover Publications, Inc., 1968. Tweet, Roald D. History of Transportation on the Upper Mississippi & Illinois Rivers. [Fort Belvoir, Va.]:National Waterways Study, U.S. Army Engineer Water Resources Support Center, Institute for Water Resources; [Washington, D.C. : Supt. of Docs., U.S. G.P.O., distributor], 1983. Photos Courtesy of Center for Dubuque History. Loras College, Dubuque, Iowa.