A hopper barge is a type of barge commonly designed to transport commodities like coal, steel, rocks, sand, soil and waste. [1] 'Hopper barge' can also refer to a barge that dumps cargo at sea. These are now commonly called 'split hopper barge', because they split along the length of the hull. Split hopper barges can be non-propelled or self-propelled . [2] [3] [4]
The term 'hopper barge' surfaces in the second half of 19th century England, especially in relation to dredging. [5] The word 'hopper' has multiple meanings. The hopper car is a well known use, but hopper can also mean: "any of various other receptacles for the temporary storage of material". [6] By the 1890s, iron hopper barges used in dredging had doors in the hull for quickly dumping their load on the sea floor. [7]
The 1950s American hopper barge descended from the welded steel barge, which replaced wooden cargo carriers. The steel barge offered better protection for the cargo, and required little maintenance. [1]
In the 1950s hopper barges ranged from 800 to 3,500 tons. [1]
A hopper barge differs from other barges by having a hopper. This is the area of the open cargo hold. [8]
Hopper barges are usually of double-hull construction. This means that the sides and bottom of the cargo hold are separated from the hull by void spaces. [9] This is done because the hopper barge has to resist heavy external impacts, as well as the heavy blows of unloading buckets into it. Internal bracing in the internal space transmmits the impact of loading to a larger area, and so ensures that the side shell of the hopper barge is not deformed. [1]
Non self-propelled hopper barges are seen in two distinctive types; raked hopper and boxed hopper barges. Single raked barges are raked (tapered in depth) at the bow only. Double raked barges are tapered at both bow and stern. [10]
The open hopper barge is generally used to carry ores and steel on inland waterways. [1]
In the United States, covered hopper barges generally have steel hatch coverings operating on roller bearings. These quickly open and close over a wide section of the hold and are watertight. As the covers can generally expose about half of the hold, these enable vertical loading. [1] Another type of cover is the lift-off (stacking) type cover. [9]
Covered hopper barges transport grains and other agricultural products, salt, steel products, paper products, minerals, and sometimes packaged products. [1]
Split hopper barges are used to dump cargo at sea. This comes mostly from dredging. The split hopper barge is the successor to the hopper barge with doors in the hull, which dumped its cargo by opening these doors. [7]
The hull of the split hopper barge splits longitudinally between the end bulkheads. The vessel consists of two major moving parts (port and starboard halves), both are mostly symmetrical in design. Both parts of the vessel are hinged at the deck and operated by hydraulic cylinders. When the vessel splits the load is dumped rapidly, which means the barge has to be very stable in order not to capsize or otherwise get damaged.
Barge often refers to a flat-bottomed inland waterway vessel which does not have its own means of mechanical propulsion. The first modern barges were pulled by tugs, but on inland waterways, most are pushed by pusher boats, or other vessels. The term barge has a rich history, and therefore there are many other types of barges.
A ship is a large watercraft that travels the world's oceans and other sufficiently deep waterways, carrying cargo or passengers, or in support of specialized missions, such as defense, research and fishing. Ships are generally distinguished from boats, based on size, shape, load capacity and purpose. Ships have supported exploration, trade, warfare, migration, colonization, and science. Ship transport is responsible for the largest portion of world commerce.
Naval architecture, or naval engineering, is an engineering discipline incorporating elements of mechanical, electrical, electronic, software and safety engineering as applied to the engineering design process, shipbuilding, maintenance, and operation of marine vessels and structures. Naval architecture involves basic and applied research, design, development, design evaluation (classification) and calculations during all stages of the life of a marine vehicle. Preliminary design of the vessel, its detailed design, construction, trials, operation and maintenance, launching and dry-docking are the main activities involved. Ship design calculations are also required for ships being modified. Naval architecture also involves formulation of safety regulations and damage-control rules and the approval and certification of ship designs to meet statutory and non-statutory requirements.
A merchant ship, merchant vessel, trading vessel, or merchantman is a watercraft that transports cargo or carries passengers for hire. This is in contrast to pleasure craft, which are used for personal recreation, and naval ships, which are used for military purposes.
Dredging is the excavation of material from a water environment. Possible reasons for dredging include improving existing water features; reshaping land and water features to alter drainage, navigability, and commercial use; constructing dams, dikes, and other controls for streams and shorelines; and recovering valuable mineral deposits or marine life having commercial value. In all but a few situations the excavation is undertaken by a specialist floating plant, known as a dredger.
A bulkhead is an upright wall within the hull of a ship or within the fuselage of an airplane. Other kinds of partition elements within a ship are decks and deckheads.
A turret deck ship is a type of merchant ship with an unusual hull, designed and built in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The hulls of turret deck vessels were rounded and stepped inward above their waterlines. This gave some advantages in strength and allowed them to pay lower canal tolls under tonnage measurement rules then in effect. The type ceased to be built after those rules changed. The last turret deck ship in existence was scrapped in 1960.
A bulk carrier or bulker is a merchant ship specially designed to transport unpackaged bulk cargo—such as grain, coal, ore, steel coils, and cement—in its cargo holds. Since the first specialized bulk carrier was built in 1852, economic forces have led to increased size and sophistication of these ships. Today's bulk carriers are specially designed to maximize capacity, safety, efficiency, and durability.
Lake freighters, or lakers, are bulk carrier vessels that operate on the Great Lakes of North America. These vessels are traditionally called boats, although classified as ships.
A dry bulk cargo barge is a barge designed to carry freight such as coal, ores, grain, sand or gravel, or similar materials. Barges are usually constructed of steel. They have an outer hull, and one or more internal holds. A rake barge has a bow shaped to cause less resistance when being pushed and is usually placed at the head of the tow. A box barge has no rake to the ends and is usually placed in the center and rear of the tow and can hold more cargo.
The lighter aboard ship (LASH) system refers to the practice of loading barges (lighters) aboard a bigger vessel for transport. It was developed in response to a need to transport lighters, a type of unpowered barge, between inland waterways separated by open seas. Lighters are typically towed or pushed around harbors, canals or rivers and cannot be relocated under their own power. The carrier ships are known variously as LASH carriers, barge carriers, kangaroo ships or lighter transport ships.
A ship's hold or cargo hold is a space for carrying cargo in the ship's compartment.
Weeks Marine is a marine construction and dredging contractor based in Cranford, NJ. It was founded by Francis Weeks and his son Richard B. Weeks in 1919 as the Weeks Stevedoring Company.
Finnpusku is an integrated tug and barge system owned and operated by ESL Shipping, a Finnish shipping company that specializes in bulk cargo transports in the Baltic Sea. The system was developed in the 1980s by Finnlines, another Finnish shipping company that also managed the vessels until 2003, in co-operation with Rautaruukki to transport raw materials to the Raahe Steel Works. Two pushers and five barges, four of which remain in service, were delivered by Hollming in 1986–1987.
No 5 dumb hopper barge, since being scuttled known as the No. 5 Barge, Zanoni Barge and Ardrossan Barge, was a hopper barge which was built in 1911 at Balmain in New South Wales by Poole & Steel for the then Marine Board of South Australia, an agency of the Government of South Australia. She was part of a fleet of vessels used to dredge the shipping approaches to Port Adelaide and other ports in South Australia. Her specific role was to hold spoil from the dredging process and convey it under tow to a dumping site. In 1978, she became redundant after the purchase of two self-propelled barges.
The Type B ship is a United States Maritime Administration (MARAD) designation for World War II barges. Barges are very low cost to build, operate and move. Barges were needed to move large bulky cargo. A tug boat, some classed as Type V ships, could move a barge, then depart and move on to the next task. That meant the barge did not have to be rushed to be unloaded or loaded. Toward the end of World War 2, some ships that had not been completed in time for the war were converted to barges. US Navy barges are given the prefix: YWN or YW. Due to shortage of steel during World War II, concrete ship constructors were given contracts to build concrete barges, with ferrocement and given the prefix YO, YOG, YOGN. Built in 1944 and 1945, some were named after elements.
This glossary of nautical terms is an alphabetical listing of terms and expressions connected with ships, shipping, seamanship and navigation on water. Some remain current, while many date from the 17th to 19th centuries. The word nautical derives from the Latin nauticus, from Greek nautikos, from nautēs: "sailor", from naus: "ship".
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