Editing Barge (section)

== The modern barge ==

=== The iron barge ===
The innovation that led to the modern barge was the use of iron barges towed by a steam tugboat. These were first used to transport grain and other bulk products. From about 1840 to 1870 the towed iron barge was quickly introduced on the Rhine, Danube, Don, [[Dniester]], and rivers in Egypt, India and Australia. Many of these barges were built in Great Britain.{{sfn|Seymour|1869|p=90}}

Nowadays 'barge' generally refers to a dumb barge.{{sfn|CESNI|2021|p=1}} In Europe, a Dumb barge is: ''An inland waterway transport freight vessel designed to be towed which does not have its own means of mechanical propulsion''.{{sfn|Eurostat|2010|p=77}} In America, a barge is generally pushed.{{citation needed|date=March 2024}}

=== Modern use ===
{{Unreferenced section|date=April 2023}}
[[File:Chicago River towboat and barge 080405.jpg|thumb|right|Canal style tugboat pushing a barge on the [[Chicago River]]]]
[[File:Tow boat La Crosse.jpg|thumb|3×3 nine unit barge going through [[La Crosse, Wisconsin]]]]
[[File:Cumberland River barge traffic.jpg|thumb|Multiple barges pushed around a tight bend on the [[Cumberland River]]]]
[[File:The tugboat, Herbert P. Brake.jpg|thumb|[[Towboat]] ''Herbert P. Brake'' of New York pushes a new barge east on the [[Erie Canal]] in [[Fairport, New York|Fairport]], [[New York City|New York]], United States]]

Barges are used today for transporting low-value bulk items, as the cost of hauling goods that way is very low and for larger project cargo, such as offshore wind turbine blades.<ref name="marineinsight_com">{{Cite web |last=KaranC |date=2021-01-15 |title=What is an Offshore Barge? |url=https://www.marineinsight.com/types-of-ships/what-is-an-offshore-barge/ |access-date=2024-02-15 |website=Marine Insight |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Lennon |first=Anastasia E. |date=2023-04-05 |title=How it will happen: Barges carrying massive wind turbine parts to perform a complex dance through New Bedford Harbor |url=http://newbedfordlight.org/how-it-will-happen-barges-carrying-massive-wind-turbine-parts/ |access-date=2024-02-15 |website=The New Bedford Light |language=en-US}}</ref> Barges are also used for very heavy or bulky items; a typical American barge measures {{convert|195|x|35|ft|m|sigfig=3}}, and can carry up to about {{convert|1500|ST|t}} of cargo.<ref name="marineinsight_com" /> The most common European barges measure {{convert|76.5|x|11.4|m|ft|order=flip}} and can carry up to about {{convert|2450|t|ST}}.

As an example, on June 26, 2006, in the US a {{convert|565|ST|t|adj=on}} [[Cracking (chemistry)|catalytic cracking]] unit reactor was shipped by barge from the [[Tulsa Port of Catoosa]] in [[Oklahoma]] to a refinery in [[Pascagoula, Mississippi]]. Extremely large objects are normally shipped in sections and assembled after delivery, but shipping an assembled unit reduces costs and avoids reliance on construction labor at the delivery site, which in the case of the reactor was still recovering from [[Hurricane Katrina]]. Of the reactor's {{convert|700|mi|adj=on}} journey, only about {{convert|40|miles|km}} were traveled overland, from the final port to the refinery.

The Transportation Institute at [[Texas A&M University|Texas A&M]] found that inland barge transportation in the US produces far fewer emissions of carbon dioxide for each ton of cargo moved compared to transport by truck or rail.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Kruse |first=C. James |date=January 2022 |title=A MODAL COMPARISON OF DOMESTIC FREIGHT TRANSPORTATION EFFECTS ON THE GENERAL PUBLIC: 2001–2019 |url=https://www.nationalwaterwaysfoundation.org/file/28/TTI%202022%20FINAL%20Report%202001-2019%201.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240204181207/https://www.nationalwaterwaysfoundation.org/file/28/TTI%202022%20FINAL%20Report%202001-2019%201.pdf |archive-date=February 4, 2024 |access-date=February 15, 2024 |website=National Waterways Foundation}}</ref> According to the study, transporting cargo by barge produces 43% less greenhouse gas emissions than rail and more than 800% less than trucks. Environmentalists claim that in areas where barges, tugboats and towboats idle may produce more emissions like in the locks and dams of the Mississippi River.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Schmid |first=Eric |date=2023-09-18 |title=Is barge shipping better for the environment? |url=https://www.marketplace.org/2023/09/18/is-shipping-goods-by-barge-good-for-the-environment/ |access-date=2024-02-15 |website=Marketplace |language=en-US}}</ref>

Self-propelled barges may be used for traveling downstream or upstream in placid 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.

Unpowered vessels—barges—may be used for other purposes, such as large [[accommodation vessel]]s, towed to where they are needed and stationed there as long as necessary. An example is the [[Bibby Stockholm]].<ref>{{cite news| last=Dresch | first=Matthew | title=On board 500-room barge Bibby Stockholm asylum seeker 'floatel' | website=Dorset Live | date=4 April 2023 | url=https://www.dorset.live/news/dorset-news/board-bibby-stockholm-500-room-8321470}}</ref>