Barge
Flat-bottomed boat without mechanical propulsion, used for cargo.
Matti Blume · CC BY-SA 4.0
A barge is a flat-bottomed boat that lacks its own mechanical engine. It was first used on inland waterways, but today it also operates in marine environments. Early modern barges were towed by tugboats; on inland waterways, they are now mostly pushed by pusher boats or other vessels.
The word "barge" dates from 1300, coming from Old French *barge* and Vulgar Latin *barga*. It originally meant any small boat, with its modern meaning emerging around 1480. Related terms include "bark" (from 1420) and "barque," both likely stemming from Latin *barica* and Greek *baris*, an Egyptian boat, itself from Coptic *bari* and an Egyptian hieroglyph for "basket-shaped boat." The verb "embark" literally means to board such a boat.
In 18th-century Great Britain, a merchant barge was a flat-bottomed vessel for navigable rivers, often with sails. On the River Severn, smaller barges (40 to 60 feet long, with a single mast and square sail) carried 20 to 40 tons, while larger vessels were called trows. On the River Irwell, barges passed below Barton Aqueduct with masts and sails raised. Early Thames barges were known as west country barges.
By the 1890s, the word "barge" had many local meanings in the UK. On the Mersey, it was a "flat"; on the Thames, a "lighter" or barge; on the Humber, a "keel." A lighter had no mast or rigging, while a keel had a single mast with sails. Any flat not steam-powered was called a barge, though it might be a sailing flat. The term "dumb barge" emerged in the early 19th century, first meaning a fixed mooring platform that rose and fell with the tide, then evolving to mean a vessel propelled only by oars. By the 1890s, it was used only on the Thames.
By 1880, British river and canal barges were often towed by steam tugboats. On the Thames, many dumb barges still relied on poles, oars, and the tide, while others used about 50 tugboats. Many coal barges were towed, but dumb barges handling single parcels were not.
Today, the Thames sailing barge, Dutch barge, and other styles are still called barges on British waterways. "Dutch barge" now often refers to an accommodation ship, but originally meant a slightly larger Dutch version of the Thames sailing barge.
During the Industrial Revolution (from 1750), a network of canals was built in Great Britain. Larger canals could hold ocean-going vessels, but smaller canals had locks, bridges, and tunnels only 7 feet wide at the waterline. This led to the narrowboat, with a beam of 6 feet 10 inches to allow clearance. Later locks were doubled to 14 feet, prompting the widebeam canal boat. The narrowboat is defined as a British canal boat of long, narrow design, steered with a tiller, not exceeding 7 feet in width or 72 feet in length. Narrowboats were initially called barges, towed by horses on towpaths. Today, narrowboats and widebeams are used mostly for leisure cruising and are engine-powered.
The people who moved barges were lightermen. Poles, often called pike poles, are used to fend off other vessels or wharves. The long pole used to maneuver a barge gave rise to the saying "I wouldn't touch that with a barge pole."
In the 19th-century United States, a barge was not a sailing vessel. Barges were often made by cutting down sailing vessels (razeeing). In New York, this was an accepted meaning. The smaller scow was built as such, but also had a sailing counterpart, the sailing scow.
The modern barge emerged with the use of iron barges towed by steam tugboats, first used to transport grain and other bulk products. From about 1840 to 1870, towed iron barges were quickly introduced on the Rhine, Danube, Don, Dniester, and rivers in Egypt, India, and Australia.
- Field
- Maritime transport
- Known for
- Transporting low-value bulk items and heavy cargo without self-propulsion
Lore & Background
Both are probably derived from the Latin 'barica', from Greek 'baris' meaning 'Egyptian boat', from Coptic 'bari' meaning 'small boat', and from hieroglyphic Egyptian 'ba-y-r' for 'basket-shaped boat'. By extension, the term 'embark' literally means to board the kind of boat called a 'barque'. In Great Britain, a merchant barge was originally a flat-bottomed merchant vessel for use on navigable rivers. Most of these barges had sails. On the River Severn, the lesser sort were called barges and frigates, from forty to sixty feet in length, with a single mast and square sail, carrying from twenty to forty tons burthen. By the 1890s, the word barge had many meanings that varied locally. On the Mersey, a barge was called a 'Flat'; on the Thames, a Lighter or barge; on the Humber, a 'Keel'. The term 'dumb barge' surfaced in the early nineteenth century, first denoting a mooring platform, then a vessel propelled by oars only, and by the 1890s was still used only on the Thames.
Reader's Guide
The barge has been a fundamental vessel for inland waterway transport for centuries, evolving from sail-powered craft to towed and pushed vessels. Its significance lies in its ability to carry large volumes of low-value bulk items and extremely heavy or bulky cargo at low cost and with reduced environmental impact compared to road or rail transport. The legacy of the barge includes the development of specialized types like the narrowboat and widebeam on British canals, and the continued use of dumb barges in Europe and pushed barges in America.
Did You Know?
- The term 'dumb barge' first denoted a mooring platform, then a vessel propelled by oars only, and by the 1890s was used only on the Thames.
- In the United States, barges were often created by cutting down (razeeing) sailing vessels by the end of the 19th century.
Engineering & Structural Design
A jackup rig is, at its core, a water-tight barge hull paired with a set of movable support legs—typically three, four, six, or in some cases eight—that can be extended above or below the deck. This buoyant hull is what allows the entire unit, including all attached machinery, to be floated to a work site. Once positioned, the legs are lowered into the seabed, and the hull is elevated well above the waves. The legs themselves come in several configurations: some are engineered to penetrate the sea floor directly, others carry enlarged footings or spud cans, and still others rest on a bottom mat. Most units are not self-propelled and depend on tugs or heavy-lift vessels for transit. In terms of geometry, the hull may be triangular with three legs or square with four. The record for height belongs to the Noble Lloyd Noble, completed in 2016, whose legs stand 214 metres tall. These design choices give jackups their signature stability and make them a preferred platform for shallow-water offshore work, generally in depths up to about 150 metres.
Pioneering the Mobile Drilling Era
The story of the jackup rig begins with Leon B. DeLong, who in 1949 founded his own engineering and construction firm. By 1950 he had built DeLong Rig No. 1 for Magnolia Petroleum—a barge fitted with six legs. Three years later, DeLong partnered with McDermott, and together they delivered the DeLong-McDermott No. 1 in 1954 for Humble Oil. That vessel, a ten-legged barge equipped with spud cans to limit how deeply the legs would dig, is widely regarded as the first truly mobile offshore drilling platform. After Southern Natural Gas Company acquired the operation and rebranded as The Offshore Company, the unit was renumbered Offshore No. 51. Meanwhile, in 1954, Zapata Offshore—then owned by George H. W. Bush—ordered the Scorpion, designed by R. G. LeTourneau. Its three electro-mechanically driven lattice legs marked a new engineering approach. Built along the Mississippi River and launched in December 1955, the Scorpion began operations off Port Aransas, Texas, in May 1956. A sister vessel, the Vinegaroon, followed from the same design team.
From Transit to Standing Fast
Deploying a jackup rig follows a carefully sequenced procedure. The unit is first moved to its work location—either under its own propulsion or towed by tugs—with the legs raised above the hull and the barge floating at water level. Once on station, the crew jacks the legs downward through the water column until they contact the seabed. A critical step called preloading then follows: the combined weight of the barge plus additional ballast water presses the legs firmly into the sea bottom, locking them in place so they will not sink further during operations. Only after preloading is complete does the jacking system lift the entire hull to a predetermined height above the waves, known as the air gap. At this point, wave, tidal, and current forces act solely on the slender legs rather than the broad hull. Modern jacking mechanisms typically employ a rack-and-pinion gear system, with the pinion gears driven by hydraulic or electric motors and the rack fixed to the legs. Standard jackups operate in water depths generally under 120 metres, though premium and ultra-premium variants extend that range to roughly 150 to 190 metres.
A Workhorse Across Offshore Sectors
Jackup platforms have become the dominant mobile offshore unit worldwide, outnumbering every other type of rig in active service. At the close of 2013, approximately 540 jackup drilling rigs were in operation globally. Their near-exclusive role has been as exploratory oil and gas drilling platforms, but their utility has broadened to include service operations for offshore wind farms and other fixed structures. In the drilling sector, they sit alongside semi-submersibles, which float on pontoon-like structures, and drillships, which are ship-shaped vessels that drill through moon-pool openings in their hulls. Beyond hydrocarbons, a specialized class of jackup rigs known as Turbine Installation Vessels has been purpose-built for erecting offshore wind turbines. Jackup barges also serve as working bases for maintaining long bridges, servicing other drilling platforms, and supporting wind-turbine operations. Their combination of stability, versatility, and cost-effectiveness keeps them the preferred choice for shallow-water offshore work, typically in depths up to 150 metres.
Gallery
Frequently Asked Questions
What exactly is a barge in transportation engineering?
A barge is a flat-bottomed vessel that lacks its own mechanical propulsion system and is designed primarily to carry cargo. It is the workhorse of bulk freight movement on waterways.
How are barges actually moved along a waterway?
Early modern barges were towed behind tugboats, but today the dominant method on inland rivers is for a pusher boat to drive the barge from behind. Some marine operations still use tug-assisted towing.
What kind of cargo do barges typically transport?
Barges are best suited for low-value, high-volume bulk materials and heavy freight that does not require fast delivery. Think grain, coal, sand, or construction aggregates rather than perishables.
Where can you find barges operating?
Although the concept originated on inland rivers and canals, modern barges function in both freshwater and saltwater environments. Their flat-bottomed hull design makes them adaptable to shallow and deep channels alike.
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