View source for Barge

{{short description|Flat-bottomed watercraft for transport of bulk goods}}
{{Other uses}}

[[File:Barge on River Thames, London - Dec 2009.jpg|thumb|right|300px|Barges towed by a tugboat on the [[River Thames]] in [[London]], England, [[UK]]]]
[[File:US_Navy_032411-C-9409S-001_The_British_Airways_Concorde_Jet_passes_the_Statue_of_Liberty_in_New_York_Harbor_on_its_way_to_the_USS_Intrepid_Air_%5E_Space_Museum.jpg|thumb|right|300px|A British Airways Concorde being towed in New York City, United States. It is on a deck barge.{{sfn|Evolution|1958|p=141}}]]

A '''barge''' is typically a [[flat-bottomed boat]] which does not have its own means of mechanical propulsion, equivalent to a [[Trailer (vehicle)|trailer]] on land.{{sfn|Eurostat|2010|p=77}} Their original use was on inland waterways, while modern use is on both inland and [[ocean|marine]]<!-- typically, heavily ballasted with water [[ballast]] for any marine legs of a journey --> water environments. The first modern barges were pulled by [[tug]]s, but on inland waterways, most are pushed by [[Pusher (boat)|pusher boats]], or other vessels.{{not verified in body|date=December 2025}} The term ''barge'' has a rich history, and therefore there are many types of barges.

== History of the barge ==

=== Etymology ===
''Barge'' is attested from 1300, from [[Old French]] ''barge'', from [[Vulgar Latin]] ''barga''. The word originally could refer to any small boat; the modern meaning arose around 1480. ''Bark'' "small ship" is attested from 1420, from Old French ''barque'', from Vulgar Latin ''barca'' (400 AD). A more precise meaning (see [[Barque]]) arose in the 17th century and often takes the French spelling for disambiguation. Both are probably derived from the [[Latin]] ''barica'', from [[Greek language|Greek]] ''baris'' "Egyptian boat", from [[Coptic language|Coptic]] ''bari'' "small boat", [[hieroglyphic]] Egyptian <small><hiero>D58-G29-M17-M17-D21-P1</hiero></small> and similar ''ba-y-r'' for "basket-shaped boat".<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=8cMWickoS6oC&dq=egyptian+word+for+boat+Bairi+&pg=PA202 ''An Egyptian hieroglyphic dictionary: with an index of English words''] by Sir Ernest Alfred Wallis Budge from [[Google Books]]</ref> By extension, the term "embark" literally means to board the kind of boat called a "barque".

=== British river barges ===
==== 18th century ====
[[File:Watercolour_of_Barton_aqueduct_by_G.F._Yates_1793.jpg|thumb|River barge below [[Barton Aqueduct]] {{circa|1793}}]]

In [[Kingdom of Great Britain|Great Britain]], a merchant barge was originally a flat bottomed merchant vessel for use on navigable rivers.{{sfn|A Society of Gentlemen|1763|p=261}} Most of these barges had sails. For traffic on the [[River Severn]], the barge was described thus: "The lesser sort are called barges and frigates, being from forty to sixty feet in length, having a single mast and square sail, and carrying from twenty to forty tons burthen." The larger vessels were called trows.{{sfn|Phillips|1792|p=218}} On the [[River Irwell]], there was reference to barges passing below Barton Aqueduct with their mast and sails standing.{{sfn|Phillips|1792|p=75}} Early barges on the [[River Thames|Thames]] were called west country barges.{{sfn|A Society of Gentlemen|1763|p=261}}

==== 19th century ====
[[File:Barge,_River_Thames_-_geograph.org.uk_-_2099639.jpg|thumb|Dumb barge on the Thames]]
In the United Kingdom, the word barge had many meanings by the 1890s, and these varied locally. On the [[River Mersey|Mersey]], a barge was called a 'Flat', on the Thames a [[Lighter (barge)|Lighter]] or barge, and on the [[Humber]] a 'Keel'.{{sfn|Royal Commission on Labour |1893 |p=24}} A Lighter had neither mast nor rigging.{{sfn|Royal Commission on Labour |1893 |p=52}} A keel did have a single mast with sails.{{sfn|Royal Commission on Labour |1893 |p=24}} Barge and lighter were used indiscriminately. A local distinction was that any flat that was not propelled by steam was a barge, although it might be a sailing flat.{{sfn|Royal Commission on Labour |1893 |p=24}}

The term Dumb barge was probably taken into use to end the confusion. The term Dumb barge surfaced in the early nineteenth century. It first denoted the use of a barge as a mooring platform in a fixed place. As it went up and down with the tides, it made a very convenient mooring place for steam vessels.{{sfn|Redman|1843|p=238}} Within a few decades, the term dumb barge evolved and came to mean: 'a vessel propelled by oars only'.{{sfn|McKellar|Hocking|1871|p=391}} By the 1890s, Dumb barge was still used only on the Thames.{{sfn|Royal Commission on Labour |1893 |p=39}}
[[File:Dutch_barge.jpg|thumb|A Dutch barge in [[Namur]], Belgium]]

By 1880, barges on British rivers and canals were often towed by steam tugboats.{{sfn|Dickens|1880|p=15}} On the Thames, many dumb barges still relied on their poles, oars and the tide. Others dumb barges made use of about 50 tugboats to tow them to their destinations. While many coal barges were towed, many dumb barges that handled single parcels were not.{{sfn|Dickens|1880|p=17}}

==== The Thames barge and Dutch barge today ====
On the British river system and larger waterways, the [[Thames sailing barge]], and [[Dutch barge]] and unspecified other styles of barge, are still known as barges.{{sfn|''Canal & River Trust''|2019}} The term Dutch barge is nowadays often used to refer to an accommodation ship, but originally refers to the slightly larger Dutch version of the Thames sailing barge.

=== British canals: narrowboats and widebeams ===
[[File:Narrowboat at Bosley Locks No 2, Cheshire - geograph.org.uk - 4272674.jpg|thumb|A Narrowboat exiting a narrow British canal lock, Bosley Locks No 2]]
During the [[Industrial Revolution]], a substantial network of [[Canals of the United Kingdom|canals]] was developed in Great Britain from 1750 onward. Whilst the largest of these could accommodate ocean-going vessels, e.g. the later [[Manchester Ship Canal]], a complex network of smaller canals was also developed. These smaller canals had locks, bridges and tunnels that were at minimum only {{convert|7|ft|}} wide at the [[waterline]]. On wider sections, standard barges and other vessels could trade, but full access to the network necessitated the parallel development of the [[narrowboat]], which usually had a beam a couple of inches less to allow for clearance, e.g. {{convert|6|ft|10|in}} . It was soon realized that the narrow locks were too limiting, and later locks were therefore doubled in width to {{convert|14|ft||}}. This led to the development of the [[widebeam]] canal boat. The narrowboat (one word) definition in the ''[[Oxford English Dictionary]]'' is:<ref>{{citation|year=2003|chapter=narrowboat |title=[[Oxford English Dictionary]]|publisher=[[Oxford University Press]]|chapter-url=http://www.oed.com/view/Entry/255857}}</ref>
{{Blockquote|Narrowboat: a British canal boat of traditional long, narrow design, steered with a tiller; spec. one not exceeding 7 feet (approx. 2.1 metres) in width or 72 feet (approx. 21.9 metres) in length}}

The narrowboats were initially also known as barges, and the new canals were constructed with an adjacent [[towpath]] along which [[draft horse]]s walked, towing the barges. These types of [[canal craft]] are so specific that on the British canal system the term 'barge' is no longer used to describe [[narrowboat]]s and [[widebeam]]s. Narrowboats and widebeams are still seen on canals, mostly for leisure cruising, and now engine-powered.<ref>{{cite web |title=Narrowboat or barge? Canal boats explained |url=https://uk.boats.com/boat-buyers-guide/narrowboat-or-barge-canal-boats-explained/ |website=Boats.com |access-date=25 October 2024}}</ref>

=== Crew and pole ===
The people who moved barges were known as [[lightermen]]. Poles are used on barges to fend off other nearby vessels or a wharf. These are often called 'pike poles'. The long pole used to maneuver or propel a barge has given rise to the saying "I wouldn't touch that [subject/thing] with a barge pole."<ref name="auto">{{cite book | title = Speeches of Lord Randolph Churchill | publisher = G. Routledge | editor = H. W. Lucy | author = Randolph Henry Spencer Churchill | year = 1885 | quote = "...never was land so easily and cheaply in the grasp of the capitalist as it is now, if he chose to put out his hand, and yet there is not a capitalist in his senses who would touch it with a barge pole." | url = https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.81509 | page = [https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.81509/page/n53 51] }}</ref>

=== The 19th century American barge ===
In the United States a barge was not a sailing vessel by the end of the 19th century. Indeed, barges were often created by cutting down ([[razee]]ing) sailing vessels.{{sfn|Commissioner of Navigation |1905|p=22}} In New York this was an accepted meaning of the term barge. The somewhat smaller [[scow]] was built as such, but the scow also had its sailing counterpart the sailing scow.

== 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, 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>

==Types==
{{Div col}}
* {{annotated link|Articulated tug and barge}}
* {{annotated link|Barracks barge}} ("accommodation barge")
* {{annotated link|Day Peckinpaugh (canal motorship)|Canal motorship}}
* {{annotated link|Car float}}
* [[Ferrocement]] or {{annotated link|Type B ship#Concrete Barge|"Concrete" Barge}}
* {{annotated link|Crane barge}}
* {{annotated link|Dredger}}
* {{annotated link|Deck barge}} 
* {{annotated link|Dutch barge}}
* {{annotated link|Dry bulk cargo barge}}
* {{annotated link|Flexible barge}}
* {{annotated link|Gundalow}}
* {{annotated link|Hopper barge}}
* {{annotated link|Hotel barge}}
* {{annotated link|Horse-drawn boat}}
* {{annotated link|Jackup barge}}
* {{annotated link|Landing craft}}
* {{annotated link|Lighter (barge)|Lighter}}
* {{annotated link|Liquid cargo barge}}
* {{annotated link|Narrowboat}}
* {{annotated link|Norfolk wherry}}
* {{annotated link|Autonomous spaceport drone ship|Rocket landing barge}}
* {{annotated link|Paddle barge}}
* {{annotated link|Péniche (barge)|Péniche}} or Spitz barge
* {{annotated link|Pleasure barge}}
* {{annotated link|Power barge}}
* {{annotated link|Royal barge}}
* Severn {{annotated link|trow}}
* {{annotated link|Thames sailing barge}}
* {{annotated link|Tub boat}}
* {{annotated link|Type B ship}}
* {{annotated link|Whaleback barge}}
* {{annotated link|Widebeam}}
{{Div col end}}

In the United States, "deck barge" may refer to flat deck barges, work flats, fuel flats or flats. Smaller flats are used in shipyards to permit workers to access vessels in drydocks.

==Gallery==
<gallery class="center">
File:PénicheRecyclageFerrailles2008Deûle2.jpg|A self propelled barge carrying recycling material on Deûle channel in [[Lambersart]], France
File:Barge with cars.jpg|Self-propelled car barge on the [[River Danube]]
File:Péniches sur le Canal du Midi.jpg|Barges near [[Toulouse]], France
File:Andromeda (ship, 1958) Hannover Mittellandkanal 2006 by-RaBoe.jpg|Self-propelled barge ''Andromeda'' in canal at [[Hanover]], Germany
File:Messina Karden Bug.jpg|Tank barge on the [[River Moselle]], Germany
File:CrushedStoneBarge.jpg|Self-propelled barge carrying bulk crushed stone
File:IjmuidenBarge.jpg|Self-propelled barge in the port of [[IJmuiden]], Netherlands
File:Pegasus barge being moved by Freedom Star and towboat American 2.jpg|Deck barge{{sfn|Evolution|1958|p=141}} carrying the [[Space Shuttle]] external tank for STS-119 under tow to [[Port Canaveral]], [[Florida]], United States
File:Yangzhou-Modern-Grand-Canal-boats-3351.JPG|Self-propelled barges on the [[Grand Canal of China]] near [[Yangzhou]], [[Jiangsu]], China
File:CoalbargePittsburgh.JPG|Coal barges passing [[Heinz Field]] in [[Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania]] on the [[Ohio River]]
File:Suphannahongsa-docked.jpg|Royal Barge ''Suphannahong'' docked at [[Wat Arun]] [[pier]], one of the [[Thailand|Thai]] royal barges featured in the [[Royal Barge Procession|royal barge ceremony]]
File:Donna York.jpg|[[Towboat]] ''Donna York'' pushing barges of coal up the Ohio River at [[Louisville, Kentucky]], United States
File:Ilia Efimovich Repin (1844-1930) - Volga Boatmen (1870-1873).jpg|''[[Barge Haulers on the Volga]]'' (1870–73), by [[Ilya Repin]]
File:Kapal tongkang.jpg|''Tongkang'' or car barge, landed on Ketapang Port, Banyuwangi, Indonesia
File:Slipway at portland.JPG|[[Slipway]] at [[Portland Harbour]], [[Dorset]], England, holding a [[hopper barge|split dump barge]] (on right)
File:Barge on Mosel by Kues (1).jpg|Barge on the river [[Moselle|Mosel]] in [[Germany]]
File:Water Barge YW-59.jpg|US Navy Water [[Type B ship]] Barge, YW-59, launched August 29, 1941
File:YFN-958-Covered Lighter Barge-Non-Self-Propelled.jpg|YFN-958 a covered lighter barge, non-self-propelled. Built by Mare Island Navy Shipyard in 1944.
File:Concrete Barge - Erie Canal - Lock 13 - 3.jpg|[[Ferrocement]] Barge, US-102, in the Erie Canal
File:Ww2 concrete barge, National Waterway Museum.jpg|WW2 concrete barge at the [[National Waterways Museum]], Ellesmere Port, Cheshire, UK
File:Sun Shining Into a Barge.jpg|Sun shining into the empty [[Bitumen|asphalt]] barge ''Endeavour'' while under repair in [[Muskegon, Michigan]]
File:Pelican Barge, Darling Harbor, Sydney, NSW, AU.jpg|A barge decorated to look like a [[pelican]] carrying a [[jumbotron]] display, [[Sydney]]
File:AWB Rajawali Natuna.jpg|Accommodation Work Barge
File:Prem Tinsulanonda International School barge in Bangkok.jpg|A restored teak barge used for educational programmes on the [[Chao Phraya River|Chao Phraya]] river in Bangkok
</gallery>

==See also==
{{Portal|Transport}}
* [[American Waterways Operators]]
* [[Burlak]]
* [[Ross Barlow|Canal boat ''Ross Barlow'']]
* [[Container on barge]]
* [[Dory (boat)|Dory]], another type of flat-bottomed boat
* [[Float (nautical)]]
* ''[[Hughes Mining Barge]]''
* [[Mobro 4000]]
* [[Pusher (boat)|Pusher]] and [[Tug boat]], both used to move barges
** [[Chain boat]], which uses a chain for propulsion in its task of moving barges

==References==
* {{citation |year=2019 |title=All craft great and small |publisher=W. Owen, London |website=Canal & River Trust|url=https://canalrivertrust.org.uk/enjoy-the-waterways/boating/getting-afloat/all-craft-great-and-small |ref={{sfnref|''Canal & River Trust''|2019}}|access-date=21 January 2020}}
* {{citation |last=CESNI |year=2021 |title=European Standard laying down Technical Requirements for Inland Navigation vessels |publisher=European Committee for drawing up Standards in the field of Inland Navigation (CESNI) |url=https://www.cesni.eu/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/ES_TRIN_2021_en.pdf |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/https://www.cesni.eu/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/ES_TRIN_2021_en.pdf |archive-date=2022-10-09 |url-status=live }}
* {{citation |last=Commissioner of Navigation |year=1905 |title=Annual Report of the Commissioner of Navigation |publisher=Department of Commerce and Labor |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GpzVAAAAMAAJ }}
* {{citation |last=Dickens |first=Charles |year=1880 |title=Dickens's Dictionary of the Thames from Oxford to the Nore |publisher=Charles Dickens, London |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2NNCAAAAYAAJ }}
* {{citation |year=1958 |volume=15 |work=Proceedings of the merchant marine council |title=Evolution of the inland barge |publisher=The Merchant Marine Council of the United States |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hXGeoWMVfG8C |pages=140–141 |ref={{sfnref|''Evolution''|1958}}  }}
* {{citation |year=2010 |title=Illustrated Glossary for Transport Statistics 4th Edition |publisher=Eurostat - ITF - UNECE |isbn=9789282102947 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=frS0zf2XTOcC |ref={{sfnref|''Eurostat''|2010}} }}
* {{citation |last1=McKellar |first1=M.W. |last2=Hocking |first2=H.H. |year=1871 |volume=III |work=Reports of the Cases Relating to Maritime Law: Decided by the Admiralty |title=Court of Common Pleas |publisher=Horace Cox, London |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yXcDAAAAQAAJ }} 
* {{citation |last=Phillips |first=J. |year=1792 |title=A general history of inland navigation, foreign and domestic |publisher=I. and J. Taylor, London |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jdI_AAAAcAAJ }} 
* {{citation |last=Redman |first=John B. |year=1843 |work=Minutes of Proceedings of the Institution of Civil Engineers |title=The terrace pier, Gravesend |publisher=Institution of Civil Engineers, London |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=h_4bAQAAIAAJ }} 
* {{citation |last=Royal Commission on Labour |year=1893 |title=Index to the Evidence taken before Groups A., B., & C. |publisher=Her Majesty's Stationery Office |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KBk6AQAAMAAJ }}
* {{citation |last=Seymour |first=D.C. |year=1869 |title=Proceedings of the commercial convention held in New Orleands |publisher=L. Graham & Co. New Orleans |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=aJdQAAAAYAAJ }}
* {{citation |last=A Society of Gentlemen |year=1763 |title=A New and Complete Dictionary of Arts and Sciences |publisher=W. Owen, London |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=khc7AAAAcAAJ }}

==Notes==
{{Reflist|2}}

==External links==
{{Wiktionary|barge|bargee}}
{{Commons category|Barges}}
* [http://www.waterfrontmuseum.org/ Barge Lehigh Valley 79 at the Waterfront Museum], [[Brooklyn]], New York, United States
* [http://www.waterscape.com/ Britain's Official guide to canals, rivers and lakes]
* {{Cite EB1911|wstitle=Barge}}
* [https://www.barges.org/ DBA The Barge Association]
* [http://www.americanwaterways.com/ The American Waterways Operators]

{{ModernMerchantShipTypes}}
{{MARCOMships}}
{{WWII US ships}}

{{authority control}}

[[Category:Barges| ]]
[[Category:Shipping]]