Introduction

Barges are critical to out national economy. They transport over $1 billion in products annually, representing 15% of all freight, yet they consume less than 2% of America�s transport costs. Barges carry five times more than air freight, 15 times more than railway cars, and 60 times more than semi trailers. This makes barges the most efficient materials transport system in the United States by far.

The problem with barges is that they cannot be loaded down all of the time. At some point in their commute up and down the river, they will inevitably be empty. To the casual observer, less weight would seem to equate with better fuel economy. However, since barges are designed to operate loaded down, when empty, they sit out of the water 9 feet higher than usual. This gives the side of the barge the properties of a sail, which worsens already difficult navigation. Compounding this problem is that barges are pushed by a towboat in a fleet of fifteen, three wide and five long, presenting an even larger profile to the buffeting forces of river winds.

As shown in the picture above, the pivot point of a fleet of barges is near the front. This means that the greater than 1000-foot rig has to swing around that pivot point in order to turn. This makes navigation around common river bends quite treacherous.

Since this centerboard would have to withstand serious pressure, we chose to utilize an up and coming technology called carbon fiber. Carbon fiber consists of almost pure, extremely strongly bonded carbon strands woven together. They come in slabs, two or more slabs with foam or wood in between, or carbon fiber honeycomb sandwiched between two slabs. It tensile strength is much stronger than that of steel.

Carbon fiber is very strong, but it is not invincible, and in an environment such as the Mississippi, this is a liability, especially since it is 8 feet farther down into the river than the bottom of the fleet.