On the River: It is roughly 1:30 p.m. and we undocked from Saint Louis maybe 15 minutes ago. We overnighted there, something I’d not anticipated tho others had read the schedule more carefully and were not surprised.
We are now officially on the lower, more industrial part of the journey. We are cautioned not to expect much recreational traffic on this part of the river as the water is quite polluted. There will be lots of barge traffic. River transport is by far the cheapest mode of transport, cheaper than either rail or truck.
Barges with flat tops haul liquid cargo, largely petroleum-based fuel. Barges with domed tops carry some bulk agricultural product like wheat or corn, something rain would damage. Barges with no tops haul stuff that can stand the weather - coal, gravel, mechanical equipment, vehicles. Liquid carriers are dedicated to that purpose, the rest can ‘wear’ tops when the mission calls for it, leave them off when it doesn’t.
It is amazing how little freeboard the barge pusher tugs have, in some cases as little as 6”. Most ships have a pointed bow, barges and their pushers have square bows. Our ship’s bow is pointed but the part above the waterline pivots up to reveal the base for our gangplank which reaches ashore from there.
