GB2334485A - Pontoon barge - Google Patents

Abstract

A barge has a central chassis which is designed to support and mount a standard range of freight containers and is supported in the water by a number of self-contained floats. The floats may be mounted to the chassis in a fixed position, but releaseable by means of undoing a number of bolts for disassembly and transportation, or may be mounted on hinged arms which allow them to be raised or lowered mechanically, altering the height of the barge and cargo on the water, or changing the overall width of the vessel to pass through confined spaces or under low obstructions.

Description

Pontoon Container Barge Description This invention relates to a lightweight barge consisting of a framework supported in the water by means of buoyancy chambers, floats or pontoons designed for carrying freight containers on inland waterways.

Bulky or heavy freight is usually transported (nationally and internationally) by means of standardised metal containers, usually 20' or 40' in length. These are of fixed dimensions, with standard mountings on each corner for securing to a range of vehicle platforms. Inland, these are normally carried on purpose built lorry trailers. Lorry transport is, however, both expensive and environmentally damaging.

Historically barges specifically built to carry containers have also been very expensive to construct and to maintain, and are often not able to carry loads in confined waterways.

According to the present invention, there is a lightweight, but strong chassis provided with standard mounts to accept the full range of conventional freight containers.

Supporting the main chassis are a number of lightweight floats, (in this instance moulded from high density plastic, though other materials will be used for alternative applications) to support the weight of the chassis and full container in the water.

Each pontoon is mounted on hinged arms which can be pulled in or let out by means of a hydraulic system to allow the vessel to be trimmed, lowered in the water to pass under low bridges or raised up to pass through narrow locks.

The barge can be built in a range of sizes to carry the full range of standardised freight containers, and the size and construction of floats varied according to the weight of the cargo, if necessary.

A lightweight modular version can also be built without any hydraulics. This can be disassembled and stored on the decks of sea going cargo vessels, then re-assembled at destination to obviate the need for landing craft to transport containers from ship to shore, or up inland rivers or waterways with insufficient draught for a large ship.

A specific embodiment of the invention will now be described by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawing (Figure 1).

Referring to the drawing, the barge comprises a 40' chassis (capable of carrying 2 x 20', or 1 x 40' freight container), with four cylindrical pontoons secured to it by means of the 'banana' shaped mounting arms.

In order to lower the entire barge (to pass under a low bridge or other obstruction), the four pontoons are gradually let out, and move outwards and upwards from the side of the chassis (as illustrated in Figure 2). If necessary, the cargo container can actually b lowered such that its lower edge is below the level of the water by up to 2 feet. If this needs to be done frequently (because of the number of obstructions en-route, or to protect valuable cargoes, the lower part of the container will be encased in a short plastic shroud.

They are held in tension by means of wire hawsers, running through fixed pulleys and attached to a single hydraulic ram under the chassis (Figure 4).

To raise the container back out of the water, or to draw the pontoons in to pass through a narrow space, the hydraulic ram is drawn in, pulling the four pontoon back under the chassis by means of the wire hawsers and pulleys (Figure 4 again).

Claims (3)

1. Claims 1. A barge comprising a metal chassis, means for securing a standard freight container to the chassis and the chassis and container being supported on the water by means of floats, buoyancy chambers or pontoons attached to the chassis of sufficient buoyancy to carry the weight of chassis, container and cargo.
2. 2. A barge as claimed in claim 1, whereby the floats are mounted on hinged arms and can be raised or lowered by means of a mechanical force being brought to bear on these arms to allow the vessel to trim for height or width, or to adjust its load for stability, to pass underneath low obstructions or through narrow waterways.
3. 3. A barge as claimed in claim 1 whereby the floats and chassis may be disassembled for ease of storage or transportation and reassembled at a later point and used for transportation of freight containers from ship to shore or via inland rivers or waterways.