Bennett's Barges has officially welcomed a fleet of eight new Tideway-class barges to the River Thames.
At an official welcome review of the barges held at Butler's Wharf Pier in London this Tuesday, guests were invited to board Pegasus, one of the new 1,500-tonne barges, to experience them up close.
ACB engaged Baars, a barge builder and operator in Holland, to design and build a fleet of hopper barges that could be used to safely transport the spoil excavation from Tideway's Carnwath Road site.
The barges are identical in design with the same breadth and draught, the only differentiator being their length.
The barges were designed to be pushed utilising the navtugs Felix and Christian. The pusher knees have been designed to allow safe access for the crew from the tug. However, the barges can equally be towed if required.
The barges were designed and built using a NASBA berth and have 12mm steel plate on their bottom and chines.
Each barge took around 12 weeks to manufacture the hulls and a further four weeks was taken with outfitting, painting, testing and inspection.
The barges' paint design incorporated high visibility colour and paint to highlight dangerous areas, while the fwd and aft decks have high coamings to protect the crew when working on deck. The decks themselves are large, allowing crew to safely traverse them.
The barges are fitted with a single Pool TW HHP anchor with a mass of 1,845kg along with 60mm of 32mm anchor chain, all retrieved using a diesel-powered windlass.
The barges are fitted with rope baskets and additional LSA equipment to ensure the safety of the crew when using the barges.
Tow coupling winches are situated on the sides of the barge both fwd and aft, which are used to safely moor them together.
The barges were delivered from the shipyards to Baars headquarters in Holland for inspection by ACB prior to being towed to the UK.
All barges will be in class with RINA and able to operate 50nm out from the coast.
| ACB Poseidon / ACB Apollo | |
| SPECIFICATIONS | |
| Type of vessel: | Hopper barge |
| Builder: | Unknown, Hungary |
| Owner: | Bennett's Barges, UK |
| Length: | 55 metres |
| Draught: | 3.5 metres (max) |
| Construction material: | Steel |
| Capacity: | 1,600t |
| ACB Churchill / ACB Hercules / ACB Pegasus / ACB Valiant | |
| SPECIFICATIONS | |
| Type of vessel: | Hopper barge |
| Builder: | Unknown |
| Owner: | Bennett's Barges, UK |
| Length: | 50 metres |
| Beam: | 11.4 metres |
| Draught: | 3.5 metres (max) |
| Weight: | 284.2t |
| Construction material: | Steel |
| Capacity: | 1,500t |
| ACB Phoebe / ACB Zeus | |
| SPECIFICATIONS | |
| Type of vessel: | Hopper barge |
| Builder: | Pattie Waterhuizen Shipbuilders, Netherlands |
| Owner: | Bennett's Barges, UK |
| Length: | 38 metres |
| Beam: | 11.4 metres |
| Draught: | 3.5 metres (max) |
| Weight: | 215.3t |
| Construction material: | Steel |
| Capacity: | 1,000t |