The Birmingham age-herald., 1924-06-22
RIVER TRAFFIC
 FORCES NEW ERA
 OFDlEVELOPM PMENI DenisOn Bill Provisions
 Give Warrior Chance For Expansion
BARGE, SERVICE IS
 GREAT AID TO PORT
Present Big Industry Has Grown From Primitive
 Efforts Of Old

Passage of the Denison bill to estab fish a $5,000, 900 corporation to operatt the Warrior barge line will give this project the additional floating equip Ynent needed, without which it cannot successfully compete with other water and rail carriers. It proposes to trans fer the federal barge service from tho control of the war department to that of the department of commerce, while retaining at it's head the services oi Col. T. o. Ashburn, who has developed the service thus far with but rneagel physical equipment, which in many in stances was unsuited to the service re auired on the Tombigbee and Warrior rivers or the bay, Mississippi sound lakes and canal of the New Orleans sector.
 Experience has developed a type oi steel barge entirely suitable for traffic on the Warrior and for the character of freight that constitutes the bulk of this commerce. Eight of these barges recently were completed at Mobile by the Alabama Dry Dock and Shipbuildinl company. The steel for their construc tion was fabricated by the Tennesst Coal, Iron and Railroad company and barged to the plant on Pinto Island Mobile, where the barges were assem bled. On completion, the barges were leased by the T. c. I. company to thu waterways and are now doing excellent service between the ports of Birming ham and Cordova and the seaport.
 Contracts have been let for the con struction of 20 additional barges of thu same demensions and eight of these will be constructed at Mobile by the Ala bama company; the other IF beini built near Pittsburg. Steel has arrivet for the first four barges of the Mobile contract and 200 men have been pu to work setting up the framework ant laying the bottoms on the ways.
 Typical Dimensions
 The dimensions of the typical War rior barge are Length, 140 feet ; width 25 feet depth, Il feet. They are de signed for general cargo purposes, beint particularly fitted for steel produc carKoes, with a hatch of over 100 fee in length. The heaviest steel rail car be easily stored in the cargo hold. Tn, fore and aft ends are raked, each cornel being reinforced. with an extra heav! steel corner casting, Rolling bilge flat bottom construction is also feature fl the design and building, which adds t' their lending, and antirolling properties Heavy webb frAmes-spaced at inter vals, augmented by saide frames ever, two feet, make up the body construc tion .(both being tied to heavy channe iron bottom frames) which will success fully resist almost any shock or sever, strain that hard usage might subjec them to.
 Barge No. g of the first T. c. l. orde is the only one of it's type in the War rior fleet. It is of the largest in dimen sions that could pass through the locks being 2S0 feet long, 50 feet wide and 1. feet in depth While the outside dimen sions of this giant barge are only fou times as great as the smaller type, thu aHs4o capacity is more than 400 ton greater than the combined capacity 0 four of the other barges. Barge No. is the largest flat-bottom steel cargo car rier ever built in this district. It'cer tainly is the largest ever launched b. the Alabama Dry Dock and Shipbuild ing company.
 Much of the steel, iron pipe and othe metal products of the Birmingham dis trict now leaving Mobile, export, coast wise and intercoastal, reaches the sea board via the barge line, either on tn self-propelled barges or on those towet down the river by tug boats special, designed for the purpose. It is thi commerce that has enabled Mobile t hold it's own and even to increase 1t | importance as q shipping point, in tn e.Sn Ae a SirnfniShsnO hgarS,aIO of lAn6
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