Patent ID: 7325328

Claim:
An apparatus for measuring barge draft of a barge for transporting a cargo having a known cargo unit weight, the barge having known displacement characteristics and having one or more waterline markers affixed to at least one side of the barge, at least one of the waterline markers being visible when the barge is floating in a water body comprising: (a) a housing; (b) a first means affixed to the housing for indicating when the housing is positioned opposite a predetermined one of the waterline markers; (c) a second means affixed to the housing for transmitting and receiving a signal reflected from the surface of the water body; (d) a timer affixed to the second means for measuring time between the transmitting and the receiving of the signal, and for transmitting a time signal indicative of the measured time; and (e) a third means operatively attached to the time for receiving the time signal and for calculating the barge draft from the time signal.