Dutch barge model

[Dean Smith]

Originally Posted by EuroCanal

In France, the canals are managed by VNF. They delegate to 7 'Directions Interregionales/Regionales'. Here is a link to a canal map, which shows who runs what:

http://www.vnf.fr/vnf/img/cms/Touris...1103241436.pdf

This gives you the web site for each region, where you have specific details about the gabarit of each canal. IN GENERAL, 3.5m air draft, 1.7m draft, 30m x 5m will allow you to use all the main canals of the Alsace, Lorraine, Paris, Calais. Some of the canals of Bourgogne, Midi and Loire are smaller.

I attached a PDF of French canals, published by VNF. Any canal with a black outline will be OK for the dimensions above. The others are generally a bit smaller.

I also attached a PDF of the Continental European network. The dimensions mentioned will be OK for all the transport canals shown here.

Locks are free in France (you pay an annual fee to use the canals). Here in Luxembourg/Germany the small locks are free, anything over 18x3.3x1.5m pays 4.50 euro per eclusage (pay cash at the lock - sometimes they don't bother for small boats). I'm not sure about other countries.

thank you for your excellent info

[EuroCanal]

'Revue Fluvial' magazine has a useful site for information about French canals:

http://www.fluvialnet.com/voies-navigables

Click on the region, then on the canal, and it will show the maximum dimensions of the locks on that waterway. It also gives you a map showing locks, ports, halts, tunnels and swing-bridges.

They have another page which will calculate a route, based on the size of the boat:

http://www.fluvialnet.com/fluviacap

[Dean Smith]

Bravo Mon Ami
excellent stuff, Je va pratiquer mon français

[EuroCanal]

Commes tu aimes autant, je te transmets un autre document en français. Voici une liste de tous les canaux en Wallonie (la partie Francophone de la Belgique).

Summary : All the THROUGH canals in Belgium are big enough to take a ‘Spits’ (38m x 5m, 1.8m draft, 3.5m air draft). Some of the branches are shallower.

[Dean Smith]

Merci beaucoup
Il fait être veulent construire mon bateaux de rivière

[peter1962]

Another aproach would be to leave the idea of designing yourself this boat ? With all the hours of reading this forum and others, i am sure of only one thing : it is a pipe dream that a person who is not a qualified NA can design a ship that is comparable in safety, structural integrity, etc to that of a real NA. Do not forget the fact that you will be a guinea pig, and that in case the boat is unsafe, you and your family could be injured or worse.
Problem is that while searching, i could not find a real plan for a boat comparable to say the Luxemotors of euroship services, or others. Selway fisher type of plans does not inspire much confidence. 150 dollar plans...

My question : do any of you know of a firm that is selling quality boat plans for dutch barges, type Luxemotor ? Cutting files included ?

Regards,
Peter

[gwboats]

My company would be pleased to quote you for a Dutch Barge design package.
We have been designing boats, yachts and other vessels since 1985 and provide an experienced, comprehensive and friendly service.
We provide free design support after purchase and supply a comprehensive drawing package (typically around 35 drawings per design).
If you would like to send us a few of your thoughts about your design we can provide a free arrangement drawing for your consideration.
Our designs a fully detailled including hull, mechanical, electrical drawings, and cutting files. We design to EU and MCA standards throughout.
Good luck with your project and I hope we can assist you in some way.

Graham Westbrook
Naval Architect
Westbrook Marine Projects Ltd.

[cthippo]

Originally Posted by peter1962

Another aproach would be to leave the idea of designing yourself this boat ? With all the hours of reading this forum and others, i am sure of only one thing : it is a pipe dream that a person who is not a qualified NA can design a ship that is comparable in safety, structural integrity, etc to that of a real NA. Do not forget the fact that you will be a guinea pig, and that in case the boat is unsafe, you and your family could be injured or worse.

I would just like to state for the record that not everyone on this site shares that opinion.

[Dean Smith]

Originally Posted by cthippo

I would just like to state for the record that not everyone on this site shares that opinion.

including myself and many of my collegues, this is one( not a dutch lookalike ) that two from here designed and are not NA on paper
but design school and experienced builder

[EuroCanal]

I've visited lots of the post's offering advice and links to sites but I'm wanting to produce a full CAD model in Soildworks of a Dutch barge that is capable of being DIY built.

I found a link on the Piper Boats website to one of their builds, Elessina.

On that page you will find a scan of an autocad drawing which might give you some ideas for the design. There are also lots of photos of the build.

The design is by Nick Branson, and looks like a derivative of his popular Thomas design.