Water Education Poster - Navigation

Navigation Poster for Elementary School Students

River Vessels:

The most common way of transporting products on rivers is by TOW. A tow consists of one TOWBOAT and one or more BARGEs. Towboats push different kinds of barges, depending on the cargo. Three of the four basic types of barges are shown below. The fourth type is a DECK barge, which carries almost any kind of equipment, materials, or products that can be tied down and do not need protection from the weather.

COVERED DRY CARGO barge: Carries bulky solid cargo, such as dry cement, fertilizer, and farm products (corn, wheat, and soybeans) that need protection from the weather.
	OPEN HOPPER barge: Holds bulky products, such as sand, gravel, or coal, that do not need protection from the weather.
LIQUID CARGO (TANK) barge: Transports liquid products such as chemicals, petroleum, oil, and molasses.

Ocean-Going Vessels:

Many products are traded with other countries by using deep-water ocean ports. Products that come into the country are called imports and those that are shipped to other countries are called exports. Trucks, trains, tows, and pipelines transport products into and out of ocean ports. Some of the large,ocean-going vessels in the deep-water harbor are shown below.

CONTAINERSHIP: Transports products stored in 20- to 45-foot-long containers that are stacked inside the ship and outside on the deck. Some ships carry as many as 5,000 containers.
	TANKER ship: Holds chemicals, petroleum products, oil, and other liquids.
BREAK BULK ship: Carries bulky cargo such as lumber, packages of fertilizer, and boxes of fruit. Break bulk cargo is usually loaded and unloaded on portable platforms ("pallets").