Towboat Tours 12 pm to 4 pm both days (weather permitting) On the riverfront
Any visitor to the Grafton area will almost certainly see the giant towboats that travel up and down America's Great Rivers. The word "tow" comes from the canal age when a draft animal walking along the bank of the canal pulled a barge. As experience with moving barges grew river men found that lashing barges together and pushing them provided more control and that more barges could be moved at once. Towboats have been moving barges on the Mississippi River since the 1850s when steamboats began pushing one or more barges to increase cargo capacity.
Combustion engines were first used about 1910 but did not become commonplace until the late 1930s, when diesel-powered propeller boats appeared. Today’s towboats range in size from about 117 feet long by 30 feet wide to more than 200 feet long and 45 feet wide and have diesel engines that can produce up to 10,000 horsepower. A typical barge carries 1500 tons of cargo, which is 15 times greater than a rail car and 60 times greater than one trailer truck. On Saturday and Sunday, conditions permitting, there will be a towboat docked on the riverfront that will be available for guided tours.
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