The Dravo Contracting Company of Pittsburgh dated back to 1890 and was involved in industrial construction. About 1917, the firm began building floating marine equipment and towboats at a Neville… Read More
Old Boat Column
A look back into the rich history of the inland waterways transportation industry. From the earliest steam paddlewheelers to the grand sternwheel and sidewheel packets, and the eventual transition from steam to diesel, you’ll find fascinating stories and photos of a different steamboat every week.
With the recent passing of river historian Gerald “Jerry” Sutphin of Huntington, W.Va., the book he co-authored with Richard Andre in 1991, “Sternwheelers On The Great Kanawha River,” came to… Read More
One of the oddest towboats ever to grace the Mississippi River system was a vessel named Pioneer. Not the Dravo-built, single screw of 1934 (The Waterways Journal, March 23, 2022)… Read More
Engine manufacturers have long displayed large front cover ads in The Waterways Journal. Diesel engine ads came to prominence in the 1920s, and throughout that decade it was almost certain… Read More
While Dravo had its innovative new diesel prop boats—such as the Wm. Penn and Ductillite—on the drawing boards, the Inland Waterways Corporation (IWC) was engaged in having three prop towboats… Read More
In the July 22 and July 29 issues of The Waterways Journal, this column detailed the innovative new diesel towboats Wm. Penn and Ductillite that Dravo built in 1940. At… Read More
In late 1939, a brief announcement was made in The Waterways Journal and other publications that Dravo Contracting Company was working on designs for a towboat that would be much… Read More
The Dravo Contracting Company was justifiably proud of the towboat Wm. Penn that the company had built for the Dravo subsidiary Union Barge Line (UBL) in 1940. In the September… Read More
Those who peruse the Missouri River Daily Boat Report put out Monday through Friday by the Corps of Engineers noticed something curious in mid-May. A little digging, research of the… Read More
This column is being written as we observe Memorial Day and remember those who gave their lives in service to our country. A photo recently shared with me prompted the… Read More
