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Sternwheel diesel towboat BENwoop recently completed by the Dravo Contracting Co. for the Wheeling Steel Corp. Improve River Towboat Desi Recently Completed Sternwheel Towboats Benwood and Class Have Two Diesel Engines—Maximum Efficiency and Maneuvering Flexibility URING the past few there has been a very rapid development in shallow draft vessels for river service and a great improvement in both the design and construction of this type of craft. New river boats which illustrate the development work which is going on in this field are the towboats BEN- woop and BETTY which have recently been completed by The Dravo Contract- ing Co., Pittsburgh.. The BENWooD is owned by the Wheeling Steel Corp., years BY R. H. BACON Wheeling, W. Va., and the BETTY is owned by the Keystone Sand & Sup- ply Co., Pittsburgh. The erection of a third towboat will follow very shortly. This boat forms a part of a general program of stock towboat, dredge and Barge construc- tion which the Dravo company regu- jarly pursues in order to make pos- sible immediate delivery on equipment of this character to meet the demands of the river interests. In the layout of these boats all SPLIT STERNWHEEL OF THE NEW RIVER TOWBOAT BENWOOD SHOWING CONNEC- TION BETWEEN DRIVE SHAFT AND THE WHEEL—THERE IS A SIMILAR BEVEL GEAR TRANSMISSION ON THE OTHER SIDE—EACH ENGINE DRIVES ITS OWN SECTION OF THE STERNWHEEL 16 MARINE REVIEW—June, 1927 of the latest developments in river boat design are in evidence. Among these are featured the use of all steel construction in both hull and super- structure; twin diesel engine drives with each engine driving its section of the split stern wheel; unit type of reduction gear for the stern wheel drive and unusually complete pilot house arrangements. As shown in the accompanying il- lustration of the BENWoOOD this vessel is a trim craft with lines which are a considerable improvement over tow- boats of a few years ago. From the sturdy towing knees to the struc ture for supporting the split wheel the BENWOOD and BETTY have a smoothness of line which indicates the care with which the design was laid down. The boats have the following dimen- sions: Molded length 126 feet 6 inches; length over all 149 feet 7 inches; beam molded 26 feet 6 inches; beam over all 27 feet %-inch; crown of deck 6 inches; depth amidship 5 feet 6 inches. Recent trends in both the type of power and the arrangement of driv- ing units are to be noted. The two 240-horsepower Fairbanks-Morse diesel engines are each direct-connected to a section of a split stern wheel. This use of two diesel engines each en- gine driving its own wheel offers such unusual flexibility in operation and in maneuvering characteristics that