There are many ecological initiatives in the maritime world: sailing, hydrogen propulsion, etc. Current technological developments are aimed above all at reducing the energy consumption of boats and changing their propulsion, but few are concerned with the construction itself.
Nothing is lost, nothing is created, everything is transformed
In Russia, at the beginning of the 20th century, there was a type of boats designed with the famous maxim of Lavoisier in mind, Nothing is lost, nothing is created, everything is transformed . To achieve this, the engineers of the time created boats called Belyany ( belyana singular ). The principle being that all the wooden elements that were used to manufacture these flat-bottomed barges would be used once at their destination. The wood used was thus not treated ( no caulking or use of tar for example ) and the assembly itself had to ensure the safety of the structure.
These boats sailed on the Volga and Kama rivers. They connect the vast wooded areas of northern Russia with Volgograd ( Tsaritsyn ).
Impressive dimensions
The idea itself of using wood transported by floating, for example via rafts as was the case on the rivers of Morvan, is not unique. On the other hand, the transport capacities of these belyany, real boats support the comparisons of dimensions with the modern transport ships. About 100 meters long, these barges could load 13,000 tons of wood.
The small belyany had a draft of about 3 meters for a payload of 1,600 tons. The medium-sized ones had a draft of 3.5 meters with a carrying capacity of 3,200 tons. The largest had a length of 120 meters and a beam of 25 meters, loading as much as a modern cargo ship, 12,800 tons of wood.
Once they arrived at their destination, the wood transported as well as the wood used to transport it was either used as firewood or sent directly to the sawmill for use and sizing.
A totally wooden construction
The earliest versions of these boats were made entirely of wood, without the use of a single nail. Ropes, tenons and mortises held the planks and superstructure of these barges in place. In the mid-19th century, steel nails began to be used, resulting in significant time savings in the manufacture and workmanship of the wood.
The structure of the barges was made of spruce beams and pine planks. About 240 fir trees and 200 spruce trees were needed for the boat alone.
The boat was built while it was loaded, thus offering a large facility of access to the holds and, in the event of damage which would have brought the barge by the bottom, it was enough to deconstruct only a part of the structure to recover, by floating, the load " useful ".
Wooden quarters too
Both the cockpit and the crew quarters were also designed in wood. A central bridge was built on the highest part of the barge. Richly decorated, these are the only constructions that include something other than wood ( heating stove for example ). They were resold as a home already ready "This is the reason for the very rich decoration of these buildings, which had a high resale value. This is the reason for the very rich decoration of these buildings, which made the resale value of these districts.
Armed with a crew of 15 to 35 men, the belyany had no propulsion, they were driven by the river current. The main activity of the crew was to operate the pumps which were used to evacuate the water which, in the absence of waterproofing of the wood, did not fail to infiltrate. Only a rudder, also made of wood, allowed the barge to be steered to its destination.
Replaced by the railroad
One can imagine that such a means of transport was slow and that the delays were, to say the least, uncertain. It is the arrival of the steam railroad and, later, the electrification of the railroads that will put an end, around 1920, to the transport of wood by these single-use boats.
