[Sidenote: III 62]
The “Kabelveerpont” is another kind of boat for crossing streams. The
swinging cable is here replaced by one which crosses the stream, on the
bottom of which it lies under the action of its own weight. The middle
of the upstream side of the boat is attached to this cable, which
passes over a sheave. In order to cross the stream, the boat is pushed
off into the current, after having raised the movable bridges, then the
cable is drawn up on the end of the boat pointing across the river and
made to pass over a sheave placed, temporarily and for the crossing,
at the middle of the bridge. The pontoon then occupies a position
oblique to the cable and, as in the preceding case, at an angle to the
direction of the current which causes the boat to move. The cable,
which runs from one bank to the other, rests on the bed of the river
from which only the part on the boat is raised.
The pontoons serving the crossings at Kessenich-Stevensweert and at
Elsloo-Boorsheim (Limburg-an-Meuse) may be mentioned as examples of
this kind of ferries.
The cable is not always raised, however, on the boat because when so
raised it may interfere with navigation. Sometimes the cable is allowed
to remain on the bed of the river and the ferry is attached to a rope
which is connected with the cable by means of a roller. This rope,
which is then stretched in the direction of the current, is fastened
to the middle of the upstream side of the boat. If now the latter be
inclined by means of a special cable, as explained in the case of the
“Gierpont”, it crosses the river, the roller running on the cable which
lies on the bottom.
An example of such a boat is to be found at the crossing at Zalt-Bommel
in Gelderland. The trouble with these cables and of all transverse
cables in general is that they are often displaced by the anchors of
vessels which foul them in passing. Abroad, especially in Belgium, the
cables for trail bridges (as they are called in the United States) are
stretched above the river so that vessels can pass underneath. But this
arrangement does not seem to be applicable to heavy boats and to the
great widths of the crossings found in Holland without using expensive
means for supporting the cable.
In Limburg, where the character of the Meuse is torrential, and where
the steep slope of the bed causes much more violent currents than in
the rest of our country, the barges have no lee boards.
A very wide approach ramp is necessary for all these ferries in general
and for the “Kabelveerponten” in particular. A width of 16 metres
at the level of mean low water and lessening upward has been found
necessary, because of the slack of the cable which varies with the
strength of the current and the force of the wind.
The more violent the current, the easier it is to go safely on the
boat, and this allows the width of the approach ramp to be reduced near
the top, because this upper part is only utilized during high water.
[Sidenote: III 174]
[Sidenote: III 175]
[Sidenote: III 178]
[Sidenote: III 181]
It is needless to say that not only pontoons, but also every kind of
boats, such as the “hoys” and “poonen” already mentioned, can be also
utilized for crossing.
[Sidenote: III 60]
[Sidenote: III 65]
[Sidenote: III 67]
Use is also frequently made of the “Hengsten” (anglice: stallions, used
here to designate strength) and of the “Veerhengsten” which belong to
the type of the “Hoogaarsen”, which they resemble greatly.
The “Hoorgaarsen” are described among the fishing boats.
For ferrying pedestrians, rowboats and “vletten” are very frequently
used.
One remark may still be added to what precedes:
Two cables are needed for tidal rivers, one above and one below, so as
to be able to work during both the ebb and flood tides. The manœuvres
then become difficult at times, because when the tide is at a stand
there is no current or it is so weak that the crossing is not always
possible. In these cases the cables are used merely as guides for the
boats. The latter are run across by hand or by a motor which works a
special cable for crossing. A system of this sort is located on the
Bergsche Meuse, below Heusden.
If the current becomes too strong at high water, so that there is
danger of breaking the cables, the pontoon way be attached to a
swinging cable which would then take up the greater part of the
tension. This cable should be very long: 1ᵒ so that the pull on the
anchor way be as nearly horizontal as possible and 2ᵒ so that the arc
described by the ferry boat may be as flat as possible.
The small inland boats are not less important than those just
considered. Their size has gone on increasing as the navigable highways
are improved and the clinker-built hulls give way to the carvel built.
They differ, in the matter of form, from the types mentioned above,
by their relatively small beam as compared with their length, as much
as by their very much inclined bow and stern. If, as a general rule,
the ratio between length and breadth which lay generally between 3.5
and 4.6 now reaches often 5 for the inland boats. Evidently, they are
all flat-bottomed and, of late years, they have been built with a more
rounded bilge.