# Quickest way to transport a ship across land? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 22, 2005, 7:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quickest-way-to-transport-a-ship-across-land/291318 "2005-02-22T07:39:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Mert-Sekert](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5f8ce5/32.png) [@Mert-Sekert](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mert-Sekert)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2005, 7:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quickest-way-to-transport-a-ship-across-land/291318/1 "2005-02-22T07:39:07Z")
If you needed to transport a ship (specifically, in this case, a barge of around 2500 tons) across a wide expanse of land, what tools and equipment would be needed to embark on such a voyage? Assuming, of course, the ship was stripped to the bare essentials without exactly dismantling it. ---
**Author:** ![Antonius\_Block](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/51bf81/32.png) [@Antonius\_Block](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Antonius_Block)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2005, 12:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quickest-way-to-transport-a-ship-across-land/291318/2 "2005-02-22T12:05:52Z")
A lot is going to depend on exactly how far you are planning on moving the barge, and what kind of terrain you need to cross. If you want inspiration, you might want to check out the [Allegheny Portage Railroad](http://www.progressiveengineer.com/PEWebBackissues2002/PEWeb%2025%20Apr%2002-2/25road.htm) in Pennsylvania, which took canal boats (and early rail cars) over the Allegheny Mountains. Also, rent a copy of Werner Herzog’s 1982 film [Fitzcarraldo](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0083946/), about an Irish adventurer who hauls a steamship over a mountain between two river systems in South America. (The real Irishman on whom the film is based apparently disassembled the ship first, whereas Herzog goes one better and hauls the film’s ship over in one piece. The making of this movie is an epic story in itself.) Neither of these historical examples involved a 2500 ton vessel, however; Herzog’s was only 340 tons. Still, you’re probably not planning on going over a mountain – or are you? ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2005, 12:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quickest-way-to-transport-a-ship-across-land/291318/3 "2005-02-22T12:17:36Z")
Is this in order to reach a body of water that is inaccessible by sailing there? Not really an answer to your question, but I would think that in almost every other case (when it’s a large vessel), sailing would be preferrable, even if the detour involved is enormous. Also only tenuously connected to your question, but included because it is so interesting - [this](http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/380273.stm) ---
**Author:** ![spingears](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ebca7d/32.png) [@spingears](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/spingears)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2005, 12:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quickest-way-to-transport-a-ship-across-land/291318/4 "2005-02-22T12:52:19Z")
> [@Mert-Sekert](#): > > If you needed to transport a ship (specifically, in this case, a barge of around 2500 tons) across a wide expanse of land, what tools and equipment would be needed to embark on such a voyage? Assuming, of course, the ship was stripped to the bare essentials without exactly dismantling it. Is this a REAL question or just another exercise in MM? What are the dimensions of this “ship,” actually a barge. According to my estimate it could have a draft of 50 ft or more, and be 100’ wide x 900’ length. No small feat to move in one piece. Choice of transport would depend on distance, and obstacles, if any. Digging a canal might be best option. A decision would have to be based on cost effectiveness. ---
**Author:** ![Princhester](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3e96dc/32.png) [@Princhester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Princhester)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2005, 12:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quickest-way-to-transport-a-ship-across-land/291318/5 "2005-02-22T12:57:05Z")
> [@spingears](#): > > What are the dimensions of this “ship,” actually a barge. According to my estimate it could have a draft of 50 ft or more, and be 100’ wide x 900’ length. No small feat to move in one piece. Woot? A cape size vessel with a deadweight of well over 100,000 tonnes would be that big. How do you figure? ---
**Author:** ![Princhester](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3e96dc/32.png) [@Princhester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Princhester)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2005, 12:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quickest-way-to-transport-a-ship-across-land/291318/6 "2005-02-22T12:58:30Z")
Actually what I mean is lightship displacement, not deadweight. ---
**Author:** ![DrFidelius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drfidelius/32/3447_2.png) [@DrFidelius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrFidelius)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2005, 1:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quickest-way-to-transport-a-ship-across-land/291318/7 "2005-02-22T13:01:03Z")
It would be cheaper to build a new barge at the desired location than to try to transport an existing vessel. Come on, it’s a barge for crissakes. You’re not trying to set up the **Hibernia** as a museum display in Warwickshire for some reason… ---
**Author:** ![David\_Simmons](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9de053/32.png) [@David\_Simmons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/David_Simmons)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2005, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quickest-way-to-transport-a-ship-across-land/291318/8 "2005-02-22T14:00:56Z")
I figure the thing as roughly 170’ long; 21’ wide and 32’ deep. Have you ever seen the[crawler](http://www.cdli.ca/CITE/sts_rollout.htm) that moves the Shuttle to the launch pad? And that’s for a weight of 2250 tons. I agree with **DrFidelius**. By the time you build such a transporter it would have been cheaper and quicker to build a new barge on-site. ---
**Author:** ![Finagle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/b19c9b/32.png) [@Finagle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Finagle)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2005, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quickest-way-to-transport-a-ship-across-land/291318/9 "2005-02-22T14:11:52Z")
> [@David Simmons](#): > > Have you ever seen the[crawler](http://www.cdli.ca/CITE/sts_rollout.htm) that moves the Shuttle to the launch pad? And that’s for a weight of 2250 tons. You beat me to it by a few seconds. But let me amplify, the shuttle crawler goes about two km/hour and get 0.007 miles/gallon. Granted, this is partly because they’re moving a space shuttle and not some barnacle encrusted pile of junk, so they want to avoid excess speed. But even if you’re moving through an area with no infrastructure to block you, 2500 tons is at the very upper edge of what can be moved by existing wheeled vehicles. I think you’d either have to dig a canal, build a special reinforced track, or build the most massive boat trailer of all time. None of which options compares favorably with actually building a new barge whereever you happen to need one. ---
**Author:** ![Mycroft\_H](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/898d66/32.png) [@Mycroft\_H](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mycroft_H)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2005, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quickest-way-to-transport-a-ship-across-land/291318/10 "2005-02-22T14:38:50Z")
It depends on how far you would want to move it and what kind of terrain. A mile or hundreds of miles. If you are moving on roads, the answer is “many, many wheels.” See [here](http://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/gwr5/content_pages/record.asp?recordid=53297) for some details of a building that weighed 2600 tons that was moved in Minneapolis. It took years of planning, months of preparation and a few days to move (and a lot of money). It was only moved a few blocks as well. Moving a longer distance over roads (US freeway or UK motorway) would probably not be allowed due to width, height and weight restrictions. In the US, a normal maximum truck load is 80,000 lbs or 1.6% of the weight you’re proposing. This is why you would need the multitude of wheels to move on a road - to distribute the load over a greater surface area and get it down to a manageable ground pressure. If you wanted to move it across open ground, crawler tracks such as the Shuttle transport mentioned by **David Simmons** would be necessary. Note that the crawler was made to haul the Saturn V rocket which weighed more than the Shuttle. (Saturn V = 3050 tons, Shuttle = 2250 tons - which is less of a difference than I would have expected.) In addition, the crawler moves on a specially constructed road bed. In summary, 2500 tons would be a massive undertaking, _very_ expensive and probably impossible in most locations. ---
**Author:** ![David\_Simmons](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9de053/32.png) [@David\_Simmons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/David_Simmons)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2005, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quickest-way-to-transport-a-ship-across-land/291318/11 "2005-02-22T15:36:03Z")
> [@Finagle](#): > > You beat me to it by a few seconds. But let me amplify, the shuttle crawler goes about two km/hour and get 0.007 miles/gallon. Granted, this is partly because they’re moving a space shuttle and not some barnacle encrusted pile of junk, so they want to avoid excess speed. But even if you’re moving through an area with no infrastructure to block you, 2500 tons is at the very upper edge of what can be moved by existing wheeled vehicles. I think you’d either have to dig a canal, build a special reinforced track, or build the most massive boat trailer of all time. None of which options compares favorably with actually building a new barge whereever you happen to need one. And, by the way, the specification in the OP is ambiguous. Is the 2500 ton weight the weight of the barge itself or is it the displacement of the barge when fully loaded? ---
**Author:** ![BrotherCadfael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@BrotherCadfael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrotherCadfael)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2005, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quickest-way-to-transport-a-ship-across-land/291318/12 "2005-02-22T15:59:16Z")
Hire Fitzcaraldo. ---
**Author:** ![minor7flat5](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/minor7flat5/32/258_2.png) [@minor7flat5](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/minor7flat5)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2005, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quickest-way-to-transport-a-ship-across-land/291318/13 "2005-02-22T17:45:55Z")
Here you go… A Scientific American artical on the [Interoceanic Ship Railway](http://www.catskillarchive.com/rrextra/pcsa1.Html) ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2005, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quickest-way-to-transport-a-ship-across-land/291318/14 "2005-02-22T19:52:00Z")
Everyone else’s hobbies are so much interesting than mine… ---
**Author:** ![NurseCarmen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/5daacb/32.png) [@NurseCarmen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NurseCarmen)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2005, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quickest-way-to-transport-a-ship-across-land/291318/15 "2005-02-22T19:59:15Z")
If you could somehow get 40 days and 40 nights of rain… ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2005, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quickest-way-to-transport-a-ship-across-land/291318/16 "2005-02-22T20:14:37Z")
I recall an old Ripley’s Believe It or Not item about a Scottish-built steamer that had been transported up to Lake Titicaca in the 19th century. Somewhat disappointingly, the approach was simply to disassemble it into schleppable-sized pieces, schlep them with pack animals, and reassemble them at the lakeshore. ---
**Author:** ![David\_Simmons](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9de053/32.png) [@David\_Simmons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/David_Simmons)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2005, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quickest-way-to-transport-a-ship-across-land/291318/17 "2005-02-22T21:09:29Z")
> [@ElvisL1ves](#): > > I recall an old Ripley’s Believe It or Not item about a Scottish-built steamer that had been transported up to Lake Titicaca in the 19th century. Somewhat disappointingly, the approach was simply to disassemble it into schleppable-sized pieces, schlep them with pack animals, and reassemble them at the lakeshore. I was driving down US 395 on the way to San Bernardino one day and came to the stop sign at the intersection of 395 and CA 58 at a place called Four Corners or Kramer Junction. As I was about to pull out a CHP came wheeling into the intersection from the south, lights flashing and PA horn blaring that all traffic should stop. Into the intersection came a huge semi tractor pulling a BIG boat. He had pulled as far to his right as he could and then turned left on 58 and the boat and trailer just barely cleared the stop sign on the left (his left) of 58. The boat must have been 12 ft wide and probably 80-90’ long on a trailer that was articulated in the middle. After he made the turn he and his SIX CHP escorts took off down 59 at probably 35-40 mph. ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2005, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quickest-way-to-transport-a-ship-across-land/291318/18 "2005-02-22T21:53:59Z")
> [@spingears](#): > > Is this a REAL question or just another exercise in MM? Regardless, how is _your_ question pertinent to the topic or polite in this Forum? (Particularly since you then provide an answer that is seriously in error: the 806’ x 67’ x 36’ (length x beam x depth, draft was ~28’) ore boat on which I worked my second season weighed over 4,000 tons unloaded.) ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2005, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quickest-way-to-transport-a-ship-across-land/291318/19 "2005-02-22T22:16:11Z")
> [@Antonius Block](#): > > Also, rent a copy of Werner Herzog’s 1982 film [Fitzcarraldo](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0083946/), about an Irish adventurer who hauls a steamship over a mountain between two river systems in South America. (The real Irishman on whom the film is based apparently disassembled the ship first, whereas Herzog goes one better and hauls the film’s ship over in one piece. The making of this movie is an epic story in itself.) I spent several months working in the upper Urubamba basin in Perú (on the Camisea River), within sight of the Pass of Fitzcarraldo, over which he hauled his ship in pieces. That pass was pretty damn impressive, even from a distance. There is no way anyone could have hauled an intact ship over it. I believe Herzog accomplished his feat in an entirely different area. ---
**Author:** ![Finagle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/b19c9b/32.png) [@Finagle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Finagle)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2005, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quickest-way-to-transport-a-ship-across-land/291318/20 "2005-02-22T23:03:38Z")
> [@tomndebb](#): > > Regardless, how is _your_ question pertinent to the topic or polite in this Forum? Well, it is true that the OP could expect some better answers if he/she provided a bit more detail. Is this for a story? Is someone actually contemplating doing this? What terrain are we talking? Can we dig a canal or will municipalities in our path object vigorously? What’s our budget? Why can’t we disassemble the barge? And I don’t think it’s too rude to wonder why someone is asking how to do something that is rather off the wall. Speaking of off-the-wall, one long-shot approach would be a heavy lifting dirigible. Poking around the web, I’ve found vague references to designs that would lift 1000000 to 6000000 pounds. I’m more than a bit dubious that such behemoths would be practicable, but if you could achieve the upper limit, that would allow you to move your barge. \* Landing \* the barge would be an interesting engineering problem. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quickest-way-to-transport-a-ship-across-land/291318.md?page=2)