Regular barge service on the Lower-Rhine in the first half of the nineteenth century : technical innovation and organizational change

Abstract

During the nineteenth century, Rhine river transportation underwent a multi-faceted transition. One of the sectors affected by that transition was the contract-based regular shipping service using sailing ships, which is the subject of this research note. Earlier research has seen this sector as part of the traditional and monopolistic transport system that collapsed under the impact of liberalization and the introduction of steam-powered towage. This is not wholly correct. The traditional system continued to develop during the long period of transition to a free navigation system, and only disappeared with the introduction of the new technology of steamships. The paper shows that there was a complicated relationship between system of contract-based shipping, the growth in demand for animal-powered towage and the introduction of steam-powered towage for shipping.