Page 54: of Marine News Magazine (September 2015)

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Paducah Rigging Pushes

Perfectly Positioned Rope

Samson’s Saturn 12 Synthetic Line may soon become the ideal next generation river rope.

By Joseph Keefe n 1974, the sole business of Paducah Rigging, with just Blue four employees and operating out of a small of? ce not Today’s river standard – and color – is arguably blue.

I much larger than a two-car garage, was to manufacture That’s because Samson’s AmSteel-Blue, made with its pro- barge wires for a few area towboat companies in the im- prietary Dyneema ? ber, is a torque-free 12-strand single mediate vicinity of Paducah, Kentucky. Today, Kentucky is braid that yields the maximum in strength-to-weight ratio still the headquarters of the ? rm, but the full service rigging and, size-for-size, is the same strength as steel—but it’s so company now has three other branches ideally positioned in light, it ? oats. According to Edwards, AmSteel-Blue is an

Reserve, LA, Greenville, MS and further north in East St. excellent wire rope replacement with extremely low stretch,

Louis, Illinois. and superior ? ex fatigue and wear resistance. Because of

That kind of geographic cov- that, a large percentage of U.S. erage allows the ? rm to service inland operators depend exclu- a wide range of inland towing sively on the rope, especially in needs, with a growing portfolio terms of facing, wing wires and of equipment, lines and ropes. tug winches.

Along with a full-line of fabricat- According to Sampson, the ed wire rope slings, chain slings, unique blue color is there for nylon slings, tie downs, barge more than just appearance — and winch wires, crane wires it is created by a proprietary with ? ttings, logging chokers, Samthane coating that enhances and many other related products rope wear life and snag resis- – all custom-made to customer tance. AmSteel-Blue doesn’t re- speci? cations – Paducah Rigging also stocks and sells Sam- quire lubrication because it doesn’t rust or “? shhook.” Its son ropes. There’s an important reason for that, says Paducah ? exibility and extreme light weight will allow for an easier,

Rigging President Alex Edwards. Eventually, that reason will faster and safer mooring sequence. And, Samson reports become as clear as the difference between the colors blue that the 12-strand construction of AmSteel-Blue is one of and orange, especially at home on the nation’s inland rivers. the easiest ropes to splice or re-splice.

According to Edwards, the U.S. inland rivers began to transition from primarily using wires in the late 1980’s to Orange early 1990’s. Amsteel-Blue – a Samson synthetic product – The next generation in Samson’s 12-strand working lines then took good hold with decent market penetration in the made with Dyneema ? ber, Saturn-12, has a coating that mid-1990’s. improves abrasion resistance and increases residual strength

In general, on the water, barge-to-barge moorings today as much as 15 to 20 percent when compared with other are typically wire. Barge to pushboat connections, on the HMPE lines and their conventional coatings. This torque- other hand, have evolved to rope and synthetics. free, ? exible, and easy-to-handle construction is easy to in-

September 2015

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