A reaction ferry is a ferry that uses the current of the river to propel the vessel across the river.
The ferry consists of 2 steel pontoons with a wooden deck bridging them. They are designed to operate in rivers with strong currents. These vessels require overhead cables suspended from towers anchored on either bank of the river. A "traveller", is installed on the cable and the ferry is attached to the traveller by a bridle cable. To operate the ferry the bridle cable is adjusted so that the pontoons are angled into the current causing the force of the current to move ferry across the river. These ferries generally carry 2-4 cars.
At one time there were over 30 reaction ferries in the rivers of British Columbia, primarily on the Fraser River and the Thompson River. There are now only a few that continue to operate.
External links
BC Ministry of Transportation Marine Division (http://www.th.gov.bc.ca/mot_org/marine/marinehome.htm)
Ferries are also used to transport freight (in lorries and sometimes unpowered freight containers) and even railroad cars.
Reactionferries are cable ferries that use the perpendicular force of the current as a source of power.
Free ferries operate in some parts of the world, such as at Woolwich in London, England (across the River Thames), in Amsterdam, Netherlands (across the IJ waterway), in New York Harbor, connecting Manhattan to Staten Island and across many lakes in British Columbia.
A ferry is a boat or a ship carrying passengers, and sometimes their vehicles, on scheduled services.
All three ferries are based in the northern Tasmanian port city of Devonport; two ferries travel the route to Melbourne, Victoria, and the third to Sydney, New South Wales.
A beautiful example of a current propelled ferry is in basel switzerland http://www.faehri.ch/ Chain ferries may be used in fast-flowing rivers across short distances.
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