Dravo Mechling Corporation, a subsidiary of Dravo Corporation, Pittsburgh, has applied for a Title XI guarantee to aid in financing the construction of 60 dry-cargo barges. Of the total, 40 will be 195-foot-long, semi-integrated, covered hopper barges, and the other 20 will be 200-foot-long, semi-covered hopper barges. The barges are intended for use on the Mississippi River system, the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway, and tributary river systems.
Dravo expects to deliver the 20 semi-covered barges in April 1981. No builder has been selected for the others, but Dravo Mechling anticipates they will be completed by the end of this year. If approved, the Title XI guarantee would cover $17 million, or 87½ percent of the 60 vessels' combined estimated cost of about $19.5 million.