Lake Assault River Barges Arrive in San Antonio
Lake Assault Boats a manufacturer of purpose-built and mission-specific work boats, fireboats, and rescue vessels – recently delivered 24 of the 43 custom river barges purchased by the City of San Antonio, Texas.
The custom boats are a vital and integral component of the vibrant San Antonio River Walk that lies one story below the city’s streets, hugging the San Antonio River and connecting retail stores, restaurants, office buildings, and major tourist attractions. The boats will serve as touring and dining vessels and also as water taxis.
The 24 barges arrived on a caravan of 12 semi-trucks and were unloaded via crane directly into the San Antonio River that flows through downtown. The remaining barges in the fleet will all be delivered by the end of November.
The fleet consists of five distinct barge rail patterns and can be configured in a range of floor plans to support touring, dining, commuting, entertaining, special events and other applications. For example, the Children’s Ballet of San Antonio gave an onboard promotional performance of its upcoming “Swan Lake” production to River Walk visitors. The modular deck design allows for different layouts of tables, chairs and booths. The flat deck enables easy entrance and exit. Programmable LED lighting creates a stunning visual display.
The boats are designed with care for the environment and sustainability as a top priority. Each includes an innovative Torqeedo brand 10kW outboard electric motor, with power supplied by 16 lithium batteries. Recharging the batteries is an automatic process that only requires the operator to plug the boat in to shore power.