Hi GPC,
I havent seen that map before; interesting...
Yes the Belgians barged material from Manono out through the Myumba area and that 46km of road is the old Belgian track and is reportedly in quite good condition.
I hadn't looked at barging down south, as meanders quite a bit; its at Myumba and even more so at Ankoro that it really straightens out...also from a fuel burn point of view its better barging a loaded vessel downstream with the current.
Anyway, i didnt realise that it actual hit the rail system again down south at Bukama; the UN barged around 2000 tonnes of food aid from Bukama right up past Myumba (Manono) back around 2006. The food was railed to Bukama from Lubumbashi.
Zooming down on the river and measuring the width using google earth; its alot wider than i would have though drifting from 100 to 250meters in width, with the narrowest point being around the 50m mark. There are also some decent boats barges of around 25-30 meters sitting at the Bukama Port and this is where the rail crosses
Bukama Port and Rail Crossing -
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The river seems wide enough; it meanders a bit more than i would like but nothing perfect in the DRC. Anyway i reckon the operators of Manono should be using a flat bottom barge skull dragged by a tugboat similar to this one which is 57m x 23m wide; this one has a dead-weight of 4300 tonne (dead weight in boating terms is the weight it can carry, not the actual weight of the vessel as some may think)
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This route if possible certainly would shred the road kms. Nice find
