secured to the pilings with 3/4-inch-diameter , nylon mooring lines. The 

 towing attachment was passed through the PAU and handed to people on the 

 FTB. For boom deployment, the drive chain of the PAU was physically 

 removed so that the tires would rotate freely and assist in boom 

 deployment. 



Four men were required on the FTB boat to pull the boom and fake 

 it down on the deck. The faking was carried out in two different ways: 

 fore and aft, and athwartship . An additional three men were required on 

 the pier: one man to maintain the boom's smooth travel over the PAU and 

 two men to bring the boom from the pier (or boom box, if used) to the PAU. 



The total capacity of the FTB was found to be the 900-ft of boom 

 used in these tests and five man, with an average weight of 160 lb. 

 The weights of the 300-ft (approximate) sections of each of the three 

 booms, 48-inch Kepner Sea Curtain, 36-inch Bennett Inland Oil Boom, and 

 36-inch Bennett Class III U.S. Navy Boom, were 1450 lb, 1010 lb, and 

 1090 lb, respectively. The accuracy of each weight is j^ 10 lb. With 

 this total load of 4350 lb (800 + 1450 + 1010 + 1090) , the water level 

 was at or slightly below the FTB's waterline. Figure 15. Similarly, as 

 in Figure 15, the entire usable area of the deck of the FTB was completely 

 covered with multiple layers of the boom of 900 ft total length. There 

 was no space left on the deck to permit the crew to cross the boat 

 athwartship. It is felt that the folding FTB should not be loaded any more 

 than the load attempted in these tests . The total usable deck area of 

 the FTB between inner rails is approximately 9'-8" x 23 "-7", or 228 ft . 

 The total deck length, 23 '-7", must be reduced by the space required by 

 the crew to cross athwartship. 



Under negligible winds and waves, the time required for complete 

 loading of the FTB with 900 ft of boom, faked on the pier at the start, 

 was 9.9 minutes. 



(ii) Partial Loading: If the total length of boom required to contain a 

 spill is less than 900 ft, then there may be some space on the deck 

 which could be used for other purposes. Because the Navy has been 

 procuring the 36-inch Bennett Class III U.S. Navy Boom, the 300-ft 

 length of this boom was loaded athwartship on the FTB in as compact a 

 form as appeared practical and safe, and the free deck space was 

 measured. The length of the free deck space was 11 '-6"; i.e., 300 ft of 

 Navy boom occupied approximately 49% of the maximum available space, 

 before making any allowance for walk paths. An upper limit of the FTB 

 for carrying the Navy's 36-inch boom may therefore be assumed to be 

 about 500 ft, if a 2-ft wide walkway is allowed on both the bow and the 

 stern. 



The usable width of the FTB between inner rails of 9 '-8" is not a 

 whole multiple of the length of each float of the Navy boom presently 

 being procured. Therefore, for the most effective use of the deck space, 

 it is necessary that the specifications of the FTB and the Navy boom be 

 modified to ensure that the usable width of the FTB will be slightly in 

 excess of an integral multiple of the length of the boom floats . As 

 shown later in this chapter, faking the boom fore to aft on this FTB 

 is not recommended for safety considerations. 



16 



