Lake Assault Boats delivers 24 San Antonio river barges

Written by Nick Blenkey
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Each of the Lake Assault river barges on the San Antonio River Walk can be configured and modified in a range of floor plans to support touring, dining, commuting, entertaining, and other applications

OCTOBER 9, 2017 — Superior, WI, based Lake Assault Boats has delivered 24 of 43 custom river barges ordered by the City of San Antonio, TX.

The custom boats are a major element of the San Antonio River Walk that lies one story below the city’s streets, alongside the San Antonio River and connecting retail stores, restaurants, office buildings, and major tourist attractions. The boats 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. The remaining barges in the fleet will all be delivered by the end of November.

“We worked closely with Lake Assault and our architect to refine the design and build the best product possible,” said John Jacks, Director of the City of San Antonio’s Center City Development and Operations Department. “Lake Assault has done a great job of staying within our budget, adjusting to design changes along the way, and meeting some very tight deadlines. Working with them has been a great experience.”

“We are very excited that the custom river barges of our first caravan delivery are in the water and serving citizens of San Antonio and the visitors to its incredible River Walk,” said Chad DuMars, Lake Assault Boats vice president of operations. “The entire process with the city – from design and prototype testing through full-scale production and delivery – has gone very smoothly. We couldn’t be more pleased, and look forward to seeing the entire fleet in its new home.”

The fleet consists of five distinct barge patterns and can be configured in a range of floor plans to support touring, dining, commuting, entertaining, special events and other applications.

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 striking visual display.

The boats are designed with the environment and sustainability as a top priority. Each includes an innovative Torqeedo brand 10 kW 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.

Lake Assault Boats is a subsidiary of Capstan Corporation, which is also the parent company of Fraser Shipyards.

 

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