Section 2 Centre Girders

201. Arrangement and construction

1. Centre girder is to extend as far forward and afterward as practicable.

2. Where double bottoms having non-watertight centre girder are used for carriage of fuel oil, fresh water or water ballast, the breadth of the compartments is to be less than 0.5Æ . However, the re- quirement may be suitably modified, in narrow tanks at the end parts of the barge or where deemed appropriate by the Society.

202. Manholes

1. Manholes may be provided on centre girders in every frame space outside 0.75Ã amidships.

2. Manholes may be provided on centre girders in alternate frame spaces for 0.75Ã amidships in barges under 90 m in length, provided that the depth of holes does not exceed one-third the depth of centre girder.

3. Where manholes are cut in the centre girder plates for 0.75Ã amidships in barges 90 m in length and above, the girder plates are to be compensated.

203. Depth of centre girder

The depth of centre girder is not to be less ÆÕÌĴ unless specially approved by the Society, but in no case is it to be less than 700 mm.

204. Thickness of centre girder plate

The thickness of centre girder plate is not to be less than obtained from the following formula:

ᾼ Ņ LǾLJ Ã Ñ J

(mm)

205. Brackets

1. Where longitudinal framing system is adopted in the double bottom, brackets are to be transversely provided between the solid floors with a spacing not more than 1.75 m connecting the centre girder to the bottom shell plating as well as the adjacent bottom longitudinals, and additional stiffeners are to be provided for the centre girder as may be required.

2. The thickness of the formula. However, it

brackets specified in Par 1 is not to be less than obtained from the following needs not be greater than that of the solid floors at the same location.

ᾼ Ņ LǾĴ Ρ̓ÜÃ Ñ ÌǾJ (mm)

3. The thickness of stiffeners specified in Par 1 is not to be less than that of a flat bar having the

same thickness as that of girder plates and having the depth not less than 0.08ᾘL, where depth of centre girder (mm).

ᾘL is the