🔍 Key Concepts
• A backing wire on a push‑tow is the wire that takes the load when the towboat is backing, helping keep the tow together and under control.
• Look at how each labeled wire runs relative to the towboat at the bottom and the head of the tow at the top of the illustration.
• Compare the purpose of short inter‑barge wires (holding barges together sideways or lengthwise) versus longer wires that control the tow when engines go astern.
💭 Think About
• First, decide which direction in the drawing is ahead and which is astern for the towboat, then picture what happens when the engines are put astern.
• Ask yourself: which labeled item would be taking the main strain when the towboat backs down, keeping the barges from running ahead or spreading?
• Which of the answer‑choice labels (A, C, E, G) is clearly arranged so that its pull would act back toward the towboat rather than just between adjacent barges?
✅ Before You Answer
• Verify that a backing wire must be connected so that its load path is from the tow back toward the boat, not just from barge to barge.
• Check that the item you choose is not simply a breast wire or face wire holding barges side‑by‑side or end‑to‑end, but instead helps control motion when backing.
• Confirm that among A, C, E, and G, only one label clearly represents a wire whose main job would be to control the tow when the boat goes astern.