August 2006 11
Jon Gonsoulin is not one to rest on his
legacy. Jon's grandfather, Earl, began
working with the LeBeouf brothers back
in 1946 and soon bought into the com-
pany. In time, Earl and his two sons,
Richard and Jerry, were able to buy the
LeBeouf brothers' shares. Earl turned
over the helms to his sons in the 1970's.
From that time forward, the two broth-
ers continued to strengthen and consoli-
date the company's position.
In 2005, Richard "Dickie" Gonsoulin
purchased his brother's interest in the
company. Today the company is solely
owned by Dickie with Jon taking an
ever more active role in forging the
company's present and future growth.
The current fleet is comprised of 22
push boats including the recently deliv-
ered M/V Merle Gonsoulin and the M/V
Sydney Ann. The 74 x 28-ft. sister ships
were delivered in 2006 from LaForce
Shipyard in Bayou Labatre, Ala. The
vessels are powered by a pair of 1,000
hp Cummins KTA38 M1 engines turn-
ing five-blade 74-in. props through 6:1
Rentjes gears. The boats are earning
their keep pushing oil barges on the
inland waterways of the U.S.
The company's barge fleet includes
three spud barges, thirty-two 30,000-
barrel oil barges and seven double-
skinned 10,000-barrel oil barges.
Included in the large double skin fleet
are 26 asphalt-capable barges with
heaters. The barge maintenance is done
at LeBeouf's own yard adjacent to their
home office near Bourg, La., at Mile 49
on the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway. It is
here that Jon Gonsoulin will build new
barges for the company fleet once he has
added a high tech array of equipment
including an automated one side weld-
ing system, NC cutting table and a 600-
ft. railway connecting to the firm's exist-
ing floating drydock. "We will continue
to contract work for others but we intend
to be our own best customer and expect
to amortize the improvements over the
first four or five barges that we build,"
explained Jon. In addition to the boats
recently delivered from the Laforce
yard, there are two 2000-hp boats pow-
ered by Cummins KTA38 M1's on order
from Intracoastal Iron Works in Bourg.
The first of these, the 72 x 30-ft. Katie
Gonsoulin, is scheduled for a
September, 2006 delivery.
News
Pushing It: LeBeouf Bros. Towing
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REPAIRS AND CONVERSIONS
8365 Highway 308 South Lockport, Louisiana 70374
Telephone: (985) 532-2554 Fax: (985) 532-7225
www.bollingershipyards.com
E-mail: sales@bollingershipyards.com
M/V Sydney Ann nearing completion.
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