Originally Posted by R Leo

Not exactly so...they definitely are ballasted to keep the wheels in the water when the bunkers are light but I guarantee you they aren't ballasted to recover from a roll because there's no reason to ever worry about roll on an inland waterway...there's no swell.

The pics you speak of was the Towboat Cahaba being pulled under the Rooster Bridge by her tow on the Tombigbee River near Demopolis,AL. The only reason she survived and didn't sink like a stone was because the engine room hatches were closed and the only reason she didn't get rolled all the way over was because she'd fueled earlier in the day and had 20,000 gallons of diesel in her bunkers acting as ballast.