What is on the frount of a river barge?

Answer 1

So there is a distinction that has to made before this question can be answered and that is what are you calling a barge?

if you mean the boat, then on the front there are the push knees, the primary winches and then the wing wires and winches. As well as all the equipment the deckhands will need to build the tow.

if you mean the tow(a group of barges wired together) then at the head of the tow there will be a port and starboard sounder, to let the captain know the depth of the river under the two corners of his tow. There will be a jackstaff, which is a flag on a pole with a blue light straight out from the wheel house. There will be three lights, a blinking yellow denoting the furthest forward barge, a solid red denoting the most port barge(left looking out from the wheel house), a solid green denoting the most starboard barge (right looking from the wheelhouse). There will also be a tool box with supplies you might need(batteries, sockets, etc), and a lifering.

if you just mean the barge the there might be stacked cover tops and a few winches or sets of rigging to add the barge to a tow.