Bailey Bridge

[Louis]

Designed by English civil engineer Sir Donald Bailey ( 15 Sept 1901 / 5 May 1985 ), and played a key role in shortening WWII.

Collapsible and portable bridges had been around for hundreds of years, in various forms. By 1940, however, British weapons were outstripping engineering equipment. Tanks weighed more than 40 tons, but the heaviest portable bridge could hold only 26 tons.

From a sketch on the back of an envelope, Bailey honed his design for a bridge that could be built from standard lightweight modules in a matter of hours, and were yet strong enough to hold tanks. Hundreds were built and used in the war enabling allied troops to cross rivers.

The first operational Bailey Bridge during the WWII was built in Tunisia on the night of Nov 26 1942.

 

[Gnarly]

No pressure on the poor kid there.....

 

[Louis]

Field Marshal Montgomery crosses the 1,000th Bailey bridge to be constructed in North-West Europe, April 1945.

 

[Louis]

Bailey Bridge displayed at the Omaha Beach Museum in Normandy.

 

[mTk]

Any idea what the weight bearing on that beastie was? Damn that looks tuff!

 

[Nort]

Bailey Bridge displayed at the Omaha Beach Museum in Normandy.

I have walked the length of that bridge display. The entire property is truly amazing.

 

[Louis]

Any idea what the weight bearing on that beastie was? Damn that looks tuff!

My understanding is that it depended on the length of the bridge.
But here are some interesting facts from the source:

"The basic building unit was a welded steel truss. Each measured ten feet long and five feet wide, with three cross beams at each end and at the center, dividing the rectangular shape into two squares. Eight interior beams reinforced the corners of the squares, like geometric diamonds drawn within each. The panels weighed 600 pounds and could be carried by six men. Three pairs of engineers stood at the front end, the middle, and the back. Standing nearly shoulder to shoulder—with the panel standing on its longer side between them—each pair of men used a lifting bar to raise and move the panel.

At the four corners of each panel were holes which could be aligned with those of adjacent panels, then secured by pins which were hammered into place, and then locked in with cross bolts. The panels formed the left and right sides of the bridge. Connecting them to form the foundation of the bridge’s road bed were a series of steel beams called transoms, measuring 19 feet in length, laid at five-foot intervals. Laid and secured across the transom parallel to the panels were stringers, smaller beams some 10 feet long. Finally, laid horizontally across the stringers were chesses, wooden panels some 12 feet long, to form the actual road surface that vehicles and men would use to traverse the bridge. These chesses were eventually replaced with steel, since the treads of armored vehicles quickly ripped the wooden planks apart".

 

[Gunner]

When I hear "bailey bridge" I always think of the scene in Kelly's Heroes.