Military Bridging Part 2

MILIFAX
Canadian Army Vehicle Markings 1939-1945
Military Bridging 1944 Part 2

THE BAILEY BRIDGE

In 1940, a review was undertaken of the British Army's bridging systems. At this time, the maximum weight that could be carried by any bridge in service was 30 tons. With an eye on the projected increase in the size of tanks, it was decided to design a completely new bridge capable of carrying a 70-ton load. This represented 30 tons of tank transporter hauling 40 tons of tank.

Design of the new bridge was started in February 1941 under the direction of Chief Designer Donald Bailey at the Experimental Bridging Establishment at Whitechurch in the UK. Production began in January 1942. The bridge was subsequently named in honor of it's designer.

The key to the Bailey bridge was basic panel(left).
10 feet in length and light enough to be carried
by 6 men, they were pinned together with simple
steel pins (right) to form girders . These girders
could be up to 150 feet in length. They formed the sides of the bridge and were held together with transoms, which also formed the structure of the deck. The transoms were then covered with stringers (deck panels) and finally with chesses.

To provide greater strength, girders could be joined together in parallel to form trusses and stacked one on top of the other to form storeys. The bridge (above) is made up of a pair of trusses per side and is known as a double truss, single storey or DS. A bridge made up of three trusses per side and two trusses high was a triple truss, double story or TD.

Span in Feet

Load class

	SS	DS	TS	DD	TD	DT	TT
9	90	150	170	180	200
12	80	140	160	170	190
18	60	110	140	160	180	200
24	60	110	140	150	170	200
30	50	100	120	140	160	190	200
40	30	80	110	130	150	180	180
50		60	90	110	130	160	180
60		50	80	100	120	130	160
70		40	70	90	110	120	150

"Sagging Susie" : Class 9 DS Bailey built by 9 Field Squadron RCE, Holland, 1945
Note the sign showing Bridge Class and Unit responsible for construction.

1 Fd Coy RCE completes Triple-Single Bailey to replace demolished stone bridge, Italy, 1944

Diamont T towing bulldozer proves too heavy for bridge

The result of getting the math wrong:
A Diamond T 980 tractor, an International TD-18 bulldozer and a British Cranes 40-ton trailer
prove too much for a DS Bailey.

And if the river is too wide, you simply build an SS Bailey on a couple of Mk.IV pontoons and raft vehicles across.
A Federal 604 20-ton tractor hooked to a Trailmobile 20-ton trailer with Caterpillar D-7 dozer on board.

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