Open main menu
Home
Random
Recent changes
Special pages
Community portal
Preferences
About Wikipedia
Disclaimers
Incubator escapee wiki
Search
User menu
Talk
Dark mode
Contributions
Create account
Log in
Editing
Pontoon bridge
(section)
Warning:
You are not logged in. Your IP address will be publicly visible if you make any edits. If you
log in
or
create an account
, your edits will be attributed to your username, along with other benefits.
Anti-spam check. Do
not
fill this in!
===Britain=== [[File:Omaha Mulberry Harbour.jpg|thumb|A Whale floating roadway leading to a Spud pier at Mulberry A off [[Omaha Beach]] ]] [[Donald Bailey (civil engineer)|Donald Bailey]] invented the [[Bailey bridge]], which was made up of modular, pre-fabricated steel trusses capable of carrying up to {{convert|40|ST}} over spans up to {{convert|180|ft}}. While typically constructed point-to-point over [[pier (architecture)|pier]]s, they could be supported by pontoons as well.<ref name=firefury/> The Bailey bridge was used for the first time in 1942. The first version put into service was a Bailey Pontoon and Raft with a {{convert|30|ft}} single-single Bailey bay supported on two pontoons. A key feature of the Bailey Pontoon was the use of a single span from the bank to the bridge level which eliminated the need for bridge trestles.<ref name=think/> For lighter vehicle bridges the [[Folding Boat Equipment]] could be used and the [[Kapok Assault Bridge]] was available for infantry.<ref name=think/> An open sea type of pontoon, another British war time invention, known by their code names, the [[Mulberry harbour]]s floated across the English Channel to provide harbours for the June 1944 [[invasion of Normandy|Allied invasion of Normandy]]. The dock piers were code named "Whale". These piers were the floating roadways that connected the "Spud" pier heads to the land. These pier heads or landing wharves, at which ships were unloaded each consisted of a pontoon with four legs that rested on the sea bed to anchor the pontoon, yet allowed it to float up and down freely with the tide. "Beetles" were pontoons that supported the "Whale" piers. They were moored in position using wires attached to "Kite" anchors which were also designed by [[Allan Beckett]]. These anchors had a high holding power<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.beckettrankine.com/development-kite-anchor-mulberry-harbour/ |title=Development of the Kite Anchor for Mulberry Harbour |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150923183156/http://www.beckettrankine.com/development-kite-anchor-mulberry-harbour/ |archive-date=2015-09-23 }}</ref> as was demonstrated in D+13 Normandy storm where the British Mulberry survived most of the storm damage whereas the American Mulberry, which only had 20% of its Kite Anchors deployed, was destroyed.
Edit summary
(Briefly describe your changes)
By publishing changes, you agree to the
Terms of Use
, and you irrevocably agree to release your contribution under the
CC BY-SA 4.0 License
and the
GFDL
. You agree that a hyperlink or URL is sufficient attribution under the Creative Commons license.
Cancel
Editing help
(opens in new window)