Editing Pontoon bridge (section)

==Modern military uses==
[[File:M4T6 pontoon bridge 1983.jpg|thumb|M4T6 pontoon bridge, 1983]]
Pontoon bridges were extensively used by both armies and civilians throughout the latter half of the 20th century.
[[File:French army EFA DSC00859.jpg|thumb|French Army mobile Pontoon bridge in Paris, 2003]]
From the Post-War period into the early 1980s the [[U.S. Army]] and its [[NATO]] and other allies employed three main types of pontoon bridge/raft. The M4 bridge featured a lightweight aluminum balk deck supported by rigid aluminum hull pontoons. The M4T6 bridge used the same aluminum balk deck of the M4, but supported instead by inflatable rubber pontoons. The Class 60 bridge consisted of a more robust steel girder and grid deck supported by inflatable rubber pontoons. All three pontoon bridge types were cumbersome to transport and deploy, and slow to assemble, encouraging the development of an easier to transport, deploy and assemble floating bridge.

===Amphibious float bridges===
[[File:Timsach-Gillois-latrun-1.jpg|thumb|EWK-Gillois amphibious bridging vehicle]]
[[File:German M3 amphibious bridging vehicles 2015.png|thumb|German M3 amphibious bridging vehicles, 2015]]
[[File:Mobile Floating Assault Bridge-Ferry 1980.jpg|thumb|Mobile floating assault bridge–ferry, 1980]]

Several alternatives featured a self-propelled amphibious integrated transporter, floating pontoon, bridge deck section that could be delivered and assembled in the water under its own power, linking as many units as required to bridge a gap or form a raft ferry.

An early example was the Engin de Franchissement de l’Avant [[EFA (mobile bridge)]] amphibious forward crossing apparatus conceived by French General Jean Gillois in 1955. The system consisted of a wheeled amphibious truck equipped with inflatable outboard flotation sponsons and a rotating vehicle bridge deck section. The system was developed by the West German firm Eisenwerke-Kaiserslauter (EWK) and entered production by the French-German consortium Pontesa. The EFA system was first deployed by the French Army in 1965, and subsequently by the [[West German]] {{Lang|de|[[Bundeswehr]]|italic=no}}, British Army, and on a very limited basis by the U.S. Army, where it was referred to as Amphibious River Crossing Equipment (ARCE). Production ended in 1973. The EFA was used in combat by the [[Israel Defense Forces]] (IDF), which employed former U.S. The [[Egyptian Army]] used the equipment to cross the Suez Canal in their attack on Israeli forces during the [[Yom Kippur War]] of 1973.

[[File:PP-2005 pontoon bridge.webm |thumb|Deployment showing automatic unfolding of the most recent Russian ribbon bridge system PP-2005 in 2020]]

EWK further developed the EFA system into the M2 "Alligator" Amphibious Bridging Vehicle equipped with fold-out aluminum flotation pontoons, which was produced from 1967 to 1970 and sold to the West German, British and Singapore militaries. The M2 was followed by the revised [[M3 Amphibious Rig|M3 version]], entering service in 1996 with Germany, Britain, Taiwan and Singapore. The M3 was used in combat by British Forces during the [[Iraq War]]. More recently, Turkey has developed a similar system in the [[FNSS Samur]] wheeled amphibious assault bridge, while the Russian PMM-2 and Chinese GZM003 armoured amphibious assault bridge ride on tracks.

A similar amphibious system, the Mobile Floating Assault Bridge-Ferry (MFAB-F) was developed in the U.S. by Chrysler between 1959 and 1962. As with the French EFA, the MFAB-F consisted of an amphibious truck with a rotating bridge deck section, but there were no outboard flotation sponsons. The MFAB-F was first deployed by the U.S. Army in 1964 and later by Belgium. An improved version was produced by FMC from 1970 to 1976. The MFAB-F remained in service into the early 1980s before being replaced by a simpler continuous pontoon or "ribbon bridge" system.

===Ribbon float bridges===
[[File:PMP Folding Float Brisge 1996.jpg|thumb|PMP folding float bridge, 1996]]

In the early [[Cold War]] period the [[Soviet Red Army]] began development of a new kind of continuous pontoon bridge made up of short folding sections or bays that could be transported and deployed rapidly, automatically unfold in the water, and quickly be assembled into a floating bridge of variable length. Known as the [[PMP Floating Bridge|PMP Folding Float Bridge]], it was first deployed in 1962 and subsequently adopted by Warsaw Pact countries and other states employing Soviet military equipment. The PMP proved its viability in combat when it was used by Egyptian forces to cross the [[Suez Canal]] in 1973. [[Operation Badr (1973)|Operation Badr]], which opened the [[Yom Kippur War]] between [[Egypt]] and [[Israel]], involved the erection of at least 10 pontoon bridges to cross the Canal.<ref>{{cite web|title=Combined Arms in battle since 1939: ''Combat Engineering''|url=http://www-cgsc.army.mil/carl/resources/csi/spiller/spiller.asp#6CE|author=George W. Gawrych|publisher=U.S. Army Command and General Staff College|year=1992|access-date=11 April 2009|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091013082655/http://www-cgsc.army.mil/carl/resources/csi/Spiller/Spiller.asp#6CE|archive-date=13 October 2009}}</ref>
[[File:Standard Ribbon Bridge 2004.jpg|thumb|Standard ribbon bridge, 2004]]

Beginning in 1969, the [[U.S. Army Mobility Equipment Research and Development Command]] (MERADCOM) reverse-engineered the Russian PMP design to develop the improved float bridge (IFB), later known as the standard ribbon bridge (SRB). The IFB/SRB was type classified in 1972 and first deployed in service in 1976. It was very similar to the PMP but was constructed of lightweight aluminum instead of heavier steel.

In 1977, the [[West German]] {{Lang|de|[[Bundeswehr]]|italic=no}} decided to adopt the SRB with some modifications and improvements, entering service in 1979 as the Faltschwimmbrücke, or Foldable Floating Bridge (FSB). Work on designing an improved version of the U.S. SRB incorporating features of the German FSB began in the 1990s, with first deployment by the U.S. Army in the early 2000s as the improved ribbon bridge (IRB).

In addition to the U.S. and Germany, the IFB/SRB/FSB/IRB has been adopted by the Armed Forces of Australia, Brazil, Canada, the Netherlands, Portugal, South Korea and Sweden, among others.

===Yugoslav wars===

During the [[Yugoslav wars]] of the 1990s, the [[Maslenica Bridge (D8)|Maslenica Bridge]] was destroyed and a short pontoon bridge was built by [[Croatia]]n civilian and military authorities in July 1993 over a narrow sea outlet in the town of [[Maslenica]], after [[Operation Maslenica|the territory was retaken]] from [[Serbian Krajina]]. Between 1993 and 1995 the pontoon served as one of the two operational land links toward [[Dalmatia]] and Croat- and [[Bosnian Muslim]]-held areas of [[Bosnia-Herzegovina]] that did not go through Serb-held territory.<ref name="maslenica">{{cite web |author=ASP scripting: Drago Kelemen, dkelemen@.morh.hr |url=http://www.hrvatski-vojnik.hr/hrvatski-vojnik/2232009/maslenica.asp |title=Article on the 16th anniversary of Operation Maslenica |publisher=Hrvatski-vojnik.hr |access-date=2014-08-17 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140819085443/http://www.hrvatski-vojnik.hr/hrvatski-vojnik/2232009/maslenica.asp |archive-date=2014-08-19 }}</ref>

In 1995, the 502nd and 38th Engineer Companies of the U.S. Army's 130th Engineer Brigade, and the 586th Engineer Company from Ft. Benning GA, operating as part of [[IFOR]] assembled a standard ribbon bridge under adverse weather conditions across the [[Sava]] River near [[Županja]] (between [[Croatia]] and [[Bosnia and Herzegovina|Bosnia]]), with a total length of {{convert|2034|ft|m|0}}. It was dismantled in 1996.{{citation needed|date=August 2015}}

===Iran–Iraq war===

Numerous pontoon bridges were constructed by the Iranians and Iraqis to cross the various rivers and marshes alongside the Iraqi border. Notable instances include one constructed over the [[Karkheh river]] to ambush Iraqi Armor during [[Operation Nasr]], and another where they crossed certain marshes during [[First Battle of al-Faw|Operation Dawn 8]]. They were extremely prominent due to their use in allowing for tanks and transports to cross rivers.

===Invasion of Iraq===

[[File:Improved Ribbon Bridge built by 341st Engineer General Service Regiment (11-06-2018).webm |thumb|Improved ribbon bridge built by 341st Engineer General Service Regiment at Drawsko Pomorskie training area, 11 June 2018]]

The United States Army's 299th Multi-role Bridge Company, [[United States Army Reserve|USAR]] deployed a standard ribbon bridge across the [[Euphrates river]] at [[Battle of the Karbala Gap (2003)|Objective Peach]] near Al Musayib on the night of 3 April 2003. The 185-meter bridge was built to support retrograde operations because of the heavy-armor traffic crossing a partially destroyed adjacent [[highway]] span.<ref>{{cite web|last=Pike|first=John|url=http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/library/report/2004/onpoint/ch-5.htm|title=On Point - The United States Army in Operation Iraqi Freedom|work=globalsecurity.org|access-date=2015-09-10|archive-date=2011-04-01|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110401150354/http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/library/report/2004/onpoint/ch-5.htm|url-status=live}}</ref>

"By dawn on 4 April 2003, the 299th Engineer Company had emplaced a 185-meter long Assault Float Bridge—the first time in history that a bridge of its type was built in combat."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://299th.luddite.net/files/obj_peach_narrative.doc|title=OBJECTIVE PEACH NARRATIVE CPT Steven J. Thompson, Commander, 299th Engineer Company (MRB)|access-date=2012-09-18|archive-date=2011-08-10|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110810192452/http://299th.luddite.net/files/obj_peach_narrative.doc|url-status=live}}</ref> This took place during the [[2003 invasion of Iraq]] by American and British forces. That same night, the 299th also constructed a {{convert|40|m|adj=on}} single-story [[Medium Girder Bridge]] to patch the damage done to the highway span. The 299th was part of the [[3rd Infantry Division (United States)|U.S. Army's 3rd Infantry Division]] as they crossed the border into [[Iraq]] on 20 March 2003.

===Syrian civil war===

In February 2018, pro-regime fighters used a pontoon bridge to cross the Euphrates river during the [[Battle of Khasham]].<ref>Christoph Reuter. [http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/american-fury-the-truth-about-the-russian-deaths-in-syria-a-1196074.html American Fury: The Truth About the Russian Deaths in Syria: Hundreds of Russian soldiers are alleged to have died in U.S. airstrikes at the beginning of February. Reporting by DER SPIEGEL shows that events were likely very different.] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180304014923/http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/american-fury-the-truth-about-the-russian-deaths-in-syria-a-1196074.html |date=2018-03-04 }} ''[[Der Spiegel]]'', 2 March 2018.</ref>

===Eastern Ukraine offensive===

In May 2022, Ukrainian forces repelled an attempted Russian military crossing of the [[Donets river]], west of [[Sievierodonetsk]] in [[Luhansk Oblast]], during the [[Eastern Ukraine offensive]]. At least one Russian battalion tactical group was reportedly destroyed, as well as the pontoon bridge deployed in the crossing.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/ukrainian-forces-prevented-attempted-russian-river-crossing-donbas-britain-says-2022-05-13/ |title=Ukrainian forces prevented attempted Russian river crossing in the Donbas, Britain says |website=Reuters |date=13 May 2022 |access-date=2022-05-13 |archive-date=2022-05-13 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220513095253/https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/ukrainian-forces-prevented-attempted-russian-river-crossing-donbas-britain-says-2022-05-13/ |url-status=live }}</ref>