From Simple English Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Pontoon bridge
U.S. Army troops cross the Rhine on a heavy pontoon bridge, March 1945
[1]
|
Carries
| Pedestrian, automobile, truck
|
---|
Span range
| Short to long
|
---|
Material
| Various: steel, concrete, boats, barrels, plastic floats, appropriate decking material
|
---|
Movable
| Generally not, but may have movable sections for watercraft passage
|
---|
Design effort
| low
|
---|
Falsework
required
| No
|
---|
A
pontoon bridge
is a
bridge
that floats on water. It is a
floating bridge
with barges or boats ('pontoons') to support the bridge deck.
Pontoon bridges are usually temporary structures, but some are used for long periods. Permanent floating bridges are useful for sheltered (quiet) water-crossings. It may be too
expensive
to suspend a bridge from anchored
piers
. Pontoon bridges may need a section that is elevated, or can be raised or removed, to allow
ships
to pass.
Pontoon bridges are often used in
wartime
as
river
crossings. They are usually temporary, and are sometimes destroyed after crossing (to keep the enemy from using them), or collapsed and carried (if on a long march). They were used to great advantage in many
battles
. Pontoon bridges have been in use since ancient times. It is thought that the first
London Bridge
was a
Roman
pontoon bridge.
Roman legions
had men and equipment to build pontoon bridges, and often made them. The first pontoon bridge was made by the
Zhou Dynasty
.
- ↑
Beck, Alfred M., et al.,
The Corps of Engineers: The War Against Germany
, Center of Military History (U.S. Army), 1985. The bridge was built by the 85th Engineer Heavy Combat Battalion on March 26, 1945, 200 feet downstream from the demolished Ernst Ludwig highway bridge. It was named the Alexander Patch Bridge after the Seventh Army commander, General
Alexander Patch
. A stone tower of the former bridge is visible on the opposite bank.