Military Bridges

design criteria
(Bailey Bridge)
Basic Outline Introduction Design Criteria Analysis
(Construction parts (Comparison with
and conditions) civil bridges with a
case study)
and Conclusions
 MILITARY BRIDGING
INTRODUCTION
The aim of military bridging is maintaining the mobility of a force by
opening and keeping the routes open across dry and wet gaps, and also
LITERATURE giving solutions to crossings across dynamic obstacles such as craters,
REVIEW minefields and pipelines.

ANALYSIS OF
DATA &
INTERPRETATION

INTERPRETATION
& CONCLUSIONS
 BAILEY BRIDGE
INTRODUCTION
The Bailey bridge is a type of portable, pre-fabricated, truss bridge.
LITERATURE
REVIEW
ANALYSIS OF
DATA &
INTERPRETATION

INTERPRETATION
& CONCLUSIONS
Load Class 12 - 130 ft. Double Single Bailey bridge
over Shingo River, Kargil, India
INTRODUCTION Design criteria
(derived from Mission assigned to a combat Engineer)
LITERATURE
• Two basic concepts:
REVIEW 1. Counter the mobility of the opposing forces while enhancing the
maneuver capabilities of own forces.
ANALYSIS OF 2. Increase the defensive capability of own forces through
DATA & fortifications, while reducing the enemy defensive strength by
destroying their fortifications
INTERPRETATION
• Operations in hazardous or unusual environments.
CONCLUSIONS
 Design
INTRODUCTION
Bailey bridge parts:
LITERATURE
REVIEW
 Main bridge and decking members
ANALYSIS OF  Bracing members
DATA &  End of bridge members
INTERPRETATION  Foot walk members
 Erection tools

CONCLUSIONS
BAILEY BRIDGE PARTS
Bailey Bridge Standard Truss Configurations
 Piers - In the case of combination bridges on piers or trestles
INTRODUCTION

LITERATURE
REVIEW
ANALYSIS OF
DATA &
INTERPRETATION

CONCLUSIONS
 Basic Design Aspects for military bridge
INTRODUCTION

LITERATURE
 One cannot be over safe, i.e. the designer should specify at what load or
REVIEW under what condition his structure will have an assured failure.

ANALYSIS OF
 The military bridge design is normally proven at the prototype stage to not
DATA & only assess its load carrying capacity but to ensure that it fails under the
INTERPRETATION predetermined excessive loads.

CONCLUSIONS
 Basic Design Aspects for military bridge (Cont.)
INTRODUCTION
 For a military bridge, the expectations are different.
LITERATURE 1. The bridge has to be transported and launched many times over.
None of the systems or subsystems should get damaged during these
REVIEW operations.
2. Most of the operations are carried out during night and under adverse
ANALYSIS OF weather and battlefield conditions. There is no scope to carry out
DATA & detailed inspection during each launch or use.

INTERPRETATION
 The Military bridge, in other words, should be fault-tolerant.

CONCLUSIONS
 Basic Design Aspects for CIVIL bridge
INTRODUCTION
 The design of a civil bridge is for life under design loading conditions.
LITERATURE
 In these bridges, an occasional overload must be tolerated.
REVIEW
 No catastrophic failure is acceptable as it can result in loss of human life
and property.
ANALYSIS OF
 Also for such bridges, expectancy of life is much longer and periodical
DATA & inspections should reveal damage.
INTERPRETATION  It may also happen that the usage conditions and parameters have changed
over the years; yet the structure should be adaptable to these changes with
minimum disturbance.
CONCLUSIONS
 Broad guidelines for design of Military bridges
Minimum Clear Roadway Width.
INTRODUCTION

LITERATURE
REVIEW
ANALYSIS OF
DATA & Wind Velocity and Pressure.
INTERPRETATION

CONCLUSIONS
 Broad guidelines for design of Military bridges
INTRODUCTION (Cont.)
LITERATURE
REVIEW  Vehicle Design Crossing Speed.

ANALYSIS OF
DATA &
INTERPRETATION

CONCLUSIONS
(Tables taken from-Bailey Bridge Field Manual FM-5)
 Possible locations of fatigue cracks
INTRODUCTION

LITERATURE
REVIEW
ANALYSIS OF
DATA &
INTERPRETATION

CONCLUSIONS
 Case study
INTRODUCTION An under-construction footbridge at Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium (Delhi), one
of the main venues for 2010 Commonwealth Games, collapsed a few weeks
before the opening ceremony, injuring 27 people.
LITERATURE
REVIEW
ANALYSIS OF
DATA &
INTERPRETATION

CONCLUSIONS
 Conclusions
INTRODUCTION
 Design criteria are different for Military Bridges (fault tolerant) in
comparison to Civil bridges (safe loading).
LITERATURE
 Time, movement of components, handling, reuse is a major
REVIEW consideration for Military bridges.

ANALYSIS OF  The parameters for deflections are generally higher than those for
civilian bridges.
DATA &
 Normally, 10,000 cycles of peak load and 15 years of storage
INTERPRETATION indicates adequate service life for a military bridge.
 One family of the Bailey bridge provided a universal solution to
practically every obstacle-crossing problem using its variants from
CONCLUSIONS single-single to triple-double constructions, and later covering rafts
and pontoon bridges and even suspension bridges.
 Usefulness of Military Bridges
INTRODUCTION
 For material technologists, it can provide unique opportunities for design
in aluminum alloys and composites.
LITERATURE
 Military bridges are useful during disaster management exercises/
REVIEW deployments.
 An immediate replacement during collapse of civil bridges and flyovers.
ANALYSIS OF
DATA &
INTERPRETATION

CONCLUSIONS
Literature Review
 A Monographs published (2008) under DRDO
Monographs series by DESIDOC and authored
by Shri MR Joshi, Former Director, Research &
Development Establishment (Engineers), Pune.
 Bailey Bridge Component Inspection Procedure
published by US Army TARDEC (Tank-
Automotive Research, Development and
Engineering Centre) – Mar 1997.
 Bridge Inspection, Maintenance and Repair
published by US Army & Air Force 1994.
 Bailey Bridge Field Manual FM-5 published by
US Army for construction practices
Thank you