Mor Temor

2.25 Floating Portable Structure

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A floating portable structure of the type illustrates in Fig. 59-60 is particularly adapted for civilian, military and emergency use when a bridge or a dock is required. Such structures are also useful for exploration and travel in unsettled territory and may be used to provide a temporary roadway over terrain normally impassable to motor vehicles, such as muskeg and like.

Numerous types of floating portable structure have been previously proposed and are in use (Robinsky, 1966). However, these structures are constructed of many sections which have to be assembled at each new site and disassembled each time they are moved. Also these structures have considerable bulk in their disassembled form and require much handling and space each time they are moved and stored.

The longest military floating portable bridge ever constructed across a river was built in 1995 by the U.S. Army’s 1^st Armored Division as part of IFOR. It was assembled under adverse weather conditions across the Sava near Zupanja (between Croatia and Bosnia), and had total length of 2,034 feet. It was disassembled in 1996 (Wikipedia, 2009).

Fig. 59 Perspective view illustrating a floating portable structure.

 Fig. 60 Perspective view illustrating easily rolled floating portable structure.

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