Bailey bridge spotted, forgot I had these photos…

[p51]

I had a roll of film developed recently from a camera I keep in my SUV "just in case." When I got the film back two days ago, I had forgotten I had taken these photos. I thought this was pretty neat, a temporary bridge over the Chehalis River (in SW WA state) over the summer, and I found out it was a real Bailey Bridge, standing in for one of the many bridges washed out in the 2007 floods that devastated the area that winter:

I found a DOT website discussion on the bridge: http://www.wsdot.wa.gov/News/2007/12/27_ValiantEffortbyWSDOTBridgeCrew.htm I’m now trying to get together a few guys from my living history group to do some photos of some GI’s and vehicles going across it. I think you could get low-angle shots between the ends of the bridge looking at vehicles coming forward which would look pretty good. Crying shame on the modern guardrail but you can’t have everything.

 

[MPicciotto]

Neat stuff!!

Matt

 

[Story]

Crying shame on the modern guardrail but you can’t have everything.

Take along some sandbags (stuffed with straw, for ease of portability) and build them up around the guardrail, so that it's blocked from your photographer's P.O.V.

 

[carter]

The sandbags are an excellent idea.

When they're taken, please post those action photos. They could be amazing.

 

[p51]

The sandbags are an excellent idea.

When they're taken, please post those action photos. They could be amazing.

I can’t see how sandbags would work and still get a view of the interior length of the bridge. We’ll figure something out. I’m tempted to make one of those “Cross the river with dry feet, courtesy of the 666th Engineers” (well, something like that) signs for each side. I have a couple of guys in my group motivated to do this and with good weather fast approaching (this state has weather very similar to Europe), we might pull this off. Naturally, if we do this, I’ll post lots of photos.

 

[Hawk_Eye]

Wow, would it be a bridge thats been in storage since the war or are Bailey bridges still being manufactured for these types of situations?

 

[Troglodyte]

Still Around

They trained us on building them when I was an Army Engineer private in the mid-1980s. There was even a specialty for them--12C, Engineer Bridge Crewman.

So, they aren't THAT old.

Trog