Bailey Bridge technical manual

[Gary Richardson]

Hi all

While I await the bridge I have been doing a bit of research and came across a war department technical manual from 1943.
ISBN 9781940453125

I paid £13.45 and it is readily available. It describes and shows all the parts, the variations available and how to put the bridges together.

Regards
Gary

[Steve Stuart]

Good spot, thanks for the heads up!
Steve

[Adrian Harris]

Does it mention the differences between the Commonwealth and US versions (apart from the colour) ?

Adrian.

[Gary Richardson]

Does it mention the differences between the Commonwealth and US versions (apart from the colour) ?

Adrian.

Hi Adrian
I have just flicked through it so far and it is an American manual originally printed by the US Washington office and all the photos show American engineers. I have seen people online saying the Americans and British used different colour schemes to ensure bridge parts were not interchanged as the US bridges were constructed to their engineering standards which did match British standards. There is an article online by Mike McLaughlin on the Warfare History Network which suggest the specs were the same but a problem arose in 1944 where some 850 American Bailey kits that were already shipped to Europe were coming up with either too long or short panels and had to be marked as stand alone kits. Maybe this is why they were a different colour.
https://warfarehistorynetwork.com/artic ... ey-bridge/
Otherwise I would not think there was a difference in design although changes did happen much later on.
Hope this helps and I am sure there are others on the forum with much more knowledge who can help.
Regards
Gary

[Charles A Stewart]

Hi Gary.

Apart from the "Monty Python" quip, "We've already got one"

I enjoyed building the one I have. Built it during the summer/lock-downs of 2021.

Assisted by :-

I take you have looked though the Bailey Brdg. thread? I replaced the kits metal "Ribands" from my kit with timber ones.

But hey, it looks great, in my books.

Cheers

Charles

[Gary Richardson]

Hi Charles

Thanks for the photos and manual info. I just managed to get a copy from a charity shop for £10 so between the two manuals I should have all the bases covered

Regards
Gary