British Bridging Equipment

British Bridging Equipment Kits

These kits are white metal with either resin or metal roadways.

BB1	30 ft. Bailey Bridge (Single Single) with single ramps	22.50 GBP
BB2	40 ft. Bailey Bridge (Double Single) with extended ramps	45.00 GBP
BB3	10 ft. Bailey Bridge Bay, DS or SS with roadway section (can be used to extend BB1 & BB2)	12.00 GBP
BB4	10 ft. Bailey Bridge Bay, DS or SS with individual roadway chesses & kerbs (depicts a bay under construction)	15.00 GBP
BB5	Bailey Bridge Footway set - contains sufficient parts for BB1 or BB2	15.00 GBP
BB6	Motor boat Mk 1a (used by engineers in river crossings)	6.00 GBP
BB7	Folding boat equipment Mk III - floating section (contains 2 boats & road section)	12.00 GBP
BB8	Folding boat equipment Mk III - shore section (contains boat, roadway & trestle)	15.00 GBP
BB9	Kapok footbridge up to 60 feet (used by infantry units in river/canal crossings)	12.00 GBP

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The Bailey Bridge - An Introduction

The Bailey Bridge is essentially a pre-fabricated structure, the roadway being carried between two main girders. A main girder is formed from panels (trusses) 10 ft long pinned together end to end. The strength of the girder can be increased by adding extra panels alongside and on top of the original panels.

The different arrangements of panels are known as ‘trusses’ and ‘storeys’. A girder made up of three alongside each other and none on top, is known as ‘Triple Truss Single Storey’ (TS) while a girder of two panels alongside each other and one set of two on top is known as ‘Double Truss Double Storey’(DD), and so on. In all cases the number of trusses is given first followed by the number of storeys. ‘Single Single’(SS) is the lightest construction and ‘Triple Triple’(TT) is the heaviest.

The girders are connected crossways by transoms. These are 18 ft long rolled steel joists which rest on the bottom of the panels and carry the roadway superstructure. They are fixed to the panel by clamps and hold the trusses in position 12 ft. 4 ins. apart. For a Double Truss bridge, the second truss is placed 18 ins. centre to centre outside the first truss, and for a Triple Truss bridge, the third truss is placed 8½ ins. centre to centre outside the second.

Across the transoms run the roadbearers (stringers), which are 10 ft. long, the same length as the panel bays. Wooden ‘chesses’ are placed across the stringers to form the deck. Footwalks for pedestrian traffice can be fitted outside the main girders of the bridge and secured to the end of the transoms.

The load carrying capacity of the Bailey Bridge is shown in the following table:

Load Class	Span in Feet
Load Class	SS	DS	TS	DD	TD	DT	TT
9	90	150	170	180	200
12	80	140	160	170	190
18	60	110	140	160	180	200
24	60	110	140	150	170	200
30	50	100	120	140	160	190	200
40	30	80	110	130	150	180	180
50		60	90	110	130	160	180
60		50	80	100	120	130	160
70		40	70	90	110	120	150

Up to and including Class 40 loads, two transoms are required per bay of the bridge. Over Class 40, four transoms are required per bay.

As a guide to the load capacity required:-

An armoured division needed a Class 30 bridge; an infantry division needed a Class 40 bridge; a corps needed a Class 70 bridge.

Most bridges appear to have been painted a dark earth colour, but some may have been British Olive Drab. Roadways – natural wood or possibly creosoted.

Recommended Reading:

Bailey Uniflote Handbook, ed. Maj. J.Hathrell, Acrow Press, London;
One More River to Cross, J.H. Joiner, Pen & Sword Books;
Bridgeing Normandy to Berlin BLA 1945;
Series of pamphlets on British Army bridging by Trux Models.

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