Jack Posted March 12, 2007 Share Posted March 12, 2007 Hi all. Could some just remind/explain/teach me about the relevance of the yellow bridging plates/discs that you see on Jimmys etc etc......... Cheers. Jack. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joris Posted March 12, 2007 Share Posted March 12, 2007 If I'm not mistaken it has to do with the weight of the vehicle and the Bailey bridges that were build. A class 2 bailey bridge could hold a class 2 vehicle etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bodge Deep Posted March 13, 2007 Share Posted March 13, 2007 Basically vehicle weight for bridge commanders to know how many vehicles to let onto pontoon bridges/ Bailey Bridges at any time so the jimmy drivers don't sink it *ahem*. Sometimes just the max vehicle weight... sometimes max vehicle weight plus max trailered load (looks like a fraction)... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
woa2 Posted March 13, 2007 Share Posted March 13, 2007 There was a booklet produced by the British Army during WW2 with all the Bridge plate numbers. It is basically the total weight of the vehicle plus maximum load in American tons (2000 lbs to a ton) and always rounded up. If the vehicle towed something like a field gun, then the weight of the total set-up was shown like a fraction - maximum weight on top. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
abn deuce Posted February 15, 2009 Share Posted February 15, 2009 (edited) Did you ever wonder just how they went about putting together and spanning an obstacle with a Bailey type bridge ? Here is an animated clip of the newer form of the classic WWII bridge now called a Mabey Johnson bridge the main differences are I believe a steel panel deck versus wooden one and fewer stronger steel pieces used for the components , a very simular idea otherwise . Its spans 200' and is assembled and completed in 5:44 of course anything is possable in animation ! Something went wrong... another clip Something went wrong... Edited February 15, 2009 by abn deuce Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LeeEnfield Posted February 15, 2009 Share Posted February 15, 2009 Hi all. Could some just remind/explain/teach me about the relevance of the yellow bridging plates/discs that you see on Jimmys etc etc......... Cheers. Jack. Hi Jack, most war-time pic's I've seen of jimmys don't show bridge plates, exceptions being tankers (10 over 7 ) compressors (8) and tippers (10 over 8 ). Certainly post war when these vehicles were in service with other nations, France/Dutch etc they seemed to gain them..........well, from what I've seen via pics........ Paint it up as in British service and you could certainly put up a nice shiney yellow plate.........:cool2: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
N.O.S. Posted February 15, 2009 Share Posted February 15, 2009 (edited) Jack, that's all tosh. They are fitted to jimmies like house numbers, each with a unique number, so you can always find your own man's truck in the long line up at shows etc. Edited February 15, 2009 by N.O.S. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcspool Posted February 15, 2009 Share Posted February 15, 2009 From http://milifax2003.tripod.com/bridging_markings_part_1.html "(a) Vehicles will be classified and marked according to the equivalent loads which they impose on a bridge. The classes are in multiplicity of one ton, from one ton upwards. Vehicles can cross any bridge bearing a classification number with is the same or greater than its own classification. For example, a vehicle of class 12 can cross safely any bridge marked 12, 18 or 24. It cannot cross a bridge marked 5 or 9" Although being much lighter, Jeeps and other light vehicles could be marked as a class 5 vehicle as they can cross a class 5 bridge (the lowest bridge class rating during WW2). H. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlienFTM Posted February 16, 2009 Share Posted February 16, 2009 AFAIK bridge classification is still active in BAOR (it was when I was there 77 - 85. For the sake of this post I use the present tense assuming has not changed). Some amplifications: Every SINGLE bridge and culvert in BAOR has a bridge classification, be it a Bailey Bridge, an Autobahn bridge over a deep valley or a six-inch culvert under the road. The bridge (culvert etc: hereinafter, all are termed bridges) carries a classification plate just like the yellow plates on the vehicles. Many bridges have various classes depending on whether the vehicle to cross is wheeled or tracked. On camouflaged vehicles, the yellow bridge classification background was officially repainted grey. Somebody in this forum told us that it was about 1978, which is earlier than I remember, but close enough - I blame the intervening years. Typically, the bridge classification tends to be around (or nearly) twice the unladen weight of the vehicle. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcspool Posted February 16, 2009 Share Posted February 16, 2009 Although being much lighter, Jeeps and other light vehicles could be marked as a class 5 vehicle as they can cross a class 5 bridge (the lowest bridge class rating during WW2).Here´s a nice example: one jeep has a "2" on it's bridge classification sign, as it weighs (less than) 2 tons, the other sports a "5" as it weighs no more than a class 5 bridge can carry! Confusing subject, eh? Hanno Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
No Signals Posted February 24, 2009 Share Posted February 24, 2009 Here´s a nice example: one jeep has a "2" on it's bridge classification sign, as it weighs (less than) 2 tons, the other sports a "5" as it weighs no more than a class 5 bridge can carry! Confusing subject, eh? Hanno No, no you've got that wrong; the American jeep has the higher rating than the British one because everything American is bigger. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony B Posted February 24, 2009 Share Posted February 24, 2009 Except that a US ton and gallon are smaller. :-D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlienFTM Posted February 25, 2009 Share Posted February 25, 2009 Except that a US ton and gallon are smaller. :-D So we are saying 2 of our English tons equate to 5 of their American tons? So in reality the M1 only weighs about 28 tons? Why am I not surprised? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcspool Posted February 25, 2009 Share Posted February 25, 2009 No, no you've got that wrong; the American jeep has the higher rating than the British one because everything American is bigger. Of course, should have thought of that! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
abn deuce Posted March 14, 2009 Share Posted March 14, 2009 Building bailey bridge with the same technique as the video Bailey Bridge Bailey Bridge being launched across the Volturno River by US Army engineers after assembling its portable spans by using pin joints to link the steel beams, to make up this 80-ft., 21 ton capacity bridge which replaced a demolished bridge in 24hrs. Location: Italy Date taken: September 1944 Photographer: Margaret Bourke-White Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jack Posted March 14, 2009 Author Share Posted March 14, 2009 Jack, that's all tosh. They are fitted to jimmies like house numbers, each with a unique number, so you can always find your own man's truck in the long line up at shows etc. That just made me laugh! - not everyone is man enough to own a man's truck - nuff said.:coffee: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jack Posted March 14, 2009 Author Share Posted March 14, 2009 Here´s a nice example: one jeep has a "2" on it's bridge classification sign, as it weighs (less than) 2 tons, the other sports a "5" as it weighs no more than a class 5 bridge can carry! Confusing subject, eh? Hanno Absolutely - nothing is straight forward in WW11. With researching all of the products that we do it is amazing how many variables there are in something so simple and nondescript as a ration crate - the stencilling on them alone is minefield. IT A FLIIPPING SHIPPING CRATE THATS ALL :sweat: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jack Posted March 14, 2009 Author Share Posted March 14, 2009 Building bailey bridge with the same technique as the video ABN - there is a Bailey bridge not far from me (Bagber) that was put in place to take the heavy traffic on the build up to D-Day - it is still used to this day by 44 ton artics. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
abn deuce Posted March 15, 2009 Share Posted March 15, 2009 A very good testament to Sound Engineering ! . Hope that the day they replace the span they will save a section for display in a museum , along with that story . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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