Expedient bridging

[sapper740]

I barely touched the subject of expedient surfaces in my thread on that subject as I didn't want to overwhelm...or bore anybody with the plethora of surfaces available in WWII. I will be returning to that post time and again to present a fuller discourse on that subject. Today I want to ever so lightly touch on bridging which is a study unto itself. We are all familiar with the concept of spanning a gap above the surface (Bailey bridging) and spanning a gap by floating upon it using FBE (Folding Boat Equipment) which was often used in rafting across a waterway and pontoon floats, both inflatable and rigid hulled for treadway bridges. I'm using the title "Expedient Bridging" as a lead in to some interesting pictures I have where none of the aforementioned equipment is used. Sometimes Engineers had a field problem concerning a gap to be crossed with no or insufficient bridging kit available. The boss said they got to get across so here are some field solutions:

First pic: LVTs as pontoons in the South Pacific
Second pic: local fishing boats as pontoons, a German solution in Norway