Bailey Bridge failure in Puerto Rico
 

Some footage of a bridge failure in Puerto Rico caused by hurricane, or was it…

So the bridge was placed in 2017 after the last hurricane, observation tells me the length of the span and supports seem to have been a temporary fix possibly exceeding best practice specifications. Five years later another hurricane washes it away. I’m not sure I would call this a bridge failure, more of an infrastructure priority failure…

I think the bridge did its job, as designed, but a Bailey bridge was not designed for that level of abuse..

In this video clip, the bridge is seen being ripped off its mooring points and "floating away".

https://twitter.com/i/status/1571691855695290368

I suspect this one was installed using Bailey Boats(?) which added to the drag surface. It had little chance of survival.

ref: bailey bridge

CBS News on the bridge "ripped" away. Someone with a Twitter account who likes slaying sacred cows should mention about the thing being placed as a band-aid measure in 2017. As mentioned, seems it was never intended to be a permanent fix?

Somewhere I still have the field manuals on bridging but here are a few excerpts from the web:

Bailey bridges continue to be used extensively in civil engineering construction projects and to provide temporary crossings for pedestrian and vehicle traffic.

The Bailey M2 Military bridge is still in use today by the U.S. military and is also being sold to State DOT's for use as temporary structures during rehabilitation, construction, or an emergency. Figure 2.6 below depicts a Bailey Bridge being field assembled by U.S. military forces.

This bridge looks like a Double - Double. My beginning army time was a medic with an engineer battalion. I spent enough time Heaving that I got a 12C secondary.

Bridge looks too low with no decent footings. (Or no plan if the water got that high.)

Bridged many a gap with that damn thing.

Adal I saw that, together with the width and length they were reaching, practically a thru truss bridge. Difficult situation for the abutments and anchors with such little contour and the heavy rains I assume they get from time to time.

Sounds like you got a fair share of repairing hands and fingers then.

Moving forward they may want to consider a Mabey Bridge, developed by a former manufacturer of the Bailey Bridge but has permanent applications. https://www.mabeybridge.com/products...dging-overview

I certainly have sympathy for people going through hurricanes however IIRC there was some questionable governance regarding the 2017 events…*

Here is a cool (-20f) application of a Bailey Bridge still in use. The location is old Camp Hale, training area for the 10th Mountain Division and 99th Infantry Battalion Separate during WWII. The remaining foundations of the main hall/ gymnasium can be seen in the background. Typical use in this case is for pedestrians, snow mobiles and Razor type vehicles.

Edit: * https://www-foxnews-com.cdn.ampproje...ne-outages.amp

Ran across a historical photo of Camp Hale back in the day, not sure if it’s the same area as the current bridge but it’s the same creek.