military bridging

[David Potter]

Originally posted by Les Freathy
David P what is the load in the back of the Morris
cheers
Les

Hi Les,

Richard F quite accurately described the load as kapok rafts; here is a more complete description of kapok system.

David


The basic kapok bridge was an Infantry Assault Bridge but the equipment could be used for a variety of roles.

Infantry Assault Bridge
6'6" long kapok filled floats supported a wooden walkway.
Decking was 6'6" long and 1'10.5" wide
Each bay weighs 1cwt.

Attachment, Carrier Flotation, Kapok MkI & MkII
Kapok floats together with special fittings could also be used to float a carrier.
MkI designed for Universal Carrier MkI
MkII could be fitted to all carriers except the T16
8x brackets were clamped to the carrier, 2x front, rear and each side. THese carried kapok floats fastened by chains. 9x kapok floats were used; 3 vertical at the front, 2 vertical on each side and 2 horizontal at the rear.

Raft for 15cwt truck
It is possible to coonstruct a raft to carry light vehicles including 15cwt. These use kapok floats lashed together and trackways of walkway. Loading the raft is difficult and the lack of rigidity can be a problem.
27x floats are lashed together in three layers.
8x walkways are lashed over the floats to form two trackways.