TACKLING THE ASSAULT BRIDGE.

Initially an improvised structure of wood, the assault bridge has moved through the stages of primitive timber prefabrication and the evolution of metals to the present day. Thus it was that the Bailey Bridge was born. In the Italian Campaign alone, the Royal Engineers constructed some 2494 bridges. The Bailey Bridge consisted of individual sections which could be joined and sandwiched together depending on the length and strength required. During World War Two some 700,000 Bailey panels were produced. Today, developed as an extra wide bridge, the Bailey Bridge still has a war role with the British Army as a semi-permanent replacement for bridges destroyed by enemy action in the rear areas.