Huge Rubber Raft in Weirs Bay

[tis]

That looks exactly like our raft looked. I do believe it was army surplus. I never knew it was used as a bridge by the Army though. Very interesting. We had a lot of fun with that but it was hard to get up on.

[Diver1111]

Wow great pictures everyone thank you. The piks from TIS and Dave R. with are certainly as close as I could hope for as a match to what I saw on the bottom, esp. the one with the soldiers in it-nice. What I saw could easily hold large amounts of weight, and of course it would be even bigger inflated than what I filmed.

I may need to dive it again and take a closer look for any identifying marks and traits.

If any divers want to check it out and report here what they saw go here in Weirs Bay:

43 36.989N / 71 27.207W

Depth about 70 feet.

Thanks again everyone.

[Dave R]

Originally Posted by tis

That looks exactly like our raft looked. I do believe it was army surplus. I never knew it was used as a bridge by the Army though. Very interesting. We had a lot of fun with that but it was hard to get up on.

This is how they were used.



Instability was moot when they were ganged together side by side.

[upthesaukee]

Seeing these pictures makes me wonder why these pontoon bridges could not be used for temporary bridges today. If they can move tanks across them, why not today's traffic. I was always amazed by the pictures of these bridges when I was a youngster.

Thanks for posting all the pics.

[SIKSUKR]

Originally Posted by upthesaukee

Seeing these pictures makes me wonder why these pontoon bridges could not be used for temporary bridges today. If they can move tanks across them, why not today's traffic. I was always amazed by the pictures of these bridges when I was a youngster.

Thanks for posting all the pics.

I think the biggest issue would be the load restraint.Lookslike they run 1 tank at a time.Not sure how they would control 1 car at a time traffic.

[tis]

Thanks Dave!!! I never knew that was how they were used!

[Dave R]

Originally Posted by upthesaukee

Seeing these pictures makes me wonder why these pontoon bridges could not be used for temporary bridges today. If they can move tanks across them, why not today's traffic. I was always amazed by the pictures of these bridges when I was a youngster.

Thanks for posting all the pics.

There are permanent floating bridges in use today. I drove on one on Interstate 90 in Washington state. It crosses Lake Washington by Seattle.

Most temporary bridge solutions are designed to not block navigation and to stay in use for months, that's why they use metal trusses and place them high. A temporary floating bridge is very temporary and has to be managed carefully as water levels change. You also need fairly flat entrances and exits for them to work with cars. The military vehicles that typically cross them are much more capable off-road than they typical American family car.

[SIKSUKR]

Here is one I've been on several times on ski trips to British Columbia. This is in Kelowna BC. Doesnt look like a floating bridge but it is/was. (just taken out of service). Those are big concrete pontoons and this bridge had a section that raised. This was the longest floating bridge in the world when it was built in 1958.