AN UNUSUAL BRIDGE

Otago Daily Times, Issue 25301, 11 August 1943, Page 3

AN UNUSUAL BRIDGE

SUEZ CANAL SPANNED BUILT BY NEW ZEALANDERS (N.Z.E.F. Official News Service) (Rec. 8 p.m.) CAIRO, Aug. 6. Bridge-building is all in the day’s work for the New Zealand engineers, but one unit has recently had an assignment on an unusual bridge, to which can be attributed a not insignificant share in last year’s successful stand against the Axis troops at El Alamein. It is a floating bridge across the Suez Canal, which links Egypt with Palestine and the Levant. The antique ferries which ferried an occasional tourist across the canal before the war would have been swamped with the job of conveying constant convoys of war-time traffic. The obvious solution was a floating bridge which could be open for marine traffic and would have the added advantage of being easily replaceable in the event of its destruction by the enemy. Over two years ago such a bridge was built and has proved highly efficient, particularly when the New Zealand Division and other formations had to be rushed through from Syria at the time of Marshal Rommel’s drive against' Egypt last year. It was recently decided that the bridge should be replaced by a temporary structure while the pontoons were floated down the canal to a special workshop where they could be careened for cleaning. The job of floating off the old sections and replacing them was given to the New Zealand Engineer unit, which overcame the attendant difficulties and completed the work in quick lime. Now, only two approach spans remain of the original bridge, which is over 500 feet long. Box girder spans have been run out from the approaches to short, fixed floating spans on either side. On to these sections are hinged the main floating spans, consisting of heavy decking resting on the pontoons, which can be winched around to the anchoring platforms when the bridge is opened. An interesting feature of the job has been the fact that the New Zealanders for the first time worked with native Belgian pioneer troops from the Belgian Congo officered by Belgians who were mainly employed in the Congo at the outbreak of the war, although one had escaped from occupied Belgium.