The Works Of Messrs. Schneider And Co.

FLOATING BRIDGES; line, or lowering to the bridge, wagons of 20| tons, so as to arrive at the above figure of 480 tons given for the daily traffic.. With the use of tackle, combinée! with that of winches, it will be possible to deal with the locomotives, these not being included in the estimated weight of traffic. All the material being on one bank, the first operation is to fix the moorings of the guide rope; the bridge is then erected and launched,.and the junetion truck put in place. MILITARY BRIDGES, MARCILLE SYSTEM. 147 In twelve hours, seven journeys can be effeeted, which represent ' 40 x 7 = 280 tons of goods carried over the bridge. In making use of two floating bridges, one being loaded or unloaded on one bank, while the other is being loaded or unloaded on the opposite bank—the two not being made to travel at the same time along the guide rope, and in reckoning twelve journeys only per twelve hours, as there I i f5 I I I 1 ii s * I li I I i I Fig.491. Tweirty Metre, Brijlge,. The Marcille System of Military Bridges. The bridge serves first for the transport of all the gear and apparatus required on the opposite bank, namely, a 7-ton crane, the other truck, a winch and its boiler. The apparatus for lifting and lowering the loads have been designed with a view to easy transport ; they do not, therefore, take up mueh room and are kept as low in power as practicable. One bridge can be loaded as follows with : Four 16 ton 0 cwt. wagons = 64 tons = 40 tons of goods Three 20| „ 0 „ = 61| ,, = 36 ,, „ Five 12 ,, 16 „ „ =64 ,, = 40 „ ,, is in this case a certain amount of lost time in the manœuvres—the traffic amounts to 40 x 12 = 480 tons. Military Bridges — General Marcille’s System (Figs. 477 to 483 ; 484 to 486, Plate XCIV. ; and Figs. 487 to 493).—The experience gained through the observation of recent military operations has demonstrated the necessity of organising, in times of peace, sufficient material of a suitable kind to repair the bridges and railways de- stroyed by the enemy. The problem was a difficult one to solve, and after füll investigation the French Govern- ment Commission decided to adopt the type proposed