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Euphrates on stuffed skins . The practice of carrying about skins to be inflated when troops had to cross a river, which was adopted by both Greeks and See also:

Romans, still exists in the See also:

East . In the 4th See also:

CENTURY (from Lat. centuria, a division of a hundred men)

century the See also:

EMPEROR (Fr. empereur, from the Lat. imperator)

emperor See also:

JULIAN (FLAVIUS CLAUDIUS JULIANUS) (331-363)

Julian crossed the Tigris, Euphrates and other rivers by bridges of boats made of skins stretched over See also:

OSIER (through Fr. from Late Lat. osaria, auxaria, a bundle of osier or willow twigs)

osier frames . In the See also:

WARS

wars of the 17th century pontoons are found as See also:

REGULAR

regular components of the trains of armies, the Germans using a See also:

leather, the Dutch a See also:

TIN (Lat.- stannum, whence the chemical symbol " Sn "; atomic weight =117.6, 0=16)

tin and the See also:

French a See also:

COPPER (symbol Cu, atomic weight 63.1, H=1, or 63.6, O = 16)

copper " skin " over stout See also:

TIMBER

timber frames .

Modern military pontoons have been made of two forms, open as an undecked boat, or closed as a decked See also:

CANOE (from Carib. candoa, the West Indian name found in use by Columbus; the Fr. canot, boat, and Ger. Kahn, are derived from the Lat. canna, reed, vessel)

canoe or See also:

CYLINDER (Gr. KvAwSpos, from KvXivaety, to roll)

cylinder . During the See also:

PENINSULAR

Peninsular War the See also:

ENGLISH

English employed open bateaux; but the experience gained in that war induced them to introduce the closed form . See also:

General Colleton devised a See also:

BUOY

buoy pontoon, cylindrical with conical ends and made of wooden staves like a cask . Then General See also:

Sir See also:

Charles See also:

PASLEY, SIR CHARLES WILLIAM (178o—1861)

Pasley introduced demi-pontoons, like decked canoes with pointed bows and square sterns, a pair, attached sternwise, forming a single " See also:

PIER (older forms per or Pere, from Med. Lat. pera; the word for piers out of water. For river piers, where a firm, watertight is of obscure origin, and the connexion with Fr. Pierre, Lat. stratum is found at a moderate depth below the river-bed, the pctr

pier " of support for the roadway; they were constructed of light timber frames covered with See also:

SHEET

sheet copper and were decked with See also:

wood; each demi-pontoon was divided internally into See also:

SEPARATE

separate compartments by partitions which were made as water-tight as possible, and also supplied with the means of pumping out water; when trans-ported overland with an army a pair of demi-pontoons and the superstructure of one See also:

bay formed the load for a single See also:

CARRIAGE

carriage weighing 27.75 cwt. when loaded . The Pasley was superseded by the Blanshard pontoon, a tin coated cylinder with hemispherical ends, for which great mobility was claimed, two pontoons and two bays superstructure being carried on one waggon, giving a See also:

WEIGHT

weight of about 45 cwt., which was intended to be See also:

DRAWN

drawn by four horses . The Blanshard pontoon was See also:

long used in the See also:

BRITISH

British army, but was ultimately discarded; and British See also:

ENGINEERS, MILITARY

engineers came to the conclusion that it was desirable to return to the form of the open bateau to which the engineers of all the See also:

CONTINENTAL

Continental armies had meanwhile constantly adhered . See also:

CAPTAIN (derived from Lat. ca put, head, through the Low Lat. capitanus)

Captain Fowke, R.E., invented a folding open bateau, made of water-See also:

PROOF (in M. Eng. preove, proeve, preve, &°c., from O. Fr . prueve, proeve, &c., mod. preuve, Late. Lat. proba, probate, to prove, to test the goodness of anything, probus, good)

proof See also:

CANVAS

canvas attached to sliding ribs, so that for transport it could be collapsed like the See also:

bellows of an See also:

ACCORDION (Fr. accordeon; Ger. Handharmonica, Ziehharmonica)

accordion and for use could be extended by a pair of stretchers . This was followed by the pontoon designed by See also:

COLONEL (derived either from Lat. column, Fr. colonne, column, or Lat. corona, a crown)

Colonel See also:

BLOOD

Blood, R.E., an open bateau with decked ends and sides partly decked where the See also:

ROWLOCK (pronounced rullock or rollock)

rowlock blocks were fixed . It consisted of six sets of framed ribs connected by a deep kelson, two See also:

side streaks, and three bottom streaks . The sides and bottom were of thin yellow See also:

PINE (Lat. Pinus, Gr. srlrur)

pine with canvas secured to both surfaces by india-See also:

RUBBER, INDIARUBBER

rubber See also:

SOLUTION (from Lat. solvere, to loosen, dissolve)

solution, and coated outside with marine See also:

GLUE (from the O. Fr. glu, bird-lime, from the Late Lat. gluten, glus, glue)

glue . The central See also:

INTERVAL

interval between the pontoons in forming a bridge was invariably maintained at 15 ft.; for the support of the roadway five baulks were ordinarily employed, but nine for the passage of See also:

SIEGE (0. Fr. sege, siege, mod. siege, seat, ultimately from sedere, to sit, cf. Class. Lat. obsidium, a siege)

siege See also:

ARTILLERY (the O. Fr. artiller, to equip with engines of war, probably comes from Late Lat. articulum, dim. of ars, art, cf. " engine " from ingenium, or of artus, joint)

artillery and the heaviest loads; they fitted on to saddles resting on central See also:

SADDLE (a word common to Teutonic languages, cf. Ger. Sattel, Dut. zadel, also in Russ. siedlo and Lat. sella, for sedla; it is not derived directly from Lat. sedile, which means a chair, but all the words are to be referred to the root sad-, which gives

saddle beams . The pontoons were not immersed to within 1 ft. of the tops of their " warnings " when carrying ordinary loads, as of See also:

INFANTRY

infantry in marching See also:

order " in fours " crowded at a check, or the 16-pounder R.M.L. See also:

gun of position weighing 43 cwt.; nor were they immersed to within 6 in. when carrying extraordinary loads, such as disorganized infantry, or the 64-pounder R.M.L. gun weighing 98 cwt .

In designing this pontoon the See also:

CHIEF (from Fr. chef, head, Lat. caput)

chief points attended to were-(1) improvement in See also:

POWER [WILLIAM GRATTAN] TYRONE (1797-1841)

power of support, (2) simplification in bridge construction, (3) reduction of weight in. transport, and (4) See also:

ADAPTATION (from Lat. adaptare. to fit to)

adaptation for use singly as boats for ferrying purposes . One pontoon with the superstructure for a single bay constituted a load for one waggon, with a See also:

TOTAL

total weight behind horses of about 40 cwt . The following table (from Ency . Brit . 9th ed.) shows the See also:

POWERS, HIRAM (1805-1873)

powers' of various pontoons in use by different nations in the past . Modern improvements are comparatively few . The " working power of support " has been calculated in most instances by deducting from the " available buoyancy " one-See also:

FOURTH

fourth for open and one-tenth for closed vessels:- In the English and French equipment the pontoons were originally made of two sizes, the smaller and lighter for the " advanced guard," the larger and heavier for the " reserve; " in both equipments the same See also:

SIZE

size pontoon is now adopted for general requirements, the superstructure being strengthened when necessary for very heavy weights . The See also:

German army has an undivided galvanized See also:

IRON [symbol Fe, atomic weight 55.85 (0=16)]

iron pontoon, 24 ft . 6 in. long, handy as a boat, but of inadequate buoyancy for heavy traffic, with the result that the span has to be diminished and ipso facto the waterway obstructed . The See also:

AUSTRIAN

Austrian and See also:

ITALIAN

Italian pontoons are made in three pieces, two with bows and a See also:

MIDDLE

middle piece without; not less than two pieces are ordinarily employed, and the third is introduced when great supporting power is required, but in all cases a See also:

CONSTANT, BENJAMIN (1845-1902)

constant interval is maintained between the pontoons . On the other See also:

hand, in the greater number of pontoon equipments greater supporting power is obtained not by increasing the number of supports but by diminishing the central interval between the pontoons . Within certain limits it does not See also:

MATTER

matter whether the buoyancy is made up of a large number of small or'a small number of large vessels, so long as the waterway is not unduly contracted and the obstruction offered to a See also:

swift current dangerously increased; but it is to, be remembered that pontoon bridges have. failed as frequently from being washed away, as from insufficient buoyancy .

In See also:

Austria efforts have been made to diminish the weight of the Birago equipment by the substitution of See also:

STEEL, FLORA ANNIE (1847– )

steel for iron . The See also:

PRESENT

present pontoon, in three pieces, is of steel, and 39 ft . 4 in. long, like the old See also:

PATTERN

pattern . In the British army Colonel Blood's equipment was later modified by, the introduction of a See also:

BIPARTITE (from the Lat. bi-, two, and partire, to divide)

bipartite pontoon designed in 1889 by Lieut . Clauson, R.E . Each pontoon is carried on one waggon with a bay of superstructure, and consists of two sections, a See also:

BOW (pronounced " bo ")

bow-piece and a stern-piece, connected together by easily manipulated couplings of phosphor See also:

BRONZE

bronze . Decks and " coamings " are dispensed with, and the rowlock holes are sunk in a strong gunwale . The detach-able saddle-See also:

beam, which receives the load on the centre of the thwarts, is made in sections, so as to form a continuous saddle of any length required . The baulks (or road-bearers) and chesses (or planks) remain unaltered, but See also:

CHESS

chess-holders and chess-bearers are added for use in constructing light bridges for infantry in See also:

FILE

file . In' this See also:

KIND (O. E. ge-cynde, from the same root as is seen in " kin," supra)

kind of bridge each pontoon See also:

section is used separately, with 'a roadway of chesses placed longitudinally four abreast . In the normal or See also:

MEDIUM

medium bridge two sections, and in heavy bridge three sections are joined together . The chief advantages of the a.03' b`~ o ~Qv 8 a.03' ROB D o- .= o T Pontoon .

4.8 c 8 0^ a, 2 yD a o ro a o .~ o a 5•u > .a a . no aa,o m$w „ •=>, a,v$ wleo v ;8 -See also:

FLAG (or " FLAGGE," a common Teutonic word in this sense, but apparently first recorded in English)

flag :n la ?; as °aa j o a °v 8 boy ~ .2:P, a ~ ~ o o o a o A o dPa o vP, ova ¢aa vwv~ UF..~ a_F4 6 o N . ~rx t7 a .. Ft . Cub . Ft. lb lb lb lb Ft. lb lb, Ft. lb See also:

GRIBEAUVAL, JEAN BAPTISTE DE (1715-1789)

Gribeauval: open bateau, See also:

OAK (O. Eng., (lc)

oak . . . . 36.3 593 45,044 8,044 37,000 27,750 22.8 1,215 i 840 15.6 35,568 Austrian: open, wooden, 1799 . . . 27.0 354 22,123 3,332 18,791 14,093 16.6 849 56o II.4 18,924 Aust.-Birago: open, wooden; two pieces . . . 28•o 303 18,907 3,249 15,658 11,744 21.7 542 56o 9.3 20,181 three ,, . . .

39'4 445 27,791 3,884 23,907 17,930 21.7 827 56o 9.3 20,181 ,, „ iron; two pieces . . . . 28.0 353 22,090 3,698 18,392 .:13,794 21.7 636 560 9.3 20,181 three „ . . . . 39.4 530 33,135 4,501 28,634 21,476 21.7 991 560 9.3 20,181 French: open, wooden; reserve . 30'9 325 20,286 3,608 16,678 12,509 19.7 635 56o 10.5 20,685 „ advanced guard . .' . 19.7 156 9,734 1,506 8,228 6,171 16.4 376 56o 9'3 15,252 general 30.9 321 20,065 3,153 16,912 12,684 19'7 644 56o 9.8 19,306 Prussian: open, wooden; open order , 23.7 . 164 10,226 2,393 7,833 5,875 15'3 384 560 9'9 15,147 ,, See also:

close order . . . . 23.7 164 10,226 2,213 8,013 6,o,o 11.2 535 560 9'9 11,088 iron; open order . . .

. 24.7 214 13,385 2,209 11,176 8,382 15.3 561 56o 9.9 15,147 close order . . . . 24.7 214 13,385 . 2,029 11,356 8,517 I1.2 759 560 9.9 11,088 Italian: open wooden; one piece . . . . 19.6 283 17,660 3,582 14,078 10,559 26.3 402 560 9'8 25,774 ,, two pieces . . . . 39.2 565 35,320 4,572 30,748 23,061 26.3 878 56o 9.8 25,774 „ modified; one piece 24.6 325 20,290 3,401 16,889 12,669 23'0 551 56o 9.8 22,540 : ,, two pieces 49.2 649 40,580 4,489 36,091 27,068 23•o 1,178 560 9.8 22,540 See also:

RUSSIAN

Russian open, canvas on open order . . 21.0 209 13,042 2,355 10,687 8,015 16.6 493 560 10.4 17,264 wooden framework; 1 close order . . 21.0 209 . 13,042 2;083 10,959 8,219 11'7 705 560 10.4 12,168 Belgian: open, iron; one piece . . .

. 24.8 297 18,584 3,336 15,248 11,436 19.7 58o 56o 9.5 .18,715 two pieces . . . , 49'2 595 .37,168 4,548 32,62o 24,465 19.7 1,244 56o 9.5 18,715 See also:

AMERICAN

American india-rubber, three; open order . 20.0 130 8,125 1,980 6,145 5,530 18.0 307 58o 11.0 19,800 cylinders connected; close order . 20.0 130 8,125 1,824 6,301 5,761 14.7 393 560 II.0 18,370 English Pontoons . 18.9 209 13,092 2,374 10,718 8,039 16.8 477 56o Io•o 16,800 Peninsular ( open, tin; reserve .1 equipment ,, advanced guard . 15.1 120 7,520 ,1,654 5,866 4,400 14.0 314 560 9.0 12,600 Pasley: closed demi-canoe; copper . 25•o 141 8,781 2,103 6,678 6,010 12.5 481 56o to-o 12,500 Blanshard: c;'linder, tin; open order . . . . 22.5 109 6,785 1,600 5,185 4,667 12.5 373 560 10.0 12,500 close order . . . . 22.5 109 6,785 1,408 5,377 4,839 8.3 581 56o Io•o 8,300 light pattern .

. . 15.5 26 1,64o 340 1,300 1,170 5.3 220 280 7.0 3,710 Fowke: open, collapsible, canvas; open order . 22.0 134 8,46o 1,246 7,214 5,411 10.0 541 560 10.0 10,000 See also:

Forbes: closed, spherangular, tin; open order . 24.2 128 7,977 1,689 6,288 5,659 I I.0 514 560 10.0 11,000 Blood: open, wooden; general 21.6 28o 17,500 2,300 15,200 13,350 15.0 890 56o Iu•o 15,000 1 equipment are (1) the buoyancy of the piers can be proportioned to the weight of traffic and to the roughness of the water; (2) owing to the See also:

SPECIAL

special design of the bows, boats and rafts are easy to See also:

ROW, JOHN (c. 1525—1580)

row, while the pontoons in bridge oppose little resistance to the current, and so require less See also:

ANCHOR (from the Greek ayrcvpa, which Vossius considers is from 6yi17 , a crook or hook)

anchor power; (3) transport rafts, pier-heads and flying bridges can be constructed with great ease, owing to the flush gunwales on which baulks can See also:

REST (O. Eng. rest, reste, bed, cognate with other Teutonic forms, e.g. Ger. Rast, Riiste, rest, and probably Gothic Rasta, league, i.e. resting or stopping place)

rest if necessary; (4) the pontoon sections are convenient to handle, easy to See also:

SHIP

ship or to transport by See also:

RAIL

rail, and can readily be replaced singly if damaged in bridge . A canoe pontoon and superstructure adapted for See also:

pack transport has also been adopted from designs by Colonel (Sir) See also:

ELLIOTT, EBENEZER (1781–1849)

Elliott Wood, C.B., R.E . The pontoon consists of four sections laced together, each section being a framework of wood covered with waterproof sheeting . Three pontoons and eight composite planks form a " unit," from which can be constructed 48 ft. of bridge for infantry in file, 84 ft. for infantry in single file, or a raft to carry 15 men or an empty See also:

WAGON, or WAGGON

wagon . For the British army in India the See also:

standard pontoon for many years was the Pasley; it was seldom used, however, for boats could almost always be procured on the spot in sufficient See also:

numbers where-ever a floating bridge had to be constructed . Later an equipment was prepared for the See also:

INDIAN

Indian army of demi-pontoons, similar to the Blood pontoon cut in See also:

HALF

half, and therefore more See also:

MOBILE

mobile; each has a bow and a square stern, and they are joined at the stern's when required to form a " pier "; they are fitted with movable covers and can therefore be used in much rougher water than pontoons of the See also:

home pattern, and their power of. support and breadth of roadway are the same . The See also:

CHITRAL

Chitral See also:

RELIEF

Relief Expedition of 1895, however, revealed certain defects . The shape of the bow was unsuited to rapid currents; the See also:

BALANCE (derived through the Fr. from the Late Lat. bilantia, an apparatus for weighing, from bi, two, and lanx, a dish or scale)

balance was not satisfactory, and the copper sheathing cracked . Experiments were then undertaken with the bipartite pontoon .

The india-rubber pontoon does not appear to have been generally employed even in See also:

AMERICA

America, where it was invented . The engineer See also:

OFFICERS

officers with the army of the See also:

POTOMAC

Potomac, after full experience of the india-rubber pontoon and countless other inventions of American See also:

GENIUS (from Lat. genere, gignere)

genius, adopted the French equipment, which they found " most excellent, useful and reliable for all military purposes." The Russians, in crossing the Danube in their war with See also:

TURKEY

Turkey in 1878, employed the Austrian equipment . See also:

ALUMINIUM (symbol Al; atomic weight 27.0)

Aluminium pontoons have been tried in See also:

Germany, but have not been adopted . For light bridging See also:

WORK

work the See also:

BERTHON, EDWARD LYON (1813-1899)

Berthon and other collapsible boats have been adopted in Germany and Great See also:

BRITAIN (Gr. Hperavuml vi7vot, Bperravia; Lat. Britannia, rarely Britannia)

Britain, especially for See also:

CAVALRY (Fr. cavalerie, Ger. Kavallerie or Reiterei, derived ultimately from late Lat. caballus, horse)

cavalry work in advance of the army . The German folding boat is made of wood framework and canvas skin; two boats are easily carried on one " folding-boat wagon." The total length of the three sections together is 21 ft . 6 in . The British field See also:

TROOP (an adaptation of Fr. troupe, O. Fr. trope; cf. Ital. troppa, troppa; Med. Lat. truppus; the origin is doubtful; suggestions have been made that it represents a German conception of Latin turba, crowd, or is an adaptation of Norw. tarp, flock)

troop R.E., attached to cavalry, carries two collapsible boats 18 ft . 6 in. long . The methods of constructing pontoon bridges have been simplified of See also:

LATE

late years in most armies, and are usually restricted to (I) adding pontoons one by one to the head of the bridge; (2) connecting rafts of two or more pontoons into bridge by intermediate bays of superstructure; and (3) swinging across the river a bridge previously prepared alongside the See also:

SHORE

shore . The formation of a bridge from rafts touching one another consumes an excessive amount of equipment, and opposes unnecessary resistance to the stream; it is therefore being discarded in most armies . " Booming out " the bridge bay by bay from the shore until the head reaches 'the opposite See also:

BANK

bank is unsuited for rapid currents, and is almost obsolete except for light infantry bridges . In every army the pontoon service is in the 'hands of technical specialists.' But there are many other forms of military bridging, in which the specialist only supervises the work of the ordinary soldier, or indeed, takes no part whatever .

Troops of all arms are expected to be See also:

FAMILIAR (through the Fr. familier, from Lat. familiaris, of or belonging to the familia, family)

familiar with certain methods of rough temporary bridging . In the British service the forms of temporary timber bridge usually employed are called trestle, See also:

lock and floating . The trestle bridge in its Various forms consists of a See also:

SERIES (a Latin word from serere, to join)

series of two-legged or three-legged trestles carrying the road-bearers and chesses which form the roadway.' Trestles can be improvised, but some are carried, ready for use,,by mobile engineer See also:

units and they are frequently combined with pontoon bridges at the shore ends, where holding ground for the feet of the trestles is found . Lock bridges never See also:

TOUCH (derived through Fr. toucher from a common Teutonic and Indo-Germanic root, cf. " tug," " tuck," O. H. Ger. zucchen, to twitch or draw)

touch water, forming single spans over a chasm . These consist of spars made into frames of which the feet rest in the banks of the river and the heads are interlocked, the whole being securely lashed . Another type of See also:

FRAME

frame-bridge is the See also:

CANTILEVER (a word of doubtful origin, probably derived from " lever," in its ordinary meaning, and " cant," an angle or edge, or else from modern Lat. quanta libra, of what weight)

cantilever, which has been used in Indian frontier expeditions to bridge swift In Germany, however, as mentioned below, light bridging material has been placed in the hands of the cavalry . This tendency, in accordance with the needs of modern armies, will probably become more pronounced in the future . It began with the See also:

pro-See also:

VISION (from Lat. videre, to see), or SIGHT

vision of demolition equipment for the cavalry pioneers . E.-See also:

PONTORMO, JACOPO DA (1494-1557)

PONTORMO 69 steep-banked streams . Improvised suspension bridges are also used . Floating bridges are made not only of pontoons but also of boats of all sorts, casks lashed together, and rafts . They are almost always combined with one or two bays of trestle bridging at the shore ends .

The organization of bridging personnel in different armies shows as much divergence of See also:

OPINION (Lat. opinio, from opinari, to think)

opinion as the design of pontoon equipment . In Great Britain, since the divisional reorganization, the bridging trains have been assigned to the " army troops," which include two " bridging trains," totalling 14 officers and 454 men with 92 vehicles, most of them six-horsed . Each See also:

TRAIN (M. Eng. trayn or trayne, derived through Fr. from Late Lat. trahinare, to drag, draw, Lat. trahere, cf. trail, trace, ultimately from the same source)

train carries 32 pontoons and 32 bays of superstructure, as well as 16 trestles and 8 bays of the appropriate superstructure, and can construct 200 yds. of medium bridge in all . Besides these trains the divisional engineer units (2 field companies per See also:

DIVISION (from Lat. dividere, to break up into parts, separate)

division) See also:

bear with them in all 4 pontoons and 4 trestles, with the necessary bays of superstructure, their total bridging capacity being about 40 yds. of medium bridge . In See also:

France each army See also:

CORPS (pronounced as in French, from which it is taken, being a late spelling of tors, from Lat. corpus, a body; cf. " corpse ")

corps has a bridging train which admits of the construction of bridges to the extent of about 120 yds. of medium and 140 yds. of light bridging and bears besides 2 " advanced guard " trains which can provide 33 yds. of medium bridging each . Besides the corps trains there are also " army '. trains, five in all, which can furnish 28o yds. of medium bridging apiece . These would be allotted in accordance with the requirements of particular See also:

CAMPAIGNS

campaigns . In Germany the increasing importance attached to See also:

INDEPENDENT

independent cavalry operations has led to the See also:

ASSIGNMENT, ASSIGNATION, ASSIGNEE

assignment of a folding-boat wagon to every cavalry See also:

REGIMENT (from Late Latin regimentum, rule, regere, to rule, govern, direct)

regiment . The regimental equipment provides for a ferry, capable of taking 25 to 30 infantrymen, one artillery vehicle or four horses at one See also:

JOURNEY (through O. Fr. jornee or journee, mod. Fr. journee, from med. Lat. diurnata, Lat. diurnus, of or belonging to dies, day)

journey, a See also:

FOOT

foot-bridge 22 to 35 yds. in length, or a light bridge of 8 to 13 yds . By assembling the material of a whole cavalry division of 6 regiments, a foot-bridge of iio to 210 yds. or a light bridge of 57 to 70 yds. can be constructed . The corps. bridging train of a German army corps can construct 140 yds. of medium or 170 yds. of light bridging, and each of the two divisional trains, 40 yds. of medium and 48 yds. of light bridging .

End of Article: PONTOON (Fr. ponton, from Lat. pons, a bridge)

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