Emergency Bridge Placed In Hours in Military Exercise
Operation Bridge Out, coordinated by the U.S. Coast Guard, let 70 American and Canadian agencies test their ability to respond to a real emergency involving destroyed infrastructure. In the scenario, terrorists hijack a loaded fuel tanker truck, drive to the center span of the bridge and set off an explosion. The blast causes a span to warp and collapse.
Designed by Germanys General Dynamics Santa Barbara Sistemas Gmbh for the U.S. Army, improved ribbon bridges are a new version of traditional ribbon-bridge rafts. Each has a 96-ton load capacity. Terrain, river speed and channel width helped determine the crossing site, says Maj. Edward Hallenbeck, of the Lansing-based National Guards Joint Forces Headquarters.