Hi,
I was surprised to see parts of the Yum Kippur war cylinders bridge (Gesher HaGlilim) here in the north 🙂, as it was used in the other front in Suez Canal.
Apparently, it was used here on the north on 2008 as part of the training after the second Lebanon war over the Jordan river. Parts of the original bridge were used in this bridge, while others are standing in Yad La-Shiryon (The Armored Corps Memorial Site and Museum at Latrun).
The original bridge weighted 220 ton, was 220 m long, and was constructed after the Six Day War as the weapon to cross Suez Canal, which back then was the border between Israel an Egypt. Each cylinder was 1.8m in diameter and 9 m long, and was used both as the wheels for the bridge and as the floating element.
The bridge was a failure, as was revealed on Agranat Commission. Because of its weight, it was pulled very slowly (up to 10 km/h), and it fell apart when it was pulled to place and the convoy had to stop until the Engineering Corps soldiers welded the parts. On the trainings 3 tanks managed to pull it, and 10 tanks were designed to pull it, but on real conditions 18 tanks required to pull it.
Tying up the bridge caused heavy casualties to the IDF convoy. One time, all the convoy spread around, when the Egyptian Air force attacked it. In the end it got to the front and was put over the canal in a big late, long time after IDF forces had crossed the canal to it west side.
Take Care
Gad
The cylinders bridge
The parts
Part of the cylinders bridge in Yad La-Shiryon
The bridge on the dunes on the way to the Canal
The bridge over Suez Canal after it had been set in place