Portable, demountable bridge of aerial point to ford rivers, chasms and the like

Abstract

A portable, demountable bridge which can be self-launched. The bridge uses a traditional beam system to conform the deck of the bridge. Two hollow, bottom-plated, triangular footings are added as supports for this beam. These footings, buried into the soil of a riverbank or the bank of a chasm, absorb the horizontal forces using the weight of the soil above the bottom plates of the footings. Sets of vertical plane trusses parallel to the axis of the deck and located on each side of the deck at the entrance, help the beam of the deck to support vertical loads, by means of a transversal truss which touches the beam of the deck at its upper chord. Each set of the additional vertical plane trusses are founded on two bottom plated footings buried into the riverbank or the bank of a chasm. The footing near the water uses the soil as a bearing, and the other footing is used as a counterweight. The bridge also uses the soil of the riverbank or bank of the chasm as a protection against floods. Preferably, all elements of the bridge are pin connected. The unions assure the theoretical requirements for obtaining simple stresses in the elements. The bridge is provided with U-shaped protection railings which use a spring, anchored to the deck, as a shock absorber.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.