Could Army Pontoon bridges help in Asheville, North Carolina?

It is theoretically possible that pontoon bridges could help in Asheville, North Carolina, which has been affected by Hurricane Helene. The real issue is finding anchor points and dealing with any kind of transportation or environmental regulations.

[RyanMcBethProgramming]

It is theoretically possible that pontoon bridges could help in Asheville, North Carolina, which has been affected by Hurricane Helene. The real issue is finding anchor points and dealing with any kind of transportation or environmental regulations.

[generessler]

Old Army Engineer here. The manning is also about running the power units to keep the bridge in place if there's any significant current. Or else building a cable stay system to the shore, a fairly big project. You're right that legal liability probably makes the idea moot. But it sure would be good work for the bridging unit.

[ChefJayAre]

Hello from Canton, just outside of Asheville! We just got power/cell service yesterday, and internet connection in my area restored today! Many many gone, many many more missing, thanks for helping to spread awareness!

[taylorlibby]

A couple of possible problems that I see with that idea are that the rivers in question are really swollen and moving a lot faster than they normally do so the river banks may be unstable, and they're pushing a lot of large debris downstream that could impact the pontoons.

[TheDog_Chef]

Army corp of engineers brought in a temporary bridge to my town in the 90's when a flash flood took out a bridge and flooded the air field at Camp Pendleton.

[themanful]

Born and raised in Asheville, still live there, we just got power back, national guard is being amazing

[kidtp]

One other obstacle you may have overlooked was these rivers are still fluctuating widely and are filled with debris, not the best mix for temporary bridges. These bridges were intended for use on the battlefield where normal bridges had been damaged /destroyed due to the conflict not from a natural disaster. It would be extremely dangerous to set up and maintain a bridge in these current conditions.

[CRTTekeren]

This would actually speed up the process for rescue, refueling and recovery operations. Especially getting trucks with necessities like food, shelter and aid wuicker

[nsanefire]

Living close to this area, using pontoon bridges presents even more challenges than this. Being that the area is hilly and all the roadways are built to be much higher than the rivers, finding a flat area that's close enough to a roadway where typical vehicles don't have to scale a river bank isn't easily found.

[tomfuller]

Back in the day the army had Bailey bridges. Back in my enlisted days we used to support the Engineer Training Brigade at Ft Lost in the Woods build them.

[S.e.t]

In the UK we had a bridge wash out and the Royal Engineers put up a Bailey Bridge as a temporary fix. That was over 50 years ago and it's still going strong.

Nowadays it's only used by farm traffic, residents, horses, cyclists and pedestrians, but originally it was all the normal through traffic.

Edit: I thought 'it's been a while since I've walked that way so l probably should check if it's still there'.. installed 1947, lasted until 2001.. replacement bridge opened in 2002.. still, 54 years ain't bad..

Edit edit: it was replaced by a Mabey Bridge.. which is another bridge designed for 'temporary' use.. here's to another 54 years I guess ^_^

And now I'm feeling old as I've realised it's been at least 23 years since I've been there o_O

[bob_the_bomb]

There’s a bunch of other engineering questions. Floating bridges (such as the US ‘ribbon bridge’) need a clean river profile, especially close to the bank, as they rise and sink as traffic passes. You need to clear any rubble that might puncture one of the units.

Secondly, you have to make the route good all the way to the nearest ‘all weather’ route on either side. Civilian vehicles, especially big stuff like 18 wheelers, aren’t very good on mud, grass or where there is a steep profile.

[richbenet]

Corps of Engineers did this after Katrina. The Twin Spans bridge (I-10) over Lake Ponchartrain had a Corps of Engineers bridge (tho not a pontoon one) for a couple years while they built a brand new span.

[RB]

Not American or Military but I would be shocked if there wasn't a carve out in DOT regs specifically for emergencies like this one.

[paperburn]

It is not just bridges but the road as well. If you can not get to the bridge...

[DIC_CEO]

Bailey Bridges are an option! I was trained on them as a 12C but wasn’t in a unit that built them.

Maybe I’m biased, but I just ADORE the Bailey Bridge because it’s just so perfect.

[truthinlvl]

Another issue may be the amount of debris at the point of installation and/or what is still upstream.

[berryreading]

Really the most critical bridges that have people completely cutoff are smaller brides leading towards rural communities outside of the Asheville city limits and even Buncombe County... Honestly temporary commercial/DOT span bridges will be the best answer once existing roadways to those bridges have been cleared/shored or new temporary roadways built... As someone who lives in a rural area near Asheville and drove around Asheville where I have family/friends Saturday morning I think Chinooks full of supplies will be the best use of Army equipment until commercial/DOT infrastructure is completed to permit free travel/cleanup/rebuilding to happen... (This obviously ignores immediate helicopter rescues, but those are currently rare vs. Sat-Mon.) Now if someone has a temporary bridge that can fix the connection of I-40 from Tennessee to NC they should deploy that! Sadly I'm pretty sure that section will be a 2 lane temporary rebuild using some of the existing base fill or more blasting for several months minimum... 😐 I thought Ivan in 2004 was something in WNC... Now that hurricane damage of landslides/destroyed bridges/loss of life insignificant in comparison! Thanks to all the people traveling in from other states for rescue/infrastructure work or just donating to local communities! 🙌 (Please donate to impacted communities/local organizations if at all possible, NOT just the red cross...Every dollar goes about 10x as far if it's going directly to the source and not the red cross donation blackhole 🤨) Thanks! 👍

[altongehringer]

Don't forget Camp Lejeune! 8th engineer support department has a bridge unit!

[stanislaworynski]

In my city, Wrocław in Poland for a long time engineering unit would set for a All Saints' Day as it helped with traffic to the cementary