I read an excellent book titled "First Across the Rhine: The 291st Engineer Combat Battalion in France, Belgium, and Germany". In it, they describe some of the many functions that are performed by a WW2 Engineering Company in combat, including the construction of Bailey bridges under fire. They call the repositionable forward section of a Bailey bridge under construction the "Bullnose". As the bridge is being built, the Bullnose gets repositioned forward as each section of the bridge is put in place behind it until the span is completed and the Bullnose is removed. Although I have found several sites on the internet that discuss Bailey bridges, I cannot find an image of the forward most section known as the "Bullnose". What does the Bullnose of a Bailey bridge under construction look like?
2 Answers
I believe the "launching nose" is meant. http://www.thinkdefence.co.uk/2012/01/uk-military-bridging-equipment-the-bailey-bridge/
Regarding the nose specifically, from the above site: http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7146/6655388167_d1e515d555.jpg http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7171/6655567565_ef3b5c1684.jpg http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7006/6659822101_983436a4dc.jpg
Bailey bridge Launching nose is used to pull the main bridge girder from one bank to the other. When pulling or pushing , there should be enough counterweight to avoid the launching nose falling down into river.