Soviet Army.
Engineering corps (Years sixtieth - seventieth) Pontoon-bridging column PMP  (ПМП)

Pontoon-bridging column PMP is designed to provide bridges and ferries. The complete set of PMP equipment is used to construct 60 ton and 20 ton carrying capacity bridges and 20 ton up to 170 ton carrying capacity ferries. The most frequently used ferries are 40-, 60-, 80- ton floating sections and 130-, 170-ton floating and abutment sections.

PMP construction basic characteristics:
1.Ferries and bridges are constructed as entire floating sections;
2.PBC consists of folding four-pontoon sections ready to be used as parts of the bridge or the ferry;
3.The complete set of PMP equipment may be used either as a bridge or as a ferry;
4.Landing pies are not needed for ferry transportation, the ferry may be fixed on the river bottom while loading and unloading;
5.The folding sections decks serve as a road;
6.Light vehicles may move in both directions.

PMP floating bridges basic characteristics:

Bridge carrying capaciry Road width (m.) Maximum length of the bridge (m.) Time needed for installation (min.)

60
20 6.59
3.29 227
382 30
50

PMP ferries basic characteristics:

Ferry carrying capacity (t.) Amount of ferries made of PBC units Number of sections needed per a ferry, units Length of the ferry (m.) Time needed for installation (min.)

floating abutment

40
60
80
130
170 16
10
8
4
4 2
3
4
6
8 -
-
-
1
1 13.5
20.25
27.0
46.0
59.5 8
10
12
13-15
16-20

Pontoon-bridging column PMP is full equipment for bridging through water obstacles . Since1962 the Soviet Army was armed with this type of PMP .

This equipment may be used for as a ferry to carry people and equipment through water obstacles. Besides PMP may include vehicles to transport equipment. The standard set of equipment allows to construct bridges of different length and carrying capacity.
The bridge length may be up to 227 m for 60 ton cargo; or up to 382 m for 20 ton cargo. Permissible current flow is up to 2.5 m/sec. The pontoons upper part is used as a road.
The PMP includes 32 floating sections, 4 abutment sections, 2 road covers, 12 tugboats. The transportation of the sections is performed by 38 KrAZ-255B trucks equipped with special devices.  The boats BMK-90, BMK-130 or BMK-150 are tugged by ZIl-130(ZIL-157) trucks with the help of a trailer or their own wheels . If PBC contains BMK-T boats; they are transported on 12 KrAZ-255B trucks platforms.

The KraZ truck carries one section, which includes two middle and two edge pontoons. The pontoons are connected by hinges. For transportation the section is folded up on the truck platform. The picture displays the truck with a floating section. Next picture is the back view of the truck with the section containing two middle right-angled pontoons and two edge curved pontoons. The abutment section is different from the floating section. Due to its form the abutment section allows to connect the bridge with the bank, besides, the section has folding devices so that cars could go down the bridge to the bank.

The section crew should consist of a driver and two pontooneers. It can also consist of a driver-pontooneer and a pontooneer. The procedure of installing the bridge or a ferry is as follows: the truck moves backward into the water up to the point where the depth is not less than 1 m; then the truck brakes abruptly; the pontooneer releases the hold; the section released rolls down the platform into the water easily.

In the water the section spreads under the influence of floatation powers with the help of hinges. In the picture the section is in the process of spreading (back view). At the moment the section is being hold by a mooring rope from the bank. The other edge of the rope is fixed on the truck. The driver-pontooneer and the pontooneer go up to the deck, lock the bottom and the deck to make the section construction rigid.

In the picture the section is spread (back view). After the deck and bottom are locked the pontooneers bring the sections closer to each other using hooks and lock the sections together. Thus the bridge line is being assembled along the bank. During the procedure the section is hold by mooring ropes fixed on the truck on the bank. As soon as the section is assembled the truck throws the mooring rope and leaves the site. The road width is 6.5 m.