Pontoon bridge

A pontoon bridge is a bridge that floats on water. It is a floating bridge with barges or boats ('pontoons') to support the bridge deck.

Pontoon bridge

U.S. Army troops cross the Rhine on a heavy pontoon bridge, March 1945
Carries	Pedestrian, automobile, truck
Span range	Short to long
Material	Various: steel, concrete, boats, barrels, plastic floats, appropriate decking material
Movable	Generally not, but may have movable sections for watercraft passage
Design effort	low
Falsework required	No

Pontoon bridges are usually temporary structures, but some are used for long periods. Permanent floating bridges are useful for sheltered (quiet) water-crossings. It may be too expensive to suspend a bridge from anchored piers. Pontoon bridges may need a section that is elevated, or can be raised or removed, to allow ships to pass.

Pontoon bridges are often used in wartime as river crossings. They are usually temporary, and are sometimes destroyed after crossing (to keep the enemy from using them), or collapsed and carried (if on a long march). They were used to great advantage in many battles. Pontoon bridges have been in use since ancient times. It is thought that the first London Bridge was a Roman pontoon bridge. Roman legions had men and equipment to build pontoon bridges, and often made them. The first pontoon bridge was made by the Zhou Dynasty.

Pontoon Bridge Media

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  Pontoon bridge between Russellville and Dardanelle, Arkansas, US, at the time reportedly the longest pontoon bridge in the world. (Photo c. 1913–1926)

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  The Bergsøysund Bridge uses concrete pontoons

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  Mughal emperor Akbar the Great riding the ferocious elephant Hawa'i, pursuing another elephant across a collapsing bridge of boats (left), in Basawan and Chetar Munti's "Akbar's Adventure with the Elephant Hawa’i", dated 1561

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  A relief of a Roman bridge of boats by Cichorius

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  The old Puente de barcas, connected Seville and Triana from 1171 to 1851

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  Parma's bridge over the Scheldt in 1584, built of ships. 1616 illustration.

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  Pontoon boat of the U.S. Army, 1864

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  A bridge of boats over the Ravi River in British India, 1895

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  3e régiment du génie (French Wikipedia), The 3rd French Regiment of Pioneers are building a Pontoon Bridge over the river Ourthe in Chênée, Belgium in the 1930s.

• Deployment showing automatic unfolding of the most recent Russian ribbon bridge system PP-2005 in 2020.

• Improved ribbon bridge built by 341st Engineer General Service Regiment at Drawsko Pomorskie training area, June 11, 2018.