Page 10 - COLLAGE

1.2. DEFINITION

A pontoon bridge (or ponton bridge), also known as a floating bridge, uses floats or

shallow-draft boats to support a continuous deck for pedestrian and vehicle travel.
The buoyancy of the supports limits the maximum load they can carry.

Most pontoon bridges are temporary, used in wartime and civil emergencies. Permanent
floating bridges are useful for sheltered water-crossings where it is not considered

economically feasible to suspend a bridge from anchored piers. Such bridges can require a

section that is elevated, or can be raised or removed, to allow waterborne traffic to pass.

Pontoon bridges have been in use since ancient times and have been used to great advantage

in many battles throughout history, among them the Battle of Garigliano, the Battle of
Oudenarde, the crossing of the Rhine during World War II, and during the Iran–Iraq

War Operation Dawn 8.

1.3. ETYMOLOGY

The spelling "ponton" in English dates from at least 1870. The use continued in references

found in U.S. patents during the 1890s. It continued to be spelled in that fashion through

World War II, when temporary floating bridges were used extensively throughout
the European theatre. U.S. combat engineers commonly pronounced the word "ponton"

rather than "pontoon" and U.S. military manuals spelled it using a single 'o'. The U.S.

military differentiated between the bridge itself ("ponton") and the floats used to provide
buoyancy ("pontoon"). The original word was derived from Old French ponton, from

Latin ponto ("ferryboat"), from pons ("bridge").

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