MARINE CORPS BASE CAMP LEJEUNE, North Carolina -- Approximately 25 Marines with 8th Engineer Support Battalion, 2nd Marine Logistics Group, constructed a 12 bay, double-story, medium-girder bridge in less than 6 hours at Landing Zone Dove on Camp Lejeune, Nov. 19, 2014.
The purpose of the training was to reinforce the fundamentals of bridge building and maintain mission readiness.
“We want our junior Marines to take away the basics: how to put the bridge together, how it operates, and what it is used for … We need to be able to support the (Marine Expeditionary Force) at any time if they call on us,” said Cpl. Joshua Shelley, a bridge master with 8th ESB and Lebanon, Indiana, native.
Junior Marines were not the only ones taking in knowledge about how to build a medium-girder bridge.
Cpl. Tyler Denney, a combat engineer with the battalion and Springfield, Missouri, native, arrived at Camp Lejeune approximately 2 months ago from Twentynine Palms, California, where he was a dog handler and worked with improvised explosive devises.
Denney shadowed Shelley throughout the duration of the construction, re-learning bridge nomenclature and basics from combat engineering school.
“I’m learning a whole other world of engineering,” said Denney. “Attention to detail was the biggest thing I took away from the training because even if one of the measurements was off or something wasn’t level, it could end in injury.”
Marines worked in left side, right side, and center crews, following the instructions of the bridge master. The left and right side crew added bays to their respective sides while the center crew added sway braces, ensuring a fluid construction.
The Marine Corps uses bridges to cross obstacles such as rock bedding or water, cutting down transportation time. Combat engineers have the ability to construct a medium-girder bridge with up to 22 bays that can support the weight of a tank.
Some companies aboard Camp Lejeune participate in bridge training as often as once a month to maintain mission readiness.
“Bridge training is a lot of repetition,” said Denney. “You do it so many times so that when a combat scenario does present itself there are no hesitations.”