Film showing the construction of the floating Bailey bridge on the River Chindwin at Kalewa, Burma.

Tightening nuts on a Bailey section. Various shots of sections fixed together. Launching a 100 ft section. Pan over the site. View from the water with a variety of activity. Locals boats. Pontoon Bailey rafts prepared. Hillside with apparently ruined pagoda overlooking the site. Indian Engineers operating a 'Bangalore pile driver', to prepare a landing bay, with close-ups of its operation. Aerial views of the site, some highly illustrative. Laying decking. Launching a section. Indian Engineers paddling a pontoon section. Small motor boat. Hauling in a floating section.Two sections coming together. Major-General Charles Fowkes, commander 11th East African Division, cuts a tape to open the bridge. Fowkes and Colonel F Seymour Williams, the chief engineer, celebrate with a tin of beer and a pipe. Indian Engineers hauling a Bailey section off a lorry. Sikh engineers carrying girder. Bolting sections together. Close-up Colonel Williams. Views of the partially complete bridge. Views from the water. Views from a jeep following behind that of Fowkes and Williams as they drive across the bridge.

Notes

This film shows the construction and opening of the 1,150ft Bailey bridge at Kalewa. The construction of this bridge, with sections assembled upstream and floated into position, was one of the outstanding feats of military engineering during the Second World War.

See also FUB 18.