A Personal Viewpoint by Cpr William J
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\C!a B~!!>GIJ\ro BOOK A Personal Viewpoint by CPr William J. Stein he true test of a technical manual sandbar. The ice was excavated to the construction must be included m a is its usefulness in a practical field river bottom in the major channels, T rewrite of TM 5-349. situation. A true test of TM 5-349, Arc both across the channels and parallel tic Construction, came when the 23rd Ice Profile to the flow. Bailey bridges and M-4T6 Engineer Company (CBT) (HVY), Fort The next step in ice bridging is pro bridge sections were stockpiled to put Richardson, was tasked to build the filing the ice which TM 5-349 addresses across the channels ifthe water started main supply route for the joint train in general terms only. The reader is left flowing above the ground. ing exercise, "Brim Frost '83" in cen guessing where to place the profile Reinforcement tral Alaska. holes, how to estimate the load-bearing Calculations showed that the ice capacity for different types of ice, and Site Selection bridges over the four channels needed what to do with ice frozen solid to the The first task was to bridge the Delta to be 8 inches thicker. The TM's section river bottom or unsupported by water. River. This required choosing a site for on "Reinforced Crossings" says to clear The load-bearing capacity for ice is an ice bridge. Site considerations are the snow cover, but says nothing about given in table XIV of TM 5-349. Unfor covered in the "Ice Bridges" section of the snow berms on the edge of the ice tunately, this table does not say which TM 5-349. bridge. type of ice these minimum thicknesses Additional site considerations used During the winter exercise, "Jack are for and does not give correction fac by CPT Chris Turletes, commander of Frost 1979, "near Fairbanks, AK, the tors for other types of ice. The Ice the 23rd, included aligning the ice Cold Regions Research and Engineer Bridging pamphlet gives the load class bridge with the prevailing wind direc ing Laboratory (CRREL) evaluated the formulas and also has a table listing tion, insuring that streams or creeks ice bridge construction over the Tanana certain military vehicles with the cor were not entering immediately River and found significant reduction responding minimum ice thicknesses a upstream from the site, removing in the ice thickness under the snow required for certain types of ice. obstructions upwind, and placing snow berms on either side of the ice bridge. The Delta River crossing posed many berms downwind. His additional cri When ice bridge construction is com problems. The four major river chan teria are included in "Ice Bridging;' plete, the snow berms should be nels had conditions varying from solid Pamphlet 350-2 of the 172nd Infantry removed to prevent weakening of the ice to the river bottom to 40 inches of Brigade (February 1983) that was ice bridge. An explanation of the weak ice over 4-foot air voids. At the begin necessitated by the lack of a specific ening effect of the snow berms on the ning of construction, the water flow guidance in TM 5-349. ice bridge is included in the Ice Bridg was subterranean. The Arctic ing pamphlet, but not in the TM. Approaches Construction manual does not mention The next step in reinforcing the ice "Preparation of Approaches" sug these possible problems, much less bridge is addressed in the section on gests using a timber ramp from the ice offer solutions. "Flooding." This very short paragraph bridge to frozen fill on the banks. This Captain Turletes consulted Edward says to flood the bridge to 2112 times the ignores the fact that ice forming at the F. Sheehan, long-time resident, geolo roadway width using one-inch layers of banks usually expands off the river gist, and Senior Tust Manager with the water and claims that each inch of and becomes supported by the banks. Cold Regions Test Center at Fort water will freeze in two hours at 5° F. The overhanging ice creates a weak Greely, AK. Mr. Sheehan said that the However, the present industry stan spot because of the hinge effect. subterranean flow was normal, but dard is to flood the ice bridge to a width This problem was dealt with in that it would not continue all winter. of 150 feet. In reality at 5° F, each inch "Brim Frost '83" by breaking the hinge This information led to the following of water will take 11 hours to freeze ice and making the ramps of icecrete: solution: two crossing sites were pre with no wind, or 7 hours to to freeze crushed ice, aggregate, snow, and water. pared, one on the ground-supported ice This newer method of approach-ramp sheet and one weaving from sandbar to (Continued on page 37) E . ra1 WOIUME 1,ng1 nN~R~ r WINTER 1984-85 UNITED STATES ARMY FEATURES ENGINEER CENTER 10 WW II: Engineers in the European Theater AND FORT BELVOIR, VA by Dr. William C. Baldwin and Dr. Barry W Fowle COMMANDER/COMMANDANT 20 The Fort Leonard Wood Museum: A WWII Time Capsule MG Richard S. Kem by Robert K. Combs ASSISTANT COMMANDANT 22 Blackwell Bridge: Historic Structure Saved Through COL Ralph T. Rundle Modern Methods by Jack Wilson CHIEF OF STAFF/DEPUTY INSTALLATION COMMANDER 24 Men and Machines: A History of Combat Developments COL Peter D. Stearns by CPT Ronald G. Prichard COMMAND SERGEANT MAJOR 27 West Point Engineers: Builders of America's CSM Charles T. Tucker Infrastructure by MAJ Mark Vincent DIRECTOR OF TRAINING AND DOCTRINE 30 An Engineer Platoon Leader's Survival Guide to NTC COL Don W. Barber by CPT James G. Liwski 32 A Close Look at Drill Sergeant School CHIEF OF PUBLICATIONS by SP4 Thomas Copeland and SP5 Kathleen Ellison Stanley Georges EDITOR 34 Construction and Maintenance of Delta Creek Airstrip Marilyn Fl eming by MAJ Thomas A. York MANAGING EDITOR 38 Publications from CERL 1LT Louis J. Leto ASSISTANT EDITOR 42 The Difference Donald Sc hmoldt by Dandridge M. Malone CONTRIBUTING EDITOR Ellen D. Shields DEPARTMENTS DESIGN DIRECTOR Thomas Davis Inside Front Cover: A Personal Viewpoint EDITORIAL ASSISTANT SP4 Jean Tate 2 News and Notes 7 School News 4 Clear the Way 29 Engineer Problem On the Cover This German-laid minefie ld won't hold up 5 Bridge the Gap 37 Hotline Q&A Allied forces invading France as ILt Merle Kirste in makes a final sweep on June 13, 6 Engineer People 43 Engineer Solution 1944. Notice the mines that have already been recovered (U.S. Army Photo). 44 Career Notes ENGINEER (ISSN 0046-1989) is a n authorized publication of the U.S. Ar my Engineer Center and Fort Belvoir, VA. Unless specifica lly stated, materia l appear ing herein does not necessar ily refl ect officia l policy, thinking nor endorsement by any agency of the U.S. Army. The words he, him, or his are used to represent personnel of either sex. All photographs conta ined herein are officia l U.S. Army photogr aphs unless otherwise credited. The use of funds for pr inting this publication was approved by Headquarters, Department of the Army, on July 22, 1981. Material herein may be reprinted if credit is given to ENGINEER and to the a uthor. ENGINEER's objectives are to provide a forum for the exchange of ideas, to inform and motivate, and to promote the professiona l develop ment of all members of the Army engineer community. Direct correspondence with ENGINEER is authorized and encouraged. Inquiries, letters to the editor, commenta ries, manuscripts, photographs and general correspondence should be sent to: ENGINEER Magazine, ATZA-TD-P Stop 291D, Fort Belvoir, VA 22060-5 291. Phone: (703) 664-3082, AV 354. ENGINEER may be fo rwarded to personnel in military units. Address changes should be sent to ENGINEER. Subscriptions to ENGINEER are available through the Superintendent of Documents, U. S. Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C. 20402. A check or money order payable to Superintendent of Documents, must accompany all subscription requests. Rates a re $11.00 for domestic (including APO and FPO) addresses a nd $13.75 for foreign addresses. Individual copies are available at $3.00 per copy for domestic addresses and $3.75 for foreign addresses. Second Class postage pa id at Fort Belvoir, VA, and additional mailing offices. -M News & Notes Engineers Save Historic Site; Clean Hawaiian Habitation Cave "The cave in which we worked extends nearly three quarters of a mile to the next cave, which is closer to the ocean. Another cave extends nearly two miles;' he said. Hieroglyphics and other artifacts, including hollowed grinding stones found within those caves, led the Army to declare the area archaeologically significant. During their stay at South Point, the Engineers cleaned an estimated 20 tons of debris from the cave. They worked daily from dawn to dusk in a hot and dusty environment to restore the cave site. Micro!fech Equipment Microprocessor technology may be the key to making the battlefield of the future safer for Combat Engineers. Researchers at the Ft. Belvoir Working in the heat and blowing dust of South Point, HI, the 25th Infantry Research and Development Center's Division's 65th Combat Engineers worked from August 15 to September Combined Arms Support Laboratory 7 to clear debris from an ancient Hawaiian habitation cave (photo by SP4 have mounted a microprocessor Robert P. Lindsay). controlled backhoe and manipulator arm on a cross-country vehicle to Engineers from HHC, 65th Engineer "The 65th Engineers became evaluate their potential in a combat Bn.