REBUS learns about Bailey Bridges

The REBUS Club of Khandallah learned much about Bailey Bridges at its May meeting.

The speaker at the meeting was the club’s president Nick Lambrechtsen.

His talk was entitled “The Longest Floating Bailey Bridge of World War II.”

This was of interest to members as on 13 May a Bailey Bridge was opened to replace the old bridge that was washed away over the Waikare Gorge during Cyclone Gabrielle.

Until the bridge was installed, travel between Napier and Wairoa on State Highway 2 was impossible.

Sir Donald Coleman Bailey,a British engineer, invented the Bailey Bridge, which was of great military value in World War II.

A Bailey Bridge is a type of portable, pre-fabricated, truss bridge. The wood and steel bridge elements are small and light enough to be carried in trucks and lifted into place manually, without the use of a crane.

Nick’s father, Constant Lambrechtsen van Ritthem, was a civil engineer with specialist knowledge of water level fluctuation of rivers in the Netherlands. He, and Captain Ted Hunt (British Royal Engineers) designed the longest floating Bailey bridge of WW11.

In May 2022, Nick flew to the Netherlands to represent his father at the unveiling of two monuments to commemorate this bridge.

Ted Hunt, who had retired as a Major, was also present at the unveiling. He was 102 years old. The bridge was 1,222 metres long and built in eight days in February 1945, crossing the river Maas between Oeffelt and Gennep.

The bridge could carry 40-ton tanks. It was vital for Operation Veritable, the big push into Germany.

REBUS is a club for seniors and meets on the last Friday of the month.

The next meeting is on Friday 30 June at 10 am, at the Khandallah Bowling Club, Woodmancote Road.

The guest speakers will be Susan Guthrie and Susanna Berry, from the Reserve Bank. They will discuss the future of money, including NZ’s cash system. Visitors will be welcome. For further information about the club, see https://khandallahrebus.wixsite.com/khandallahrebusclub.

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