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Issue 32. March - April 1999 | |
TMM-6 HEAVY MECHANIZED BRIDGE |
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Anatoly Ilyin, Staff Editor |
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The TMM-6 heavy mechanized bridge is designed for laying bridges over water barriers and dry-valley obstacles of up to 100 m wide and up to 5 m deep to be negotiated by troops and wheeled and tracked materiel weighing up to 60 t. The mechanized bridges are used during combat operations, evacuation activities and elimination of the aftermath of accidents and natural disasters. |
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 odern combat operations are characterized by high dynamics and complicated road conditions owing to a great number of artificial and natural obstacles and barriers. Their negotiation may involve construction or laying of bridges and ferries for heavy combat materiel (battle tanks, prime movers, motor vehicles, etc.). Since the construction of bridges requires time and materials, it is frequently unacceptable in a rapidly changing situation.
The TMM-6 heavy mechanized bridge is designed for laying bridges over water barriers and dry-valley obstacles of up to 100 m wide and up to 5 m deep to be negotiated by troops and wheeled and tracked materiel weighing up to 60 t. The mechanized bridges are used during combat operations, evacuation activities and elimination of the aftermath of accidents and natural disasters.
When there is no more need for the bridge, it is disassembled by the bridge layer and carried to another place where it can be laid again over an obstacle. The bridge can be disassembled from either end.
The TMM-6 heavy mechanized bridge may be completed with a nonhydraulically operated bridge member. In this case, provision is made for a cable-pulley drive to unfold the bridge member halves. The cost of the bridge member of its kind is lower than that of the hydraulically operated one.
The bridge layer is environmentally safe since the bridge laying is carried out without river bed blocking, earth moving and bottom work. |
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The solution of the problem lies in the use of mechanized bridges. A heavy mechanized bridge (designated TMM-6), developed by the Omsk Machine-Building Design Bureau and manufactured by the Transport Machine-Building Plant, provides one such solution.
The TMM-6 heavy mechanized bridge consists of a bridge layer and bridge members. The bridge layer is a cross-country (8 x 8 wheel configuration) all-wheel-drive truck carrying equipment and mechanisms to transport and lay the bridge members. The bridge laying mechanisms are provided with a hydraulic drive and power takeoff from the chassis engine. The bridge layer is equipped with a system to protect the crew from dust when moving over a radioactively contaminated terrain and furnished with communication facilities: a radio set and an intercom system.
The bridge member consists of a folded-in-two double-track span and a spur leg. The unfolded span is 17 m long; the spur leg can be self-adjusted to a height of 2 to 5 m. The span folding/unfolding mechanisms are hydraulically driven from the bridge layer s hydraulic system which can automatically be coupled to (uncoupled from) the hydraulic system of the bridge member. The bridge member design and the bridge layer-mounted special mechanism enable the crew to decrease, if required, the width of the bridge member for transportation. The bridge laying procedure is controlled by one crewmember from the control panel arranged in the rear part of the bridge layer or remote-controlled with the use of a 30 m long cable. The time to lay one bridge member is 5 min. The bridge is assembled by subsequently laying several bridge members.
