Jason talks about his experience leading the construction of a 350-meter-long pontoon bridge across the Tigris River in Iraq near Tikrit during the Iraq war. 

For photos and a full description of the project, please see https://www.buildbigideas.com/post/how-to-build-a-pontoon-bridge-during-the-iraq-war-ep16 

In late September 2003, while in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom, the 555th Combat Engineer Group (TF ABLE) received the mission to construct a bypass around the damaged Tikrit fixed bridge crossing the Tigris River. This bypass would enable the 4th Infantry Division’s maneuver units east-west mobility across the Tigris River.  The crux of the bypass was the actual crossing of the Tigris.  The solution was constructing a 350m bridge, the largest Mabey & Johnson float bridge ever built – capable of trafficking MLC 110 military vehicles.

During the 3 weeks of planning and 2.5 months of construction, the 14th Engineer Battalion met with a variety of challenges that forced them to exhibit engineering problem solving skills, developing innovative solutions to complex problems.