FORT BENNING, Ga.—ERDC’s Coastal and Hydraulics Laboratory’s (CHL) Dr. Jimmy Fowler and Geotechnical and Structures Laboratory’s (GSL) Joseph Padula traveled to Fort Benning, Ga., in April to conduct Lightweight Modular Causeway System (LMCS) assessment tests as a peripheral part of the Deployable Force Protection Program assessments.
Featured parts of the assessment included delivery and emplacement of the LMCS on the Chattahoochee River using a helicopter provided by the Florida National Guard and use of organic U.S. Army military engineer equipment from the 11th Engineer Battalion to transport, handle and emplace LMCS components.
The exercise allowed ERDC to evaluate the LMCS’s potential for rapid disaster response in an austere environment. A staging area approximately 1.5 miles from the bridging site was used to prepare the LMCS modules for transport via helicopter.
Army engineers trained by the LMCS Development Team then directed the effort to sling-load and fly the LMCS segments to the emplacement site. This evaluation included successful emplacement of 120 feet of LMCS and confirmed that LMCS could be handled by military engineer equipment and when flown to the site, an emplacement rate of 100 feet per hour is possible.
Learn more about LMCS.