ERE Logistics, a Canadian company based in Calgary, which has not previously practiced on such products, has mastered the production of heavy mechanized bridges. These bridges are designed for both military and civilian use.
ERE Logistics President Richard Richter has long been known as a lover of military technology. Not only did he work on vehicles such as the Army Hummer, 8 × 8 and 10 × 10 trucks, he also owned a decommissioned Chieftain tank and an M113 armored personnel carrier that required constant maintenance!
In 2006, ERE Firesupport (a builder of off-road forest fire fighting vehicles) faced a situation where mechanized bridges were vital. Most of the ERE Firesupport's firefighting activities were carried out in the foothills of the Rocky Mountain in Canada, where the often impassable terrain required many hours of detours instead of just a few kilometers in a straight line.
So Richard got the idea to create a reliable mobile mechanized bridge that would allow them to cross a mountain stream or other rugged terrain, saving hours of precious time and quickly delivering the necessary equipment. He had excellent conditions for this project, the technological knowledge and determination to follow through, and the help of his father, Erich Richter. This is how the ERE S80T mechanized bridge began to come to life. Based on military knowledge and experience with military equipment, Richard concluded that the Flatrack system would be the ideal universal platform for storing, transporting and deploying a bridge.
Among other things, the bridge was required to be compact in transport and quickly deployable. After considering several options, he quickly settled on the scissor-technology drop-down bridges. This allows the bridge to be deployed quickly by adding section by section and is great for compact storage and easy transport. After just a few months of development, the first test model of the ERE S80T 60-ton bridge was ready to go into production. Despite some shortcomings and omissions, tests of the first model showed a high efficiency of the bridge.
The 12-meter bridge is 4.3 meters wide and comes complete with handrails for pedestrian traffic. The time required for installation and preparation for full use is only 30 minutes, which is currently not anything outstanding compared to some of the armored bridgelayers, but additional elongation can be used here. Armored bridge lifters usually have one section (between the supports) and can be installed in a period of four to five minutes.
Additional sections can be added to the ERE S80T bridge one after the other. Thus, a 120-meter bridge can be built in about five hours, which cannot be done by armored bridgelayers. Recently, there have been additional improvements that have made the bridge even better. The carrying capacity was increased to 90 tons, the original 3.5 meter supports were replaced by 10 meters, allowing for large crossings over rivers or deep ravines.
The bridge consists of three components: the bridge itself, the paver and the supports. Compatible with the Flatrack system, the powered axle is designed to work with a wide variety of military vehicles and trucks. It is the Flatrack design that makes the bridge so attractive. Now you no longer need a separate vehicle to bridge, you can simply use the appropriate vehicle from the fleet, load the system, deliver it and deploy it where needed. Moreover, when needed, the bridge can be delivered directly from the warehouse, it can be transported by truck or even by air in case of emergencies.
Since the bridge is hydraulically positioned, it only takes a small team of four to set and lock everything in place. During emergencies, this will allow additional personnel to concentrate on their duties while the bridge builders build the bridge.
The performance characteristics of the ERE S90T
Dimensions (edit)
Transportable: length 6.1m, width 3.3m
Unfolded: length 12.2m, width 4.4m
The greatest length of the bridge being built: more than 500 m
Highest height: 10m
Maximum depth of water obstacle: 4.7m
Maximum load: 90 tons
Span weight: 5.2 tons
Flooring
Width: two x 1.5m
Spans: 12/24/36 m
Deployment time: less than 55 minutes
