David and List,
Back in about 1980 I was issued 4 new ERDLators (Water Purification Units).
They were truck mounted, on M45 frames. They look something like an
over-size camper and weigh around 4000 pounds. The set is powered by a 10KW
generator that is mounted in a 1 1/2 ton trailer and there is a lot of
additional equipment that pretty well maxes out the trailer capacity. All
ERDLators come with winches on the front bumper. I would guess that they
should have a weight classification of at least 10, maybe higher with the
trailer, and they don't go anywhere without the trailer. Every one of them
was delivered to us with the bridge plate already set at 8 and, if I
remember correctly, there was a an 8 on the passenger door, too. I don't
know who set the bridge plate that way. They had been through the
"receiving" area of the AMSA shop before they were delivered to us, so maybe
they set them that way. Maybe the contractor (Met-Pro made the ERDLators)
set them that way. Maybe the chassis contractor set them up. I just know
that we didn't.
If memory serves me right, all of our deuces had 8 on the bridge plates,
regardless of what they carried. Bridge classifications weren't something
that anyone really seemed to care about. After all, when we traveled
somewhere, it was on streets and highways that could handle normal traffic.
Things like fully loaded civilian construction trailers that hauled massive
earth moving equipment, and other heavy objects. As a Combat Engineer
Battalion we didn't have anything that was over-weight for normal roads, so
we just didn't pay any attention to bridge classification signs.
Based on over 20 years in the military, I would venture to guess that fewer
than one in ten soldiers know what that round sign on the front of most
military vehicles is, and fewer still know how to use it. Bridge
classification signs can be important in under-developed countries, or even
rural areas of the U.S., but I suspect that most Guard and Reserve vehicles
spend their lives on normal paved roads. If the bridge in question isn't
marked with a corresponding sign, or you don't carry a copy of the TM with
you, the bridge classification that appears on the front of your truck
doesn't mean much anyway.
Realistically, the concern over bridge classifications is more of a
hobbyists question...kind of like the question about the proper place for
the fire extinguisher on a ROPS equipped M151A1...meaningful, but not
critical. All of this is not to say that having the proper classification
appear on the front of your vehicle is unimportant. In the interests of
accuracy, it is important, it just doesn't have much real-world use in the
daily operation of our vehicles.
My guess would be that the manufacturer of the vehicles mentioned in the
earlier post (Mass. Reserve vehicles) probably puts the bridge
classification plates on each new vehicle that they build, and automatically
sets them all to 8. Of course I could be wrong, but it seems like a
reasonable supposition.
John
-----Original Message-----
From: DDoyle9570@aol.com [mailto:DDoyle9570@aol.com]
Sent: Saturday, November 03, 2001 9:38 AM
To: mil-veh@mil-veh.org
Subject: Re: [MV] The Bridge Plate Question
In a message dated 11/3/01 10:24:48 AM Central Daylight Time,
SeacoastSurplus@worldnet.att.net writes:
<< all the deuces around mass area, weather National Guard or Reserve have 8
as the number >>
This is very interesting....anyone know why this is?
DD
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This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : Fri Dec 07 2001 - 00:36:58 PST