INSIDE: Environmental issues were tackled and avoided in 2013 Pg. 8 T H U R S D A Y
January 2, 2014
Year in look back at the Review 3 Asecond half of 2013 ❭❭ N E W S ,
SPORTS,
WEATHER
&
E N T E R T A I N M E N T ❭ ❭ chilliwacktimes.com
Practice makes perfect
Paul J. Henderson/TIMES
Cpl. Cameron Hunt (left) and Cpl. T. Kim lift a portion of a medium girder bridge during Exercise Paladin Response 2013 last Friday. Master warrant officer S. Fisher stops the action (below) as the nose starts to slip off the landing pedestal. For more photos see www.chilliwacktimes.com.
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old rain came down in sheets last Friday as dozens of army combat engineers assembled a medium girder bridge across a gap at the OPSEE Training Area in the hillsides above Cultus Lake. The bridge was put together with much smaller pieces much like a giant Meccano set. While the finished product has to be strong enough to allow for a 70-tonne battle tank to cross, no one piece is too large for four soldiers to carry, according to Major Ryan Donahue. During one assembly, the tip of the
Bridge-building combat engineers hone their skills in annual exercise engineered bridge—the light nose—was pushed slowly onto a landing pedestal on the other side of the gap. Suddenly, the piece, which was attached to a heavy nose and the full bridge itself, started to slide sideways off the rollers. The light nose jumped launching water in the air and startling those watching, but the soldiers did not panic. Major warrant officer S. Fisher ordered stop, and the sappers jumped into action to remedy the situation,
which they did. It’s all a learning experience for the crews, according to Donahue. The bridge crossing was part of Exercise Paladin Response 2013, an annual tradition in the days between Christmas and New Year’s when as many as 200 army reserve combat engineers and support troops practise water and gap crossing tasks.
See BRIDGE, Page 23
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BY PAUL J. HENDERSON phenderson@chilliwacktimes.com
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