 |
Time Line - 1966: Troop Carrier Bridge... |
|
X |
 |
 |
| Inventor Holds Beam (48k) |
Loaded With Tractor (44k) |
The Captive Column pictured above was 20-feet long and weighed 65
pounds total (3.25 pounds per foot). Designed as an early prototype of a portable Troop
Carrier Bridge, it triggered some interesting reactions:
"A 10-inch W.F. 21-pound steel beam would have adequately carried the tractor
shown." -- James W. Wright, Chief, Building Research Division, IAT, National Bureau
Of Standards. Note: A 20-foot steel I-Beam with a total weight
of only 21 pounds could not have supported the tractor shown, so the National Bureau Of
Standards must have been referring to a 21 pounds/foot I-Beam (420 pounds total).
"Our analysis, in contradiction to the National Bureau Of Standards calculation,
shows that a steel beam of high strength (A441) steel weighing approximately 14
pounds/foot would be equivalent to your column which weighs 3.25 pounds/foot." --
Brigadier General Kenneth DaWalt, GS. Office of the Chief of Research & Development,
U.S. Army
There would have been two beams used for a production Troop Carrier Bridge, and the
loads would have been more evenly distributed (5 wheels per beam). The pictures taken
above were done at an impromptu test since the defense contractor it was built for refused
to test it. Mr. Bosch later heard that the engineer that had contacted him for the beam
was in fear of losing his job since he had done so without clearing it with upper
management first. Seeing that the Captive Column could solve a big problem in Vietnam and
save American lives, this engineer had simply tried to do the right thing by checking out
a promising new technology.
The test itself was in interesting experience for Mr. Bosch. A group of curious
onlookers had gathered along a fence as the test was set up. First, Mr. Bosch held the
beam overhead for photos. Then the beam was staged for the tractor. Comments like "No
way!", "You've got to be kidding!", and laughs were heard from the crowd as
the tractor was driven into position. Their attitude changed dramatically when the tractor
drove onto it.
Made of balsa wood and fiberglass, it held approximately 10,000 pounds of the
15,000-pound tractor. In spite of the flexibility of the fiberglass, the deflection was
only 5 inches. Higher modulus materials such as steel or graphite would have permitted
correspondingly stiffer construction.
The bottom line is this: Mr. Bosch built a 65 pound beam out of balsa wood and
fiberglass that outperformed a high-strength steel I-Beam weighing over 420 pounds (NBS),
or 280 pounds (U.S. Army), and he did this in his garage over 31 years ago:
| 
