Sredne-Nevsky Shipyard Announced Composite Bridge for Engineer Troops

Rubric: Russia, Industry

Sredne-Nevsky Shipyard (SNS) is conducting an independent R&D project on the new heavy mechanized bridge TMM-7 (codename Prolet), the company's press service told Mil.Press Today.

The heavy mechanized bridge TMM-7 is designed for crossing of narrow obstacles by troops, wheeled and tracked vehicles. According to the customer's technical specification, the shipyard elaborates the project of advanced bridge section based on KamAZ truck.

Mechanized bridge TMM-3 in action

The project is supposed to replace the sets of heavy mechanized bridges TMM-3 available to the Russian Engineer Troops, and their modifications, TMM-3M and TMM-3M1.
"Working on the project, the company implements its composite shipbuilding expertise. The bridge span is made of innovative composite material, giving a range of advantages as compared to the traditional materials like steel or aluminium. Among these features are lightness and corrosion resistance", said the shipyard's spokesman in the official reply on the Mil.Press Today's inquiry.
The designers pointed out the perfect proportion of strength and deadweight, low rate of water absorption, and low electric/thermal conductivity of the TMM-7 bridges.
"From what we saw, the project is undercooked yet. There are some nuances that raise questions. Again, the project is far from completion. I guess designers will cope with all requirements", shared an insider in the industry aware of the project.
The length of the single-span mechanized bridge is 16 meters. The length of the full-set bridge (4 trucks) is 64 meters. Design weight of the span with support is not heavier than 6 tons, while the TMM-7 load capacity is 60 tons. Maximum traffic capacity is 300 vehicles per hour. Estimated batch for 2020-2021 is 10 sets per year.