Bridging plates

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unipus
Posts: 30
Joined: Tue Aug 18, 2015 6:37 pm
Location: Los Angeles, CA

Bridging plates

Post by unipus »

Looked for this high and low, and I can't find any good references or examples! Does anyone know what the original, service bridging plates looked like? I cannot find a single picture of such a thing, quite possibly because I don't read or write German...
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Hotzenplotz
Austria
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Joined: Wed Jan 18, 2012 9:07 am
Location: Vienna, Austria

Re: Bridging plates

Post by Hotzenplotz »

I do speak German, but I don't understand the term " bridging plates"...

Please explain, and I'll try to help :-)
Cheers
Albert
========================
My Pinz has NEVER been with any army
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Garrycol
Australia
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Location: Canberra Australia

Re: Bridging plates

Post by Garrycol »

Certainly on British military vehicles (and I assume the Brit Pinz) the bridging plate is a yellow disk on the front of the vehicle that has two symbols on it - one symbol gives the speed and the other gives the weight - sometimes only the weight symbol is displayed.

Bridges have different load ratings and the number on the front of the vehicle on its bridging plate indicates whether a mil vehicle can drive over the bridge.

I cannot find a pic of one on the front of a Pinz but here are some general pics. https://www.google.com.au/search?q=mili ... BVcQsAQIGg

I am not sure if military vehicles in Austrian service had them but certainly US, UK and Aust vehicles do.

My 101 - the yellow plate
Image

Garry
1973 Haflinger AP700
1977 Landrover FC 101
2007 Range Rover Sport TDV6
1971 Jaguar Series 3 E-Type Conv
1957 Landrover 88" Station Wagon
1957 Landrover 88"
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Hotzenplotz
Austria
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Location: Vienna, Austria

Re: Bridging plates

Post by Hotzenplotz »

I do not remember a sign indicating brigde weight info on any of the Austrian Army Pinzgauers.
They have white spraypointed tactical signs indicating service groups, location ...
Cheers
Albert
========================
My Pinz has NEVER been with any army
pinzmeister-uk
Great Britain
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Re: Bridging plates

Post by pinzmeister-uk »

The British army have stopped using bridging plates, no British Pinz has ever been fitted with one.
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unipus
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Location: Los Angeles, CA

Re: Bridging plates

Post by unipus »

Hmm, well what was originally fitted on the bridging plate area, then? I find it hard to believe that it was left as a shiny silver piece of metal, and it surely wasn't the red and white swiss army flags that some people like to put on theirs.

This is surprisingly hard to find info on.
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Hotzenplotz
Austria
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Joined: Wed Jan 18, 2012 9:07 am
Location: Vienna, Austria

Re: Bridging plates

Post by Hotzenplotz »

on the front they have the license plate on the driver side

Image

and the rear side never had any plates next to the door handle

Image
Cheers
Albert
========================
My Pinz has NEVER been with any army
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GenevaPinz
Switzerland
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Location: near Perth, Scotland

Re: Bridging plates

Post by GenevaPinz »

unipus wrote:Hmm, well what was originally fitted on the bridging plate area, then? I find it hard to believe that it was left as a shiny silver piece of metal, and it surely wasn't the red and white swiss army flags that some people like to put on theirs.

This is surprisingly hard to find info on.
The "shiny silver piece of metal" was used in the Swiss army to add a 3-letter/1-digit code that indicated what unit the vehicle was attributed to. The whole Swiss army is organised as a militia (except a core of officers and instructors) and each unit entering a training "session" would be attributed vehicles from a pool, i.e. the first task of the designated driver was to add unit-specific codes to the plate with stencils and paint, and the last thing would be to erase it with gasoline (hence the reason why it was left bare). One vehicle could be with an air defense unit one week and infantry the next, and so on...

The way these plates were used in the Swiss army never had anything to do with markings related to vehicle characteristics, like weight class.

From the pics above posted by Hotzenplotz of an Austrian Army vehicle, it seems the austrians have (permanent?) unit markings directly on the truck's body.
Jan

'72 Pinzgauer 710M
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