Bailey bridge over the Demer constructed in the 1950s.
This place was a crossing of the Demer between Werchter and Rotselaar. Until the 1940s this was a small ferry, called the "Schuit". A wooden pontoon, pulled by an iron chain, was tied to the riverbed. The current so-called "Soldiers' Bridge" was constructed in the early 1950s by sappers as an exercise.
This is the Bailey bridge type. These are steel truss bridges designed by the English engineer Donald Coleman Bailey (1901-1985). The type was designed in 1940 as a military emergency bridge that was often built especially at the end of and after the Second World War. It is a type of truss bridge constructed from panels and cross beams that are connected to each other. They were designed to be built as a temporary bridge using manpower alone. In Maldegem, a Bailey bridge built at the end of the Second World War has been preserved. The current bridge over the Demer has green painted trusses and wooden planking as a bridge deck.