The dock piers were code named Whales.
These piers were the floating roadways that connected the "Spud" pier heads to the land.
Designed by Allan Beckett, the roadways were made from innovative torsionally flexible bridging units that had a span of 80 ft.,
mounted on pontoon units of either steel or concrete called "Beetles".
After the war many of the "Whale" bridge spans from Arromanches were used to repair bombed bridges in France, Belgium and the Netherlands.
Such units are still visible as a bridge over the Noireau river in Normandy, Meuse River in Vacherauville (Meuse), as a bridge over the Moselle River on road D56 between Cattenom and Kœnigsmacker (Moselle) and in Vierville-sur-Mer (Calvados) along road D517.
In 1954, some whales were also used to build for two bridges (still visible) in Cameroon along the Edea to Kribi road.
In the 1960s, three Whale spans from Arromanches were used at Ford Dagenham to allow cars to be driven from the assembly line directly onto car-carrying ships.
A Whale span from Mulberry B that was reused after the war at Pont-Farcy was saved from destruction in 2008 by Les Amis du Pont Bailey, a group of English and French volunteers.
Seeking a permanent home for the Whale span the group gifted it to the Imperial War Museum and it was returned to England in July 2015.
After conservation work the span now features as part of the Land Warfare exhibition at Imperial War Museum Duxford.
The dock piers were code named Whales. These piers were the floating roadways that connected the "Spud" pier heads to the land. Designed by Allan Beckett, the roadways were made from innovative torsionally flexible bridging units that had a span of 80 ft., mounted on pontoon units of either steel or concrete called "Beetles". After the war many of the "Whale" bridge spans from Arromanches were used to repair bombed bridges in France, Belgium and the Netherlands. Such units are still visible as a bridge over the Noireau river in Normandy, Meuse River in Vacherauville (Meuse), as a bridge over the Moselle River on road D56 between Cattenom and Kœnigsmacker (Moselle) and in Vierville-sur-Mer (Calvados) along road D517. In 1954, some whales were also used to build for two bridges (still visible) in Cameroon along the Edea to Kribi road. In the 1960s, three Whale spans from Arromanches were used at Ford Dagenham to allow cars to be driven from the assembly line directly onto car-carrying ships. A Whale span from Mulberry B that was reused after the war at Pont-Farcy was saved from destruction in 2008 by Les Amis du Pont Bailey, a group of English and French volunteers. Seeking a permanent home for the Whale span the group gifted it to the Imperial War Museum and it was returned to England in July 2015. After conservation work the span now features as part of the Land Warfare exhibition at Imperial War Museum Duxford.
Mulberry harbour