Yuma, AZ - Building a Bridge

WWII began with a bang for America. We were not prepared, our army was small, our weapons were obsolete, our artillery was designed for WWI and we had few military vehicles. We were in sad shape. We needed to build up fast. Our factories were retooled to produce tanks and jeeps, our army was increased immensely and training began.


And, Yuma was a big part of it all. One of the hottest, driest, most unforgiving corners of the US. Down here in the desert, away from population centers and lots of prying eyes, midst cactus and sand, our army was trained in desert warfare, our tanks were tested and our weaponry was developed. The Yuma Proving Grounds is where it began. There is a nice museum on the grounds which relates the story of Yuma and its part in the war.

It began with a bridge. The Germans blew up and destroyed every bridge they retreated over and the Allies had to devise ways to get men, artillery, vehicles, weapons and supplies over the rivers without bridges.

Oops, this floating bridge didn’t work very well.

And, maybe ferries weren’t the answer either.

This was one of the first problems solved in Yuma, where there was a dam where the water flow could be regulated. They could stop the water if they needed to work and let ‘er rip when they wanted to test a new bridge type.

Then a pre-fab bridge in sections was developed. Finally a bridge large enough and strong enough to carry the new bigger and heavier tanks.

They tested snow shoes in the desert.

They tested tires.

Other tests followed and now Yuma is one of the 3 main military test facilities in America. We heard that there were at least 100 tests going every day by some branch of the service or by private companies developing weapons both for us and our allies.
They did some tests for our lunar landings. Here’s a prototype of a lunar lander in the development stage.

And, the final product.

Very nice museum and we learned a lot.
BUT, while we were driving out of the Proving Grounds we saw dust in the deserts around us. Ah, a test going on, we thought. About 5 or 6 tanks were going through their paces.

Then this appeared - a law-abiding tank stopped at the stop sign.

As I am standing there taking a picture, I hoped they didn’t think I was a spy.

Finally before we left, we saw this hill, used to test climbing powers of vehicles. What grades are these?