Abstract: Wet gap crossings are one of the most complex maneuvers undertaken by military engineers, who, along with engineer planners, require better tools to increase the capacity for efficient use of limited bridging resources across the battlespace. Planning for bridging maneuvers often involves a complicated and inefficient system of ad hoc spreadsheets combined with an overreliance on the personal experience and training of subject matter experts (SMEs).
Bridge Resource Inventory Database for Gap Emplacement Selection (BRIDGES) uses interactive mapping and database technology in order to streamline the bridging planning process and provide answers to question about myriad scenarios to maximize efficiency and provide better means of data persistence across time and data sharing across operational or planning units.