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Soldiers from the 6th Engineer Support Regiment have constructed their first and largest bridge re-enforcement during Exercise Talisman Sabre 2025.
The Sappers have constructed a fixed modular bridge (FMB) to provide passage to otherwise inaccessible areas of the Townsville Field Training Area, during Exercise Talisman Sabre 2025.
Up to 160 bridging panels and 600 bolts have been methodically put together with the help of a 60-tonne crane, resembling a large, real-life Meccano set where one wrong configuration could derail the construction of the 30-metre structure that typically takes 60 to 72 hours to build.
With the FMB complete, 6th Engineer Support Regiment (6ESR) soldiers moved 400 metres downriver to set up a water purification system to provide drinking water for the core units moving across the bridging site as part of Exercise Talisman Sabre.
6ESR Corporal Matthew Moynihan, an FMB section controller, directed construction as part of a 30-troop rotation.
“There’s a lot of working parts. I’m a tradie, we’ve got planners here, combat engineers and we are all linking in together to get that bridge built,” CPL Moynihan said.
“It is very physically demanding, the lightest part of this bridge outside of small braces is upwards of 300 kilograms so it certainly helps having all of the machinery and heavy equipment around and saves us carrying it ourselves.
“This bridge is integral for 3rd Royal Australian Regiment (3RAR) to keep pushing forward in their clearance in Talisman Sabre.
“We require our logistics trucks to keep rolling through, to keep them fed, watered and full of ammunition.
“It is great to know we are helping the fight.”
Military Police also play a critical role in the build, with the heavy machinery and equipment creating a loud and busy work site. Clearing patrols and listening posts are key to providing early warnings to get the high-value assets out of site.
The bridge is set to be utilised by combat teams and to deliver critical logistics to battlegroups spread across the exercise including 3RAR and global partners.
Earlier in 2025, 3rd Brigade soldiers delivered a temporary bridge structure over Ollera Creek in North Queensland after a major flood event.
The construction allowed critical emergency supplies, power maintenance crews, as well as food, water and fuel resupplies to reach devastated communities across north and far north Queensland.
6ESR Lieutenant Noah Wright said while the bridge construct for TS25 was different, the principle remained the same.
“If there’s flooding, a creek that’s overflowing and gone over the existing bridge we can put in one of these bridges over that to reinstate that bridging crossing site,” LT Wright said.
“Additionally, we can build one of these bridges over major sinkholes to allow traffic to continue flowing in case of emergency and evacuations.
“We can do this overseas too, because we can actually order this from contractors, we can get it anywhere around the world from a number of nations so it makes it really useful when we do deploy overseas that we can order these pieces.”
