What kind of bridge did Leonardo da Vinci propose for rapid military transport?

Leonardo da Vinci proposed a portable bridge for rapid military transport. His notebooks describe a bridge that soldiers could carry, assemble, and use to cross obstacles during campaigns.

The idea formed part of Leonardo’s military engineering work, which included machines for movement, defense, and attack. A portable bridge could help an army cross a ditch, stream, or other barrier without waiting for a permanent structure to be built. Leonardo’s designs emphasized lightness, compact storage, and rapid deployment, although the exact construction details vary among drawings and interpretations.

This bridge should not be confused with Leonardo’s much larger Golden Horn proposal. The Golden Horn design was a permanent civil bridge intended for a major waterway, while the military bridge addressed battlefield mobility. Nor was Leonardo’s portable bridge a modern folding bridge in the industrial sense. Its importance lies in the concept of transportable military infrastructure, a problem that later armies solved with modular timber and metal bridging systems.