What Leonardo da Vinci bridge design could be folded or swung aside for military transport?

Leonardo da Vinci designed a revolving bridge that could be moved aside and rapidly redeployed by an army.

The bridge appears in Leonardo’s military-engineering studies from the late fifteenth century. It was intended to provide troops with a portable crossing while also allowing the structure to pivot away from the waterway or obstacle when necessary. Leonardo included counterweights and mechanical arrangements to make movement easier.

A revolving bridge differs from a conventional drawbridge. A drawbridge normally pivots upward from one end, while a revolving bridge turns horizontally around a support. The design therefore addressed both transport and rapid deployment.

Leonardo’s bridge belongs to a wider group of military devices he proposed for the Sforza court. Like many of his inventions, its surviving drawings prove the concept was studied, but they do not prove that the exact design was built and used in combat.