(1 Jan 1996) Natural Sound
US tanks and heavy armour continued to roll across the newly constructed pontoon bridge over the Sava river Monday.
They formed convoys on the Bosnian side of the river ready to spread out around their main base at Tuzla.
Building the floating, temporary bridge took 650 Army engineers two weeks because rains and melting snow flooded the river and muddied its banks.
With the pontoon bridge now in place, the thousands of soldiers and vehicles backed up in Croatia and in Hungary will slowly make their way across the Sava River to spread out into northeastern Bosnia.
Some 20-thousand American troops are expected to deploy in Bosnia in the next 30-40 days.
Nearly all of the American soldiers taking part in the 60,000-strong NATO peace- enforcing mission will have to cross the Sava River to reach Tuzla.
Troops from Scandinavia, Turkey and Pakistan also will be headquartered there.
The Sava had been one of the main obstacles to deployment, as most bridges were destroyed during more than three-and-a-half years of fighting.
Most of the Americans participating in the NATO mission come from the 1st Armored Division, based in Germany, which includes the 1st Cavalry.
For the next several weeks, the division will continue to feed its armour across the bridge.
Until Sunday, the American military presence consisted of Air Force cargo handlers and a lone battalion of Army paratroopers.
They are clustered behind barbed wire at Tuzla Air Base, about 50 miles south of the Sava.
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