2nd Bridge Engineer Regiment (Italy)

The 2nd Bridge Engineer Regiment (2° Reggimento Genio Pontieri) is a military engineer regiment of the Italian Army based in the Piacenza in Emilia Romagna. Today the regiment is a unit of the Engineer Command and the army's sole unit focusing on strategic river crossing.

History
On 1 January 1883 the Royal Italian Army raised the 4th Engineer Regiment (Bridges) in Piacenza with the functions of a depot; i.e. the regiment only raised units for other formations. Initially the regiment controlled two railway engineer and four bridge engineer companies, and the 14th Lagunari Company in Venice. During World War I the regiment raised an additional twelve bridge engineer and three lagunari companies. The regiment's companies were employed repeatedly during the first eleven battles on the Isonzo river. After the Twelfth Battle of the Isonzo the regiment's companies built emergency bridges over the Torre and Tagliamento rivers to allow the Third Army to escape. During the battles along the Piave river the engineers helped the Italian Army cross the river during the decisive Battle of Vittorio Veneto.

After the war the 4th Engineer Regiment (Bridges) was renamed Bridge Engineer and Lagunari Regiment, to honor the conduct of the Lagunari units during the war. On 15 May 1933 the regiment was split into the 1st Bridge Engineer Regiment in Verona and the 2nd Bridge Engineer Regiment in Piacenza. During World War II the regiment acted once again as depot, raising bridge engineer battalions for other formations. The I and IX bridge battalions distinguished themselves in September 1941 as part of the Italian Expeditionary Corps in Russia, when they repaired a long enemy pontoon bridge over the Dnieper river at Dnipro in Southern Ukraine under enemy fire. When Italy changed sides with the Armistice of Cassibile on 8 September 1943 and the regiment was disbanded.

On 15 December 1949 the regiment was reformed in Piacenza with the following structure:


 * 2nd Bridge Engineer Regiment, in Piacenza
 * Command Platoon
 * I Bridge Engineer Battalion
 * 1st Bridge Engineer Company
 * 2nd Bridge Engineer Company
 * I Railway Engineer Battalion
 * 1st Dismountable Metal Bridges Company
 * 2nd Dismountable Metal Bridges Company
 * Railway Operations Company
 * Field Park Company

In 1950 the regiment also raised an Bridge Engineer Recruits Training Company. The same year the regiment began to build the bridge for the yearly Festa del Redentore in Venice - a tradition that continued until the end of obligatory military service in 2000.

On 1 March 1953 the regiment raised a second and third bridge engineer battalion, with the former being based in Legnano. On 1 January 1954 the I Railway Battalion left the regiment to form the Railway Engineer Regiment, followed on 1 October 1957 by the II Engineer Battalion. On 1 February 1964 the II Bridge Engineer Battalion returned to the 2nd Bridge Engineer Regiment. On 6 September 1974 the I Bridge Engineer Battalion was put into reserve status and switched then numbers with the II Bridge Engineer Battalion.


 * CoA mil ITA rgt genio pontieri.png 2nd Bridge Engineer Regiment, in Piacenza
 * Command and Services Platoon, in Piacenza
 * 1st Bridge Engineer Battalion, in Legnago
 * 2nd Bridge Engineer Battalion (Reserve), in Piacenza
 * 3rd Bridge Engineer Battalion, in Piacenza

On 22 September 1992 the 1st Bridge Engineer Battalion became an autonomous battalion under the Northeastern Military Region. The battalion was elevated to 1st Bridge Engineer Regiment and assigned the war flag of the 1st Engineer Regiment in 1993, but was disbanded in 1997. On 1 December 1997 the regiment passed from the Tuscan-Emilian Military Region to the army's Engineer Grouping, which on 10 September 2010 became the Engineer Command.

Current structure


As of 2019 the 2nd Bridge Engineer Regiment consists of:


 * CoA mil ITA rgt genio pontieri.png Regimental Command, in Piacenza
 * Command and Logistic Support Company
 * I Battalion
 * 1st Bridge Engineer Company
 * 2nd Bridge Engineer Company
 * Special Equipment and Construction Company
 * Road- and Earthworks Company

The Command and Logistic Support Company fields the following platoons: C3 Platoon, Transport and Materiel Platoon, Medical Platoon, Commissariat Platoon, and EOD Platoon. The two bridge engineer companies are equipped with French Motorized Floating Bridges, while the other two companies are equipped with a variety of cranes, excavators, etc.