A
bridgehead (also 'Bridge-head';
FrenchFrench is a Romance language globally spoken by about 65 million people as a first language , by 50 million as a second language, and by about another 200 million people as an acquired foreign language, with significant speakers in 57 countries. Most native speakers of the language live in France,...
tête-de-pont) is a military
fortificationFortifications are military constructions and buildings designed for defense in warfare and military bases. Humans have constructed defensive works for many thousands of years, in a variety of increasingly complex designs...
that protects the end of a
bridgeA bridge is a structure built to span a valley, road, body of water, or other physical obstacle, for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle. Designs of bridges vary depending on the function of the bridge and the nature of the terrain where the bridge is constructed.-History:The first...
that is closest to the enemy. The term has been generalized in colloquial usage to refer to any kind of defended area that is extended into hostile territory – also called a foothold or, incorrectly, a
beachheadBeachhead is a military term used to describe the line created when a unit reaches a beach, and begins to defend that area of beach, while other reinforcements help out, until a unit large enough to begin advancing has arrived. Sometimes used interchangeably with Bridgehead and Lodgement...
– in particular the area on the farside of a defended river bank or a segment of a lake or riverine coastline, such as the
Bridge at RemagenThe Ludendorff Bridge was a railway bridge across the Rhine in Germany, connecting the villages of Remagen and Erpel between two ridge lines of hills flanking the river...
.
A
bridgehead (also 'Bridge-head';
FrenchFrench is a Romance language globally spoken by about 65 million people as a first language , by 50 million as a second language, and by about another 200 million people as an acquired foreign language, with significant speakers in 57 countries. Most native speakers of the language live in France,...
tête-de-pont) is a military
fortificationFortifications are military constructions and buildings designed for defense in warfare and military bases. Humans have constructed defensive works for many thousands of years, in a variety of increasingly complex designs...
that protects the end of a
bridgeA bridge is a structure built to span a valley, road, body of water, or other physical obstacle, for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle. Designs of bridges vary depending on the function of the bridge and the nature of the terrain where the bridge is constructed.-History:The first...
that is closest to the enemy. The term has been generalized in colloquial usage to refer to any kind of defended area that is extended into hostile territory – also called a foothold or, incorrectly, a
beachheadBeachhead is a military term used to describe the line created when a unit reaches a beach, and begins to defend that area of beach, while other reinforcements help out, until a unit large enough to begin advancing has arrived. Sometimes used interchangeably with Bridgehead and Lodgement...
– in particular the area on the farside of a defended river bank or a segment of a lake or riverine coastline, such as the
Bridge at RemagenThe Ludendorff Bridge was a railway bridge across the Rhine in Germany, connecting the villages of Remagen and Erpel between two ridge lines of hills flanking the river...
. The term is especially applied when such a territory is initially seized by an amphibious assault with the tactical intent of establishing a supply line across the geographic barrier feature to allow further operational manoeuvring.
As the process of moving an army over bridges is slow and complicated, it is usually necessary to secure it from hostile interruption, and the works constituting the bridge-head must therefore be sufficiently far advanced to keep the enemy's artillery out of range of the bridges. In addition, room is required for the troops to form up on the farther bank. Formerly, with short-range weapons, a bridge-head was often little more than a screen for the bridge itself, but modern conditions have rendered necessary far greater extensions of bridge defences.
Bridgeheads typically exist for only a few days, the invading forces either being thrown back or expanding the bridgehead to create a secure defensive
lodgementA lodgement is often an amount lodged to a bank account or "paid in" to a bank account via a "lodgement slip" or "paying in" slip. This should sensibly be the expression used globally in the english speaking world, however currently it is limited to Ireland and few other areas, although it is...
area, before breaking out into open country – as happened when the
U.S. 9th Armored DivisionThe 9th Armored Division was an armoured division of the United States Army in World War II. In honor of their World War II service, the 9th was officially nicknamed the "Phantom Division."-History:...
seized the
Ludendorff BridgeThe Ludendorff Bridge was a railway bridge across the Rhine in Germany, connecting the villages of Remagen and Erpel between two ridge lines of hills flanking the river...
at
RemagenRemagen is a town in Germany in Rhineland-Palatinate, in the district of Ahrweiler. It is about a one hour's drive from Cologne , just south of Bonn, the former West-German capital. It is situated on the River Rhine. There is a ferry across the Rhine from Remagen every 10–15 minutes in the summer...
in 1945 during
World War IIWorld War II, or the Second World War , was a global military conflict which involved a majority of the world's nations, including all great powers, organized into two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. In some cases, such as during the Gallipoli Campaign in
World War IWorld War I , also known as the First World War, the Great War, and the War to End All Wars, was a global military conflict which involved most of the world's great powers, assembled in two opposing alliances: the Triple Entente and the Triple Alliance...
, a bridgehead may exist for months.
The term is also in general usage in a figurative sense to describe any advantageous position which will facilitate future expansion into new territories, especially in
businessA business is a legally recognized organization designed to provide goods and/or services to consumers. Businesses are predominant in capitalist economies, most being privately owned and formed to earn profit that will increase the wealth of its owners and grow the business itself...
, where, for instance, a
marketingMarketing is an integrated communications-based process through which individuals and communities are informed or persuaded that existing and newly-identified needs and wants may be satisfied by the products and services of others....
"bridgehead" might be a specialized use of a new product in a particular
market segmentA Business market segment is a group of people or organizations sharing one or more characteristics that cause them to have similar product and/or service needs...
, in preparation for selling it against entrenched competitors across an entire market.
Also, in
Information TechnologyInformation technology , as defined by the Information Technology Association of America , is "the study, design, development, implementation, support or management of computer-based information systems, particularly software applications and computer hardware." IT deals with the use of electronic...
(IT) a bridgehead is a server that represents one network in another network. For example, in directory services, a bridgehead server is a domain controller that replicates directory information into a local site from a remote site .