"French Pontoniers" Topic

I am in the process of modelling a pontoon train for my War of Austrian Succession set-up. I will just make one pontoon train, but with alternate companies of various nationalities to construct it, since it is highly unlikely that two armies would both be constructing pontoon bridges at the same time.

I am trying to start with a French pontoon company, since they did build pontoon bridges over the River Main just before the Battle of Dettingen in 1743. However I can't find any information about French Pontonniers.

In the Napoleonic era they were part of the Artillery, and I presume the same would have been so in the 18th Century. However the Ospreys on Louis XV's Army show the French Artillery comprising companies of gunners, bombardiers, sappers, miners and Ouvriers (workers), but no mention of pontoniers.

The Seven Years War Project (Kronoskaf) gives a similar organisation but mentions pioneers, rather than Ouvriers, so I presume these are the same.

So, who constructed pontoon bridges in the French Army? My guess is Ouvriers, although possibly it was Sappers.

Rod

David Wilson, in his book on the French Army of the WAS, states the Ouvriers were responsible for bridging and pontoons. He goes on to say that Pontonniers, as specialized French units, didn't come about until the late 18th century/early 19th Century.

Excellent. I haven't got that book, but will now look for it.

Rod

If there were pontoons in the Artillery Parks, the word pontonniers didn't belong to French Army terminology before firsts military companies in 1792 and a first battalion in 1795, before that this word named only civilian boatmen or a river-crossing tax collector

The 5 companies of 40 State Workers [Capt. Chevreau, du Brocard, de Lousteau, Thomassin, de Guille's Coy in 1740] represented only 200 men together for the whole French Army maybe the local manpower and resources as well as renforced personnel from others troops of Infantry were required

Pontoon crews were already in use among the Dutch when they were introduced in the French Army by Martinet, Inspector of Infantry, honored with the confidence of Louis XIV and Louvois. The employment of these crews was almost exceptional. When one had to effect the passage of a large river, such as the Rhine, the Danube or the Po, we collected on this river all the boats which we could find, if necessary we built others, the companies of workers, who were very skilful, did not take more than 8 to 9 days days to complete a boat and with the help of the workers taken from the infantry, they could build a large number of them at the same time.
Some writers claim, quite wrongly, that rivers were only crossed on fixed bridges or in boats. Gassendi quotes, on the contrary, several examples of the construction of bridges who remained famous. In 1734, during the War of the Polish Succession, two bridges of 269 boats each and 1,120 meters in length, were thrown over the Po, near Guastala.
In 1746, five pontoon bridges 500 meters long were thrown under Plaisance in less than eight hours; the French army was hotly pursued by the Austrians, the bridges were burned after crossing. In 1743 a bridge was built over the Rhine at Düsseldorf; it was 480 meters long. During the campaign from 1757 three bridges of crew boats were thrown over the Rhine, two near Wesel, the third near Düsseldorf; The boats had been built in Strasbourg and brought in by water

Les transformations de l'Armée française : essais d'histoire et de critique sur l'état militaire de la France
Général Thoumas