This movie came out in 1957. I was just a small boy when it came to Sydney. (I was born in 1954). This was my first film and cinema experience. I was with my mother. We both travelled by train. On the way home I would not stop attempting to whistle the Colonel Bogey March music. Passengers thought it was funny, though I did not think so.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Bridge_on_the_River_Kwai

Scratch build.
Scale 1:76
Scene (still undecided).

That made me laugh, Paul.
Well, I am no longer afraid of building bridges. Besides, since the life-span I have acquired a certian liking for them. As a matter of fact, I was just about to post a drawing. See below.

Couldn't find any plans for the bridge. So, it's back to photo extrapolation. Soon discovered the beautiful simplicity of its geometry and strength. Assuming that they used imperial measurements, such as the standard 'foot', the bridge quickly fell into shape. Measurements below are in feet.

Using the scale of 1:76. One foot = 305 mm / 76 = 4 mm.
The Support Tower of 60 feet = 240 mm model height.

“Madness, madness...”

Unbelievable. Already this group is exceeding all expectations, but really, THE Bridge over the River Kwai is a wonderful and ambitious project that beautifully mirrors the movie itself. Life imitating art.

I am in debt to you, Peter. Such an undertaking is exceptional and I’ll be cheering (and whistling) with every post!

@tecko

Gary, it's interesting how the POWs adopts and adapts such a saying to suit an unhappy circumstance.

Thanks David @dirtylittlefokker for providing a great modelling group. It really taps into a world of impressions which we all have been, at one time, rivetted to the movie screen. It's been like that since the caveman stared into his campfire of imaginations (our first TV). The group idea certainly invites us to rekindle our imprinted memories. . . but somehow I keep thinking of popcorn, jaffers, and canoodling.

Peter you have tapped into the very heart of why this Group Build is important to me. As a kid the Movies elicited wonder, escape, fear, empathy, pain, love, sorrow, and more than that, at their best they gave us guidelines on how to deal with these feelings.

I’m finalising my own builds for this project and my hope is that in representing some of these emotions in scale and sharing them, I’ll be doing my own time traveling, having fun, connecting, and celebrating memories.

Thanks fellows for sharing your thoughts and time on this. Looking forward to seeing what you and others will be creating.

Stephen, I don't particularly want to blow the bridge up, and have a train tumbling off into the river. Though that is quite dramatic (I have enough drama in my life, even as a hermit).

David, though finding the wires from the bridge is interesting, it also requires a wide diorama, even with forced perspective. I really wish to avoid the extra width. Height and length is big enough already.
Originally, with a wide diorama, I was thinking of forced perspective of the scene where Alec Guiness falls on the detonator handle. For it posses a question.

Now I am thinking of shortening the width to focus on the construction scenes _ with a twist. A 'what-if' approach, which has a bit of humour.