This practice keeps critical systems running in an emergency when proper replacement parts are missing. It relies on improvised engineering, often using tape, wire, or scrap metal to bypass a broken component. While effective for immediate survival or finishing a shift, these temporary fixes must eventually be replaced with permanent repairs to ensure safety.
Heard on the job
I had to jury rig the coolant pump with a piece of garden hose just to finish the production run.
Also heard as
- jury-rigged
- Redneck engineering
- bodge job
Do not mix it up with
- Kludge: A jury rig is a temporary emergency repair, while a kludge is often a permanent but clumsy design.