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Norwalk River Railroad Bridge
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Close up of bridge, in 2007
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| Location: | Norwalk, Connecticut |
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| Area: | 1 acre (0.40 ha) |
| Built: | 1896 |
| Architectural style: | Rim Bearing,Swing |
| Governing body: | State |
| MPS: | Movable Railroad Bridges on the NE Corridor in Connecticut TR |
| NRHP Reference#: | 87000844[1] |
| Added to NRHP: | June 12, 1987 |
The Norwalk River Railroad Bridge — the Amtrak and Metro-North Railroad right-of-way over the Norwalk River was built in 1896, when the route was widened to four tracks (the South Norwalk Railroad Bridge over the intersection of Washington Street with North Main and South Main streets was built the same year by the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad). The 562-foot (171 m) span, with a rotating swing span 202 feet (62 m) long was provided by the Berlin Iron Bridge Company of East Berlin, Connecticut. "The bridge's swing span, rotating on a rim-bearing system of 96 rollers, allows tall vessels to pass on the Norwalk River," according to a Web page about the bridge.[2] The span is one of only 13 of the company's bridges (and one of only two railroad bridges) that survive in the state as of August 2001. In 1907 the rail line was electrified with overhead catenary wires, which form a prominent feature of the bridge today.[2] It is or was also known as Norwalk River Bridge.[3] It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1987.[1]
It is one of eight moveable bridges on the Amtrak route through Connecticut surveyed in one multiple property study in 1986.[4] The eight bridges from west to east are: Mianus River Railroad Bridge at Cos Cob, built in 1904; the Norwalk River Railroad Bridge at Norwalk, 1896; Saugatuck River Railroad Bridge at Westport, 1905; Pequonnock River Railroad Bridge at Bridgeport, 1902; Housatonic River Railroad Bridge, at Devon, 1905; Connecticut River Railroad Bridge, Old Saybrook-Old Lyme, 1907; Niantic River Bridge, East Lyme-Waterford, 1907; and Thames River Bridge (Amtrak), Groton, built in 1919.
It's a "rim bearing swing bridge", one of just two on the Northeast rail corridor.[3]
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