Amtrak Old Saybrook – Old Lyme Bridge

Amtrak Old Saybrook – Old Lyme Bridge

Coordinates	41°18′39″N 72°20′57″W / 41.3108°N 72.3492°W / 41.3108; -72.3492Coordinates: 41°18′39″N 72°20′57″W / 41.3108°N 72.3492°W / 41.3108; -72.3492
Carries	Northeast Corridor
Crosses	Connecticut River
Locale	Old Saybrook, Connecticut to Old Lyme, Connecticut
Owner	Amtrak
Characteristics
Design	Truss bridge with a bascule span
Material	Steel
Total length	1,659.6 feet (505.8 m)^[1]
Longest span	161 feet (49 m)^[1]
No. of spans	9 fixed + 1 bascule^[1]
Clearance below	18 feet (5.5 m) (closed) 68 feet (21 m) (open)^[2]
History
Designer	Scherzer Rolling Lift Bridge Company, Chicago^[1]
Construction end	1907
Statistics
Daily traffic	56 daily trains:^[2] 38 Amtrak intercity trains 12 Shore Line East commuter trains 6 P&W freight trains
Amtrak Old Saybrook – Old Lyme Bridge Location in Connecticut

The Amtrak Old Saybrook – Old Lyme Bridge is the last crossing of the Connecticut River before it reaches Long Island Sound. It is a Truss bridge with a bascule span, allowing boat traffic to go through. Its tracks are owned by Amtrak and used by trains on their Northeast Corridor and Shore Line East high-speed rail lines. It can be seen from the Raymond E. Baldwin Bridge (Interstate 95 and U.S. Route 1), as well as from various points on Route 154.

Construction and operational history

1908 postcard of the bridge

Also known as the Connecticut River Railroad Bridge and Connecticut River Bridge, it was built in 1907 by the Scherzer Rolling Lift Bridge Company of Chicago, for the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad. It replaced an earlier bridge, built in 1870.^[3] It is similar in design to the Housatonic River Railroad Bridge further south, though shorter in overall length. It also lacks the latter bridge's parallel sets of spans, although the abutments and piers were designed to carry such extra spans (for four total tracks) which were never installed at this location.

The bridge underwent a structural rehabilitation in 1976, and had mechanical and electrical rehabilitation in 1981 and 1997. In 2000 the bridge experienced a major electrical failure which rendered the drawspan stuck in the open position (blocking railroad traffic).^[1] The bridge became stuck in the closed position twice in 2001.^[4] A 2006 inspection found the bridge to be structurally deficient and determined that periodic rehabilitation work was no longer sufficient to keep the century-old bridge functional.^[2]

Historic status designation

1977 aerial view of the bridge, showing the wide piers designed to accommodate a never-built second span

The bridge was determined to be eligible for listing on the National Register of Historic Places in 1987, but it was not finally listed due to owner objection, with decision noted in National Register reference number #87002125.^[5]

It is one of eight moveable bridges on the Amtrak route through Connecticut surveyed in one multiple property study in 1986.^[6] The eight bridges from west to east are: Mianus River Railroad Bridge at Cos Cob, built in 1904; 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; this 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.

Replacement

The structurally deficient bridge is planned for replacement around 2020. An Environmental Assessment released in May 2014 identified two preferred alternatives: a bascule bridge similar in size to the existing span, or a vertical lift bridge with possibly increased clearances. Either option would be built on a parallel alignment 48 feet (15 m) south of the existing bridge. Fully high-level designs without movable sections were eliminated from consideration due to the massive approaches that would have to be built, which would have major impacts on nearby wetlands and increase construction and land acquisition costs.^[2]

References

1 2 3 4 5 Paul X. O'Neill, Jr., Alex Ostrovsky (2002). "Failure and Quick Recovery of Movable Bridge on the Acela Line." Technical paper presented at 9th Biennial Movable Bridge Symposium, Daytona Beach, FL, sponsored by Heavy Movable Structures, Inc.
1 2 3 4 "Connecticut River Bridge Replacement Project: Environmental Assessment & Section 4(f) Evaluation". Federal Railroad Administration. 28 May 2014. Retrieved 14 April 2016.
↑ Karr, Ronald Dale (1995). The Rail Lines of Southern New England. Branch Line Press. p. 95. ISBN 0942147022.
↑ Overton, Penelope (2001-08-24). "Aging Bridge Causes Delays". Hartford Courant.
↑ National Park Service (2009-03-13). "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service.
↑ Bruce Clouette, Matthew Roth and John Herzan (February 4, 1986). "Movable Railroad Bridges on the NE Corridor in Connecticut TR" (PDF). National Park Service. National Register of Historic Places Inventory-Nomination Form.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Amtrak Old Saybrook – Old Lyme Bridge.

Connecticut River Railroad Bridge at Structurae

Crossings of the Connecticut River

Upstream
Raymond E. Baldwin Bridge

Amtrak Old Saybrook – Old Lyme Bridge

Downstream
Long Island Sound

Connecticut River watershed
Tributaries	Ammonoosuc River Ashuelot River Black River Black Hall River Blow-me-down Brook Burnshirt River Chapel Brook Chicopee River Cold River Cranberry River Deerfield River East Brookfield River Eightmile River Fall River Farmington River Five Mile River Green River Halls Stream Hockanum River Hubbard River Indian Stream Israel River Johns River Little Sugar River Manhan River Mascoma River Mattabesset River Mill River (Northampton) Mill River (Springfield) Millers River Mink Brook Mirey Brook Mohawk River North Branch Millers River North Branch Westfield River North River Nulhegan River Oliverian Brook Ompompanoosuc River Ottauquechee River Otter River Park River Partridge Brook Passumpsic River Perry Stream Quaboag River Salmon River Saxtons River Scantic River Seven Mile River Simms Stream Sugar River Tarbell Brook Upper Ammonoosuc River Waits River Ware River Wells River West River Westfield River Whetstone Brook White River Williams River
Lakes	Ashuelot Pond Back Lake Ball Mountain Lake Barkhamsted Reservoir Lake Beseck Brooks Pond Canaan Street Lake Cedar Pond Christine Lake Comerford Reservoir Connecticut Lakes Crystal Lake Dublin Pond Eastman Pond Echo Lake Lake Francis (Murphy Dam) Goose Pond Grafton Pond Granite Lake Harriman Reservoir Harvey Lake Lake Hayward Lakes of the Clouds Little Sunapee Lake Mascoma Lake McIndoes Reservoir Lake Monomonac Moore Reservoir North Hartland Lake Pearly Lake Pocotopaug Lake Quabbin Reservoir Lake Rescue Silver Lake Spofford Lake Lake Sunapee Surry Mountain Lake Lake Tarleton Townshend Lake Lake Wyola
Major cities (>100k)	Hartford, Connecticut Springfield, Massachusetts
Smaller cities and towns (<100k)	Agawam Ascutney Barnet Bath Beecher Falls Bellows Falls Bloomfield Bradford Brattleboro Brunswick Canaan Charlestown Chester Chesterfield Chicopee Claremont Clarksville Colebrook Columbia Concord Cornish Cromwell Dalton Deep River Deerfield Dummerston East Haddam East Hampton East Hartford East Hereford East Windsor Easthampton Enfield Essex Fairlee Gill Gilman Glastonbury Greenfield Groveton Guildhall Haddam Hadley Hanover Hartford VT Hartland Hatfield Haverhill Higganum Hinsdale Holyoke Lancaster Lebanon Lemington Littleton Longmeadow Lunenburg Lyme CT Lyme NH Maidstone Middletown Millers Falls Monroe Montague Moodus Newbury Northampton Northfield Northumberland Norwich Old Lyme Old Saybrook Orford Piermont Pittsburg Plainfield Portland Putney Rockingham Rocky Hill Ryegate South Hadley South Windsor Springfield VT Stewartstown Stratford Suffield Sunderland Thetford Thompsonville Turners Falls Vernon Walpole Waterford Weathersfield Wells River West Lebanon West Springfield Westminster Westmoreland Wethersfield Whately White River Junction Wilder Windsor CT Windsor VT Windsor Locks Woodsville
Crossings	Amtrak Old Saybrook – Old Lyme Bridge Arch Bridge Bulkeley Bridge Calvin Coolidge Bridge Canalside Rail Trail Bridge Cheshire Bridge Columbia Bridge Cornish–Windsor Covered Bridge Dexter Coffin Bridge French King Bridge Gill–Montague Bridge Janice Peaslee Bridge Ledyard Bridge Morey Memorial Bridge Mount Orne Covered Bridge Norwottuck Rail Trail Bridge Piermont Bridge Pittsburg–Clarksville Covered Bridge Ranger Bridge Raymond E. Baldwin Bridge Sunderland Bridge Wells River Bridge

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