Connecticut River Bridge History

AS PART OF A MAJOR upgrade by the New York, New Haven & Hartford Railroad Company, eight new bridges were built along the busy shoreline corridor: Norwalk, 1896; Bridgeport, 1902; the Mianus in Cos Cob in 1904; Westport and the Housatonic in Devon, 1905; Niantic in 1907; and the Thames in Groton in 1919.

As part of this upgrade, a new $1.5 million dollar bridge was built over the Connecticut by the Scherzer Rolling Lift Bridge Company of Chicago and opened Aug. 6, 1907.

With Superintendent O.C. Elwell in the engine cab, the Knickerbocker Express was the first to cross the span. A few days later, a large crowd of hillside spectators watched as the job of dismantling the old bridge was begun.

THE NEW STEEL BRIDGE WAS 1,564 FEET LONG, with seven piers, and a 160-foot draw span that allowed for a wide single channel, opened quickly and could be partially opened for small boats.

Today, that more than 100-year-old span opens and closes more than 3,000 times a year. Some 50 trains cross each day. All of it controlled by an employee in a small control station on the bridge.

ALTHOUGH THE BRIDGE has undergone structural, mechanical and electrical rehabilitation, it has experienced major mechanical and electrical failures and was stuck in the closed position twice in 2001.