Niantic River Bridge

Niantic River Bridge, also known as Amtrak Bascule Bridge No. 116.74, is a railroad bridge carrying Amtrak's Northeast Corridor line across the Niantic River between East Lyme and Waterford, Connecticut. It is a drawbridge with a bascule-type draw span. A new bridge was constructed in 2012 to replace the former span built in 1907. It opened on September 8, 2012. Related construction work finished in June 2013.History1907 bridgeThe main bridge structure, a 68ft Scherzer through-girder bascule design, was built by the King Bridge Company in 1907 for the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad. It was one of eight moveable bridges on the Amtrak route through Connecticut surveyed in one multiple property study in 1986. 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; Connecticut River Railroad Bridge, Old Saybrook-Old Lyme, 1907; this, the Niantic River Bridge, East Lyme-Waterford, 1907; and the Thames River Bridge, Groton, built in 1919.