Amtrak bridge operator Merrill Perkins controls the Northeast Corridor’s Niantic River movable bridge from a tower at the end of the structure. Push-button controls make this bridge easy to operate.
The previous Niantic River movable bridge had been built by the New Haven Railroad in 1907, and had grown increasingly unreliable. In 2010, Amtrak began work on the site to replace it.
Amtrak’s new Northeast Corridor bridge across the Niantic River was placed into service in fall 2012. Among the new features: a countdown clock for boaters to know when the bridge will next raise.
Amtrak Northeast Regional train No. 190 approaches the bridge on a sweeping curve. The bridge project included improvements on the beach facing the Long Island Sound and a new pedestrian boardwalk.
Knife switches at each end of the bridge line up with the catenary wires that supply power to the electric locomotives, allowing the electric current to flow uninterrupted when the bridge is lowered.
The fishing boat MiJoy 747 sails by. The new Niantic River bridge has a 100-foot-wide channel, almost double the 45-foot channel of the 1907 bridge it replaced.
With the span closed, Acela Express No. 2150 rolls across on its way to Boston.
Click here to hear author Bob Johnston talk with Amtrak bridge operator Merrill Perkins, as he opens the Niantic span to let a fishing boat through and explains how the new bridge improves operations for marine and rail traffic.
Pick up the February 2014 issue of Trains magazine, and you’ll get the inside story on how Amtrak replaced a 1907 drawbridge across the Niantic River in East Lyme, Conn. The $155 million project took three years to complete, giving Northeast Corridor trains a faster, more reliable passage across a busy waterway.
You’ll also learn the history of each movable bridge on the Northeast Corridor, many of which are more than 100 years old, and the replacement plans and funding requirements for each structure.
Learn what’s ahead for the Northeast Corridor’s 15 other movable bridges in the February 2014 issue of Trains magazine.
