Mystic River Railroad Bridge

Mystic River Railroad Bridge
Mystic River Railroad Bridge in August 2010
Coordinates	41°20′56″N 71°58′13″W / 41.34889°N 71.97028°W / 41.34889; -71.97028Coordinates: 41°20′56″N 71°58′13″W / 41.34889°N 71.97028°W / 41.34889; -71.97028
Carries	Northeast Corridor
Crosses	Mystic River
Locale	Groton and Stonington, Connecticut
Official name	Mystic River Bridge
Maintained by	Amtrak
Characteristics
Design	Swing bridge
Material	Steel
History
Opened	1819 (first bridge) 1875 (second bridge) 1984 (third bridge)
Location

The Mystic River Railroad Bridge is a railroad bridge carrying Amtrak's Northeast Corridor over the Mystic River in Mystic, Connecticut, between the towns of Groton and Stonington.

There have been three bridges at this location. The first bridge was a single-tracked, wooden drawbridge in 1819, which was replaced with a steel swing bridge in 1875.^[1]

The current bridge was built in 1984, and is a truss-style swing bridge, providing 13 feet (4.0 m) of vertical clearance when closed.^[2]

The two tracks running over the bridge are owned by Amtrak, are part of its Northeast Corridor route, and are used to operate its Northeast Regional and Acela Express services. There is a proposal, however, to extend Shore Line East Commuter Rail Service from its current terminus in New London to Mystic, which would require crossing this bridge.

The bridge is the easternmost drawbridge on the Amtrak-owned Northeast Corridor in Connecticut.

See also[]

• List of bridges documented by the Historic American Engineering Record in Connecticut

References[]

External links[]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Mystic River Railroad Bridge.

• Historic American Engineering Record (HAER) No. CT-26, "New York, New Haven & Hartford Railroad, Mystic River Bridge, Spanning Mystic River between Groton & Stonington, Groton, New London County, CT", 14 photos, 10 data pages, 1 photo caption page