Thames River Bridge (Amtrak)

This article is about a named bridge in the United States. For structures in the UK, see List of crossings of the River Thames.

Amtrak's Thames River Bridge spans the Thames River between New London and Groton, Connecticut.

Thames River Bridge
Looking east along the bridge, May 26, 2012
Coordinates	41°21′47″N 72°05′15″W
Carries	Two railroad tracks
Crosses	Thames River
Locale	New London, Connecticut and Groton, Connecticut
Official name	Thames River Bridge
Maintained by	Amtrak[1]
Characteristics
Design	Truss with bascule opening (opening converted to vertical lift)
Material	Steel
Total length	1,389 feet (423 m)
Clearance below	29 feet (8.8 m) (vertical lift lowered)[2] 135 feet (41 m) (vertical lift raised)[2]
History
Opened	1919 (replaced 2008)[1]
Location

Design and history

The bridge was originally a Strauss heel-trunnion Warren through-truss bascule design, built in 1919. It was built by the American Bridge Company for the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad, replacing a span dating from 1889. In June 2008, the bridge underwent replacement which included the span's conversion from a bascule to a vertical-lift mechanism.^[1]

As built in 1919, the bridge's abutments and piers were designed to carry a second set of double-track spans, in the event that an expansion to four tracks was ever undertaken at this location by the New Haven Railroad (it never was).

Operation

The Virginia-class attack submarine USS Missouri (SSN 780) heads towards the Thames River Bridge as it departs Naval Submarine Base New London for a scheduled deployment.

The bridge opens for marine traffic more than four times per day and serves up to 36 passenger trains and two freight trains per day.^[1] The bridge sits 29 feet (8.8 m) above mean high water (MHW), and the vertical lift span opens to 135 feet (41 m) above MHW and provides 105 feet (32 m) of horizontal clearance.^[2]

It is one of eight moveable bridges on the Northeast Corridor through Connecticut surveyed in one multiple-property study in 1986.^[3]

See also

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