Norwalk River Railroad Bridge | |
Location | Norwalk, Connecticut |
---|---|
Coordinates | 41°6′2″N73°24′57″W / 41.10056°N 73.41583°W |
Area | 1 acre (0.40 ha) |
Built | 1896 |
Architectural style | Rim Bearing, Swing |
MPS | Movable Railroad Bridges on the NE Corridor in Connecticut TR |
NRHP reference No. | 87000844 [1] |
Added to NRHP | June 12, 1987 |
The Norwalk River Railroad Bridge (also known as the Walk Bridge) is a swing bridge built in 1896 for the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad. It currently carries Amtrak and Metro-North Railroad trains over the Norwalk River.
The current swing bridge is located at the same site where, in 1853, a train from New York City plummeted into the river while the previous swing bridge was open, resulting in dozens of deaths.
In 1896, the New Haven Railroad built the bridge and widened its route to four tracks, as it simultaneously built its South Norwalk Railroad Bridge over the intersection of Washington Street with North Main and South Main streets. The 562-foot (171 m) span, with a rotating swing span 202 feet (62 m) long was provided by the Berlin Iron Bridge Co. This type of swing bridge is one of just two on the Northeast Corridor. [2] The swing span has a rim-bearing system of 96 rollers, allowing tall vessels to pass by. [3] The span is one of only 13 of the company's bridges (and one of only two railroad bridges) that survive in the state as of August 2001. In 1907, the rail line was electrified with overhead catenary wires, which form a prominent feature of the bridge today. [3] It is or was also known as Norwalk River Bridge. [2] It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1987. [1] Before 2020, the bridge had a daily traffic of 125,000 passengers and 175 trains. [4]
As a single movable span with aging mechanical mechanisms, the Norwalk River Bridge represents a frequent point of failure for Amtrak and Metro-North service and has been targeted for replacement with dual movable spans. The final design approved for the new Walk Bridge calls for a dual-span vertical-lift bridge. [5] Construction on the new bridge began on May 12, 2023, [6] and is expected to be completed in 2029. [7] Amtrak was awarded $465 million in Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act funds in November 2023. Amtrak will contribute an additional $27 million, while the state of Connecticut will provide $87 million. [8] [9]
The Northeast Corridor (NEC) is an electrified railroad line in the Northeast megalopolis of the United States. Owned primarily by Amtrak, it runs from Boston in the north to Washington, D.C. in the south, with major stops in Providence, New Haven, Stamford, New York City, Newark, Trenton, Philadelphia, Wilmington, and Baltimore. The NEC closely parallels Interstate 95 for most of its length. Carrying more than 2,200 trains a day, it is the busiest passenger rail line in the United States by ridership and by service frequency.
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The Housatonic River Railroad Bridge is a historic bridge carrying Metro-North Railroad's New Haven Line trackage across the lower Housatonic River in the U.S. state of Connecticut. The bridge is also used by Amtrak for its Northeast Corridor services. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1987, which also refers to the bridge as the Devon Bridge. It is also referred to as the Devon Railroad Bridge by the state Department of Environmental Protection.
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The Mianus River Railroad Bridge, also known as the Cos Cob Bridge, is a bascule drawbridge built in 1904 over the Mianus River, in Greenwich, Connecticut. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1987. The bridge carries the Northeast Corridor, the busiest rail line in the United States, both in terms of ridership and service frequency. It is operated by the Metro-North Railroad, successor to Conrail, Penn Central, and the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad, which erected it, and is owned by the Connecticut Department of Transportation.
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Media related to Norwalk River Railroad Bridge at Wikimedia Commons