Two years into construction of a replacement for the aging Connecticut River Bridge in Old Lyme, crews say the project is heading into its next major milestone.
The existing bridge, built in 1907, is a critical link along the Northeast Corridor for Amtrak, carrying passenger and freight trains across the Connecticut River. But after more than a century of service, officials said the bridge’s age and reliability issues have made a replacement necessary.
“The big issue was with the bascule span, getting stuck, struggling to open, struggling to close,” said Peter Watroba, senior project controls manager for Amtrak. “Some of those reliability issues can cause delays to train service.”
Construction on the new bridge began two years ago and is taking place alongside the existing structure.
One change boaters will notice is increased clearance. The new bridge will provide 24 feet of vertical clearance, up from the current 18 feet, allowing more boats to pass underneath without requiring the bridge to open.
The next major milestone will be the installation of the bridge’s new movable span, the section that lifts to allow boat traffic through. Officials say that piece is currently being built and is scheduled to be installed next winter.
“That movable span replacement gets floated up on a barge, and we start installing that,” said Dan Butler with O&G/Tutor Perini Corporation. “The next major phase after that will be moving the new tracks onto the new alignment, taking the old tracks and the old bridge out of service and demolition.”
The project is also expected to improve rail service by increasing train speeds across the river from 45 miles per hour to 70 miles per hour.
Amtrak officials say investments like this are designed to improve reliability and support future growth along the Northeast Corridor.
“This new bridge is going to have a design life of 100 years,” Watroba said. “We think these types of investments are really going to drive continued growth and continue to improve our operations while supporting the traveling public.”
The new Connecticut River Bridge is expected to be completed by 2031.
