MNCW = Metro-North Commuter Railroad
The bridge carries approximately 175 trains and 125,000 passengers a day.
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| HAER CONN,5-NEWHA,37--29 29. Norwalk River Bridge. Norwalk, Fairfield Co., CT. Sec. 9108, MP 41.47. - Northeast Railroad Corridor, Amtrak Route between New York/Connecticut & Connecticut/Rhode Island State Lines, New Haven, New Haven County, CT |
I also wanted a shot that captures how tall the high-tension towers are on either side of the bridge.
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| HAER CONN,5-NEWHA,37--25 |
The HAER photos gave me deja vu. Then I realized this is the same railroad that built the Cos Cob power plant. That plant is next to a rolling bridge.
I captured a satellite image because this bridge should already have been replaced. It was fine at 100 years old, but since 2014 it has been having a lot of breakdowns.
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| 3D Satellite |
Now I normally would pass up yet another swing bridge, but this one caught my eye with its heavy-duty deck truss. Then I noticed it has four tracks and it reminds me of a lattice truss. Bridge Hunter calls it a double-intersection Warren truss. This is now the third 4-track swing bridge that I have found in the USA. But this is the only one that is currently standing. But not for long. The other two bridges were in Conneaut, OH, and NYC.
This is the post that introduced me to this massive swing truss and turntable.
(new window) (source) This video shows that it can be opened with fewer workers. It also demonstrates that noise is supposed to be made before the span moves. In this case, while the span moves. And even longer because I think he forgot to turn off the bell after it opened. Around 4:00 I was reminded that the east coast uses tugboats instead of towboats.
I count at least six workers on the fixed span and one riding the swing span. It appears the workers are not needed for the electrical connections but for the unlocking and locking of the rails. The new bridge should automate that.
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| Photo via Bridge Hunter via TheHarlemLine, License: Creative Commons Attribution-Share-Alike (CC BY-SA) |
The comment on this video says this is the last 4-track swing bridge in the world.
(new window) To skip the railfan part, go to 1:44. To skip the parade of sailboats, go to 8:08. There were at least four workers riding the moving span and eleven on the east span. Or did a bunch of white hats (management) come out for the show? I noticed the span started moving before the warning buzzer was sounded. Tools of the trade: prybars and sledge hammers.
The railfan part was interesting in terms of how slow the passenger trains were going. I could not find the planned speed limit for the new bridge.
I was able to spot 13 workers in this view. At what height does OSHA want harnesses for workers standing on the edge of a steel structure?
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| 2:27 |
This is the post that introduced me to this massive swing truss and turntable.
(new window) (source) This video shows that it can be opened with fewer workers. It also demonstrates that noise is supposed to be made before the span moves. In this case, while the span moves. And even longer because I think he forgot to turn off the bell after it opened. Around 4:00 I was reminded that the east coast uses tugboats instead of towboats.
It not only has a heavy-duty truss, it has cut-stone abutments.
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| Street View |
I saw a figure of $400m and some for the cost of a replacement. Then in the following image source I saw $510m with the start of construction at the end of 2019 and completion in 2024. However, I could not find a date for that reference. Now construction is supposed to start in 2021 and take 5-6 years to complete.
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| railway-technology, Credit: Walk Bridge Program "The new bridge will be a 240ft vertical lift structure, with a minimum horizontal navigational clearance of 200ft and a vertical clearance of 60ft when the span is raised completely. The total length of the bridge will be 690ft." |
The current web page avoids providing an estimated cost figure by saying the costs are currently being updated. However, I did find: "A federal judge has cleared the way for state and federal transportation officials to move forward with a $1.1 billion project to replace a 122-year-old movable railroad bridge in Norwalk." [NorwichBulletin] It should be noted that the project includes work in addition to replacing the bridge such as repairing a railroad embankment.
The design is what I would expect --- a lift bridge where the towers and their foundations are built around the old bridge. And it uses two independent 2-track spans. This allows maintenance to be done on one span while the other still carries trains. It also allows the old bridge to be replaced two tracks at a time. Train service should be impacted for only two weekends. [alternatives]
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| Fact Sheet |
Unfortunately, their comparison of design alternatives don't provide cost figures for the movable designs. So when they say it would cost $425m-$475m to rehabilitate the existing structure, I don't know what the comparable cost is for the 240' lift design. It won't be $1,100m because I assume that figure covers the project adders. And those adders remain constant independent of bridge design. They considered two low-level fixed bridge designs. It sounds like the first one was a steel girder design for $290m-$340. The other was a through truss design for $360m-$390m that had a 170' span with 26' clearance. "The elimination of movable bridge elements such as lift span towers, mechanical equipment, electrical equipment and utilities result in an approximately 15% cost savings." 26' is not only too low for rich men and their sailboats, it would not allow dredging equipment to get upstream past the bridge. [alternatives]
WALK Bridge Program posted four photos with the comment: "A WALK Bridge construction barge made its way up the Norwalk River to locate along the northeast shoreline. Even though it was just a short trip, the WALK Bridge opened to permit passage while crews and Norwalk Marine police assisted with the operation. Safety first means success! Learn more here: www.walkbridgect.com."
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| [Whoops, I don't know what the source of this photo was.] |
I generally don't note trains, but I do note cranes.
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| 3-Step Protection Photography posted Metro-North's 2024 Employee Holiday Train crosses the Walk Bridge in Norwalk, CT. The multiple cranes signify that the first construction phase has been underway to replace the 1896 swing bridge. The new one being constructed will be a vertical lift bridge. Leading the train are Metro-North’s wrapped locomotives P32AC-DM 214 and 211. 214 pays tribute to the Metro-North workforce with a mosaic-style wrap created by individual employee photos and 211 is wrapped in the New York Central lightning stripe scheme. This train runs on certain days in December, making stops at all the major shop locations, including Grand Central Terminal. 12/10/2024 |
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| 3-Step Protection Photography posted On a gray December morning, Acela 2159 to Washington crosses the Walk Bridge in Norwalk, CT. The multiple cranes signify that the first construction phase has been underway to replace the 1896 swing bridge. The new one being constructed will be a vertical lift bridge, identical to the Harlem River lift bridge between the boroughs of Manhattan and the Bronx in New York City. 12/10/2024 Ryan Novosielski: Anyone know are swing bridges less reliable or something? Because it seems better not to have artificially limited height. Darin Long: With swing bridges you have to consider the droop factor. Over time. They will droop more from fatigue. A lift bridge will still droop but it lands on the pads from above rather then coming from the side. Either way. Your talking a large mass to move in a precise manner. Dennis DeBruler: On the inland waterways, width is more important than height because barge tows are wide instead of high. The Coast Guard is pushing railroads on the Mississippi River to replace their swing spans with lift spans. |
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