1922 Road Bascule and NYNH&H Swing Bridges over Mystic River in Mystic, CT

Bascule: (Bridge Hunter; Historic Bridges; HAER; Satellite, 618 photos; Satellite, 136 photos)

1905 Swing: (Archived Bridge Hunter)

1919 Swing: (Archived Bridge Hunter, HAER)

1982 Swing: (Archived Bridge Hunter; no Historic Bridges; Satellite, 73 photos)

Swing Bridges

NYNH&H = New York, New Haven & Hartford

Boston Public Library Flickr via BridgeHunter, License: Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY)

HAER CONN,6-GROT,2--1, cropped
1. VIEW NORTH, GENERAL VIEW OF BRIDGE WITHIN SETTING - Mystic River Bridge, Spanning Mystic River at U.S. Route 1, Groton, New London County, CT

HAER-data
Thomas E. Brown patented this balance beam bascule, and J. A. L. Waddell was the consulting engineer. Brown also designed elevators and funiculars. Of note is that Brown designed the inclined elevators for the Eiffel Tower in 1888 and 1889.

I couldn't resist including part of the Mystic Drawbridge Ice Cream Cafe.

Street View, Aug 2022

Street View, Aug 2022

safe_image for a registration restricted link
“Opened on July 19, 1922, the unique bridge has connected the residents of Groton and Stonington for 100 years and attracted visitors from all over.”

I noticed in the second street view that it uses an unusual lift mechanism. Fortunately, the HAER caught that detail. Instead of using a rack that is on the frame of the bridge, this one uses an "operating wheel" and a link.

HAER CONN,6-GROT,2--10
10. VIEW NORTH, DETAIL OF OPERATING WHEEL AND LINK, NORTH SIDE, BRIDGE CLOSED

HAER CONN,6-GROT,2--11
11. VIEW NORTH, DETAIL OF OPERATING WHEEL AND LINK, NORTH SIDE, BRIDGE OPEN

Rhvanwinkle at en.wikipedia, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

This bridge was proceeded by a 1904 swing bridge, an 1866 Truesdell truss swing bridge and an 1854 draw bridge.

Jim Streeter, the Groton Town historian, notes that there were eight other bridges that previously crossed the river. Some of those bridges were temporary bridges that were used while the next permanent bridge was built. The first ferry service was started in 1660 where I-95 now crosses the river. This "bridge is approximately 220 feet long and 45 feet wide, including pedestrian sidewalks on each side of the span. The lift span is approximately 88 feet long and weighs 660 tons. It has two concrete-filled counterweights, each weighing 230 tons." Two phases of rehabilitation were done in 2000-04 and 2010-13. [TheDay]

HistoricBridges has a photo of this bridge in the raised position and photos of the 1904 and 1866 bridges.

MysticHistory has many more photos including some construction photos.

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Swing Bridges

1982:

Drew Al posted
Mystic River Railroad Bridge, Mystic Connecticut

1919:

HAER CONN,6-GROT,1--1
 1. VIEW, LOOKING EAST, SHOWING BRIDGE CLOSED - New York, New Haven & Hartford Railroad, Mystic River Bridge, Spanning Mystic River between Groton & Stonington, Groton, New London County, CT

HAER CONN,6-GROT,1--5
5. DETAIL OF CENTER PIVOT

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3. DETAIL OF RACK AND TRACK [PINION] MECHANISM

The control house includes the signaling equipment for the railroad.

HAER CONN,6-GROT,1--13
13. INTERIOR, OPERATOR'S HOUSE, ELECTRO-MECHANICAL INTERLOCKING MACHINE 

I was surprised that a swing bridge wasn't replaced by a lift bridge in the 1980s. But Drew's photo and satellite images show that the boat traffic is pleasure boats and there are no huge yachts. But there are sailing ships. Unlike commercial traffic, sailing ships are more concerned about height than width. I did find some bigger boats at a couple of museums, but they were not very wide. And some of them are also sailing ships, so a lift bridge would have required tall towers.

Satellite