Skip to main content

East Haddam Bridge - East Haddam, CT

Nestled in the heart of the lower Connecticut River Valley of southern Connecticut is this charming & historic swing truss bridge located in the equally charming village of East Haddam. Opened in 1913, this bridge replaced a long-running ferry service in the area that had been in service since 1694. (Interestingly, there remain two active ferries on the lower Connecticut River nearby that also date back to colonial times – the Rocky Hill-Glastonbury and Chester-Hadlyme Ferries of 1655 and 1769, respectively.) It continues to serve the region as part of CT Route 82 (a major east-west local road in this part of the state) and takes on added importance since it’s the only fixed bridge crossing of the river between Middletown and Old Saybrook (a distance of about 30 river miles).


Above: The ornate swing span, up close & personal

From end to end, this bridge is 890 ft long and is comprised of three prominent structural elements: an underdeck Warren truss span at the west shore, a central Pennsylvania-style through truss span, and the highlight swing truss span at its east end. The swing span itself is about 460 ft in length and was among the largest such spans in the world when built; it remains among the largest surviving examples of this kind of construction and is therefore a historically significant structure more than a century after its creation.


Above: Assorted aerial views of the bridge and it's immediate surrounding area. Always fly safe!

Many moveable bridges have draw or bascule spans that enable the bridge’s main span halves to pivot up & down to create an opening for taller boats to navigate through; in the case of a swing bridge, the moveable span rotates or turns laterally about a center turntable pier, thus creating multiple channels for boats to pass through, one on each side of the turntable. The ornate & elegant design of the swing span at this location makes for an extremely unique and memorable structure, one worthy of being the centerpiece of a historic river town like East Haddam.



Above: Assorted ground level views of the bridge, including unique signage and a dedication plaque

How to Get There:

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Interstate 40's Tumultuous Ride Through the Pigeon River Gorge

In the nearly 60 years Interstate 40 has been open to traffic through the Pigeon River Gorge in the mountains of Western North Carolina, it has been troubled by frequent rockslides and damaging flooding, which has seen the over 30-mile stretch through North Carolina and Tennessee closed for months at a time. Most recently, excessive rainfall from Hurricane Helene in September 2024 saw sections of Interstate 40 wash away into a raging Pigeon River. While the physical troubles of Interstate 40 are well known, how I-40 came to be through the area is a tale of its own. Interstate 40 West through Haywood County near mile marker 10. I-40's route through the Pigeon River Gorge dates to local political squabbles in the 1940s and a state highway law written in 1921. A small note appeared in the July 28, 1945, Asheville Times. It read that the North Carolina State Highway Commission had authorized a feasibility study of a "...water-level road down [the] Pigeon River to the Tennessee l

Mines Road

Mines Road is an approximately twenty-eight-mile highway located in the rural parts of the Diablo Range east of the San Francisco Bay Area.  Mines Road begins in San Antonio Valley in Santa Clara County and terminates at Tesla Road near Livermore of Alameda County.  The highway essentially is a modern overlay of the 1840s Mexican haul trail up Arroyo Mocho known as La Vereda del Monte.  The modern corridor of Mines Road took shape in the early twentieth century following development of San Antonio Valley amid a magnesite mining boom.  Part 1; the history of Mines Road Modern Mines Road partially overlays the historic corridor used by La Vereda del Monte (Mountain Trail).  La Vereda del Monte was part of a remote overland route through the Diablo Range primarily used to drive cattle from Alta California to Sonora.  The trail was most heavily used during the latter days of Alta California during the 1840s. La Vereda del Monte originated at Point of Timber between modern day Byron and Bre

Route 75 Tunnel - Ironton, Ohio

In the Ohio River community of Ironton, Ohio, there is a former road tunnel that has a haunted legend to it. This tunnel was formerly numbered OH 75 (hence the name Route 75 Tunnel), which was renumbered as OH 93 due to I-75 being built in the state. Built in 1866, it is 165 feet long and once served as the northern entrance into Ironton, originally for horses and buggies and later for cars. As the tunnel predated the motor vehicle era, it was too narrow for cars to be traveling in both directions. But once US 52 was built in the area, OH 93 was realigned to go around the tunnel instead of through the tunnel, so the tunnel was closed to traffic in 1960. The legend of the haunted tunnel states that since there were so many accidents that took place inside the tunnel's narrow walls, the tunnel was cursed. The haunted legend states that there was an accident between a tanker truck and a school bus coming home after a high school football game on a cold, foggy Halloween night in 1