Mianus River Railroad Bridge

Mianus River Railroad Bridge
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
Mianus River Railroad Bridge
Location	AMTRAK Right-of-way at Mianus River, Greenwich, Connecticut
Coordinates	41°1′51″N 73°35′41″W / 41.03083°N 73.59472°WCoordinates: 41°1′51″N 73°35′41″W / 41.03083°N 73.59472°W
Area	1 acre (0.40 ha)
Built	1904
Architect	American Bridge Company
Architectural style	Deck Girder,Bascule
MPS	Movable Railroad Bridges on the NE Corridor in Connecticut TR
NRHP Reference #	87000845[1]
Added to NRHP	June 12, 1987

The Mianus River Railroad Bridge, also known as the Cos Cob Bridge, is a bascule bridge built in 1904 over the Mianus River, in Greenwich, Connecticut. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1987.^[1] The bridge carries the Northeast Corridor, the busiest rail line in the United States, both in terms of ridership and service frequency.^[2][3] 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.

It is a rolling lift type moveable bridge, and was prefabricated by the American Bridge Company, to replace a previous bridge on the site which was unsafe.^[4]

Cos-Cob Bridge, Mianus River, looking west, ca. 1849

The nearby Cos Cob Railroad Station is also NRHP-listed, as well as the Cos Cob Power Station, a former New Haven Railroad electrical substation on the western edge of the bridge that despite being demolished during the turn of the millennium, is still listed on NRHP. It is one of eight moveable bridges on the Northeast Corridor through Connecticut surveyed in one multiple property study in 1986.^[5] The eight bridges from west to east are: this Mianus River Railroad Bridge, at Cos Cob, built in 1904; Norwalk River Railroad Bridge at South Norwalk, 1896; Saugatuck River Railroad Bridge at Westport, 1905; Pequonnock River Railroad Bridge at Bridgeport, 1902; Housatonic River Railroad Bridge, at Devon, 1905; Connecticut River Railroad Bridge, Old Saybrook-Old Lyme, 1907; Niantic River Bridge, East Lyme-Waterford, 1907; and Thames River Bridge (Amtrak), Groton, built in 1919. The Pequonnock River bridge—also on Metro-North's New Haven Line, as are the Norwalk, Westport, and Devon bridges—has since been replaced.

See also

• National Register of Historic Places listings in Greenwich, Connecticut
• List of bridges on the National Register of Historic Places in Connecticut

References

1. National Park Service (2009-03-13). "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service.
2. "Amtrak Sets Ridership Record And Moves The Nation's Economy Forward - America's Railroad helps communities grow and prosper" (PDF) (Press release). Amtrak. October 14, 2013. Retrieved 2014-09-03.
3. "Transportation Statistics Annual Report" (PDF). Bureau of Transportation Statistics, U.S. Department of Transportation. November 2005. Retrieved 2007-02-18.
4. Anne Baggerman (August 10, 1977). "National Register of Historic Places Inventory-Nomination: Mianus River Railroad Bridge / Cos Cob Bridge" (PDF). National Park Service. and Accompanying two photos, from 1986
5. Bruce Clouette, Matthew Roth and John Herzan (February 4, 1986). "Movable Railroad Bridges on the NE Corridor in Connecticut TR" (PDF). National Park Service. Retrieved 2016-02-26.

Media related to Mianus River Railroad Bridge at Wikimedia Commons