The Sakonnet River rail bridge was a

swing bridge A swing bridge (or swing span bridge) is a movable bridge that can be rotated horizontally around a vertical axis. It has as its primary structural support a vertical locating pin and support ring, usually at or near to its center of gravit ...

that spanned the Sakonnet River between

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port city status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. Most of Portsmouth is located on Portsea Island, off the south coast of England in the Solent, making Portsmouth the only city in En ...

and

Tiverton, Rhode Island Tiverton is a town in Newport County, Rhode Island, United States. The population was 16,359 at the 2020 census. Geography Tiverton is located on the eastern shore of Narragansett Bay, across the Sakonnet River from Aquidneck Island (also ...

, and provided the only rail link between

Aquidneck Island Aquidneck Island ( ), officially known as Rhode Island, is an island in Narragansett Bay in the state of Rhode Island. The total land area is , which makes it the largest island in the bay. The 2020 United States Census reported its population as ...

and the mainland. It was closed in 1988 and removed in 2006–07

History

Sakonnet River Railroad Bridge 1910 postcard

The first drawbridge at the site was built when the Newport and Fall River Railroad opened in 1864. It was replaced with an iron span in 1879. A new span was built in 1899 by the Pennsylvania Steel Company and served a succession of railroads; the

Providence and Worcester Railroad The Providence and Worcester Railroad (P&W; ) is a Class II railroad operating of tracks in Rhode Island, Massachusetts, and Connecticut, as well as New York (state), New York via trackage rights. The company was founded in 1844 to build ...

took over the line in 1982. The bridge was removed from service in 1980 after being damaged by an overweight train loaded with military equipment, which severed the rail connection to the island. The swing bridge was left in the open position to allow boat traffic to pass. In 1988 a barge ran into the bridge. Since then, equipment for the Newport and Narragansett Bay Railroad, a tourist railroad on the island, has been brought in by barge. The bridge swing structure was removed in late 2006 and the supporting piers were demolished by explosion on February 9, 2007. Only the bridge itself was formally abandoned; the tracks on either side are considered formally active to allow future restoration of service. After the Anthony Road overpass in Portsmouth was rebuilt in 2019, work was done repairing several washouts to allow use to end of track. The tourist train ran past the Hummocks station built in 2017 to the end of the track on June 15, 2021 to the Sakonnet River rail bridge site. This was the first Old Colony & Newport train past the derail about from the bridge's western pier. The last train from the previous operators on this segment was 1988. The railroad track now officially ends at a bumper post at the foot of an electrical transmission tower on the bridge's western pier point. The Newport & Narragansett Bay Railroad now regularly operates its Dinner Train to the bumper post.

References

External links

Bridge demolition project
Demolished bridges in the United States Bridges in Newport County, Rhode Island Buildings and structures demolished in 2007 Bridges completed in 1899 Swing bridges in the United States Railroad bridges in Rhode Island Old Colony Railroad Former railway bridges in the United States 1899 establishments in Rhode Island Steel bridges in the United States {{RhodeIsland-bridge-struct-stub