(The following story by Katie Warchut appeared on The Day website on June 18.)
NEW LONDON, Conn. — Amtrak has again rescheduled the replacement of the moveable span of the Thames River railroad bridge. The replacement is now set for June 24 through June 27 — the period when there will be limited train service between New York and Boston.
The bridge replacement is also thwarting some river traffic. The bridge has been in the closed position since June 1.
Amtrak will run three Boston-New Haven-New York trains via an inland route and is contacting bus operators to provide connecting bus service, possibly between New Haven and Providence and New Haven and Kingston, R.I.
It has 13,000 confirmed train reservations during that time period and will be contacting customers to try to accommodate their trips, said spokesman Cliff Black.
Cianbro Corp., which is working to replace the span, ran into problems last week in dismantling the bridge’s massive concrete counterweight, delaying the project yet again.
The contractor and Amtrak announced the new schedule at Fort Trumbull at a meeting today with waterway users whose large vessels cannot pass under the bridge during construction.
Businesses including Cross Sound Ferry and Thames Shipyard, AES Thames and Dow Chemical are all affected. Many expressed anger over the costs of regular delays and skepticism that the project would adhere to the latest schedule.
“The costs are adding up exponentially as we go,” said Chris Anglin, facilities operations manager for the ferry company. “Somebody needs to be held accountable.”