Mystic River Bascule Bridge — Attraction in Groton

Completed in 1922, it was designed by Thomas Ellis Brown, a former chief engineer at Otis Elevator Company, and built by the J. E. FitzGerald Construction Company of New London. What sets it apart is its rare implementation of the Brown Balance Beam Bascule, a patented design that was revolutionary for its time.

Brown's design makes use of a multi-link counterweight system, in contrast to conventional bascule bridges, which pivot on permanent axles. This enables the bridge's enormous concrete counterweights to rotate only 69 degrees, but its 85-foot movable span spins a full 90 degrees. The key to a smoother, quieter functioning is a double-pivot hanger linkage that moves the effective lever arm while in motion. The bridge uses a self-locking worm gear system and its own imbalanced mass to maintain position instead of toe locks.

The bridge's architecture is simple yet attractive. The bridge is framed like bookends by squat concrete towers that hold its exposed mechanical components, which include driving motors, bull wheels, and counterweights. Even though these towers aren't decorative, they have an air of industrial elegance, particularly when the bridge raises to allow sailboats to pass across.

There was way too much traffic and zero parking nearby so we were not able to stick around to see the...

I've seen a lot of draw bridges in my life but this one is particularly cool for a few reasons. First, it goes up and down on a very regular schedule during the day (20 of the hour). You can watch as a parade of larger and smaller boats go through as you wait to cross on foot. It definitely backs up traffic so be careful if you are in a car and approaching around this time of the hour. It was painstakingly restored maybe a decade or so ago which makes it look and operate really well. A wonder for any child or any adult who likes cool...

This is a classic drawbridge that is worth taking the time to get out of your car and see. If there are boats that need to go through the channel the bridge will raise at 40 minutes after the hour each day. We were ver fortunate to time it perfectly and to get to see the bridge operate and three boats head up the channel.

This bridge was featured in the movie Mystic Pizza and you actually see one of the lead male actors going through the channel on the boat he is working on as...