Stuck bridge spells 'financial disaster' to blocked boaters

Instead of fishing poles and tackle, patrons of the Black Hawk II charter boat will be handed maps to New London when they arrive for their day trips on the Sound this week.

Rather than sitting in its home port in Niantic Bay, the boat has been docked in New London since Sunday, unable to pass underneath the broken Niantic River railroad bridge.

"It's a financial disaster," said Capt. Greg Dubrule, who operates the charter boat.

The 102-year-old bridge became stuck in the closed position Sunday afternoon, trapping larger vessels on both sides. The same situation occurred at the mouth of the Connecticut River Tuesday when the railroad bridge there was stuck closed for more than two hours.

The problems created headaches for some boaters.

Tuesday afternoon, an Amtrak spokesman said that while the Connecticut River bridge was fixed, the Niantic River bridge would not open to maritime traffic until this weekend - and that's barring any unforeseen problems.

The bridge became stuck about 2 p.m. Sunday when the main drive chain on the south side broke, causing the span to free-fall to a close, an Amtrak news release said. No trains were delayed the next day, but trains were restricted to 30 mph when crossing the bridge.

"The energy from the impact caused the lift span to shift and come to rest misaligned from its normal closed position," the statement said. "The drive chain has been repaired, but the lift span remains out of alignment. Amtrak apologizes for any inconvenience."

Dubrule and his boat were out in Long Island Sound when the bridge broke. Unable to get back upstream to his business, he went to a commercial dock in New London.

That's where his patrons and crew will have to meet up with him for the rest of the week.

The broken bridge has cost him financially. He said he's had to pay a daily fee for the two New London docks he's had to use - a commercial dock and Thamesport Marina - since being trapped on the other side of the bridge.

He's hoping the problem doesn't cost him more money.

"This time of year … we're trying to pack up a little money here and there to get by the winter," he said of his last few trips of the year, set for this month.

Capt. Joe Devine of the Mijoy, another charter fishing boat based in Waterford, has the opposite problem.

The Mijoy is stuck in the bay on the other side of the bridge. Although he didn't have any trips scheduled until the weekend, Devine said he's hoping the bridge repairs will be made in time.

"I've told people to call me back on Friday and we'll go from there," he said. "It's all going to be up in the air until it actually opens."

Boaters along the Connecticut River were also trapped Tuesday - albeit temporarily.

Cliff Cole, a spokesman for Amtrak, said the bridge was stuck between 11 a.m. and 1:20 p.m. because of signal problems.

A Coast Guard aids-to-navigation boat was trapped on the north side of the bridge, said Mark Averill, the operations manager at Coast Guard Sector Long Island Sound. The boat was setting winter markers on the Connecticut River and was about to return to the sector when the bridge wouldn't open, Averill said.

Local harbormasters said that bridge rarely gets stuck, maybe once or twice a year. But for Niantic River boaters, it is the second time in four months that bridge has trapped them on one side for a day or more.

In July, an electrical relay burned out for unknown reasons and caused the bridge to stay shut for 24 hours. A week after it was fixed, the bridge became stuck again for more than two hours because of an electronic malfunction.

Amtrak has announced plans to start construction on a new bridge to replace the 102-year-old span. The new $105 million bridge - a three-span bascule-lift bridge - will be slightly higher than the existing structure.

"We've been here forever, and it's not that you're happy with it, but it's a part of the life here," Devine said. "It's an old bridge. Hopefully like they say we get a new one and hopefully we'll go for a few years without any problems."