That inspection, which will determine whether the aging span can be upgraded one more time or will have to be replaced with a new bridge, had originally been planned for last spring and then this summer, but shifting priorities have put the inspection here off until at least this fall.

Charles Yordy, director of engineering at Amtrak's regional headquarters in Philadelphia, had earlier pointed out that Amtrak trains run over three drawbridges here in Southeastern Connecticut - over the Thames River in New London-Groton, the Niantic River and the Connecticut River. The last two were completed in 1907 and the Thames River span in 1919.

Despite their age, all three bridges are structurally safe and sound, and Yordy says Amtrak engineers believe that, with proper upgrading, they "may be good for another 20 years." But a final decision on upgrading vs. replacement was dependent on what the inspections would reveal.

Andy Pedro, an Amtrak spokesman in Groton, told the Pictorial Gazette this week that the inspections of the Thames River and Niantic bridges have now been completed and they indicated that the span between New London and Groton, 86 years old, needs only a new lift at this time, but the Niantic bridge, now 98 years old, like the Connecticut River bridge, must be replaced with a new span.

Pedro had earlier pointed out that if, after the inspection here, it is determined that the Old Saybrook-Old Lyme bridge can still be upgraded, the part most likely to need some attention in the near future is the mechanism that raised and lowers the draw, a mechanism last brought up to date seven years ago.

That mechanism, according to Pedro, opens and closes the draw from a low of 18 to 40 times during each of the winter months, when the river is used mainly by oil barges and tugs - and maybe Coast Guard icebreakers - to a high of 650 to 700 times a month during the high volume summertime, when the traffic consists mainly of pleasure craft.

Pedro had added that clearance under the closed Connecticut River rail bridge is only about 19 feet at low tide and obviously even less at high tide.