Update: Chapel Street Bridge Reopens

The Chapel Street Bridge is reopening, the city reported Monday afternoon.

The bridge closed on Friday after the discovery of a broken shaft coupling. (Read below for an explanation.)

That set off a hunt for parts to repair it.

“We were able to source parts and install them today,” City Engineer Giovanni Zinn tweeted Monday afternoon. ​“The bridge has been moving normally now. The bridge will be reopening to traffic shortly this afternoon.

Chapel St. Bridge Closes After Shaft Coupling Breaks

Anyone know where to score parts for a shaft coupling?

If so, please let the City of New Haven know. Attn.: City Engineer Giovanni Zinn.

The city closed the Chapel Street Bridge this weekend because a shaft coupling broke.

“We have to see tomorrow morning how quickly we can get parts,” Zinn reported Sunday night. That will determine how promptly the span over the Mill River connecting Fair Haven to East Street can reopen.

Don’t feel badly if you don’t know what a shaft coupling is. I didn’t know. Zinn defined it for me: ​“A shaft coupling is a fitting that joins two shafts together and transmits torque through the fitting from one shaft to the other.”

The broken shaft coupling was found ​“inside the box girder of the south side of the bridge, in the closed position.” Zinn provided the above photo, so you can see what the shaft coupling looks like.

The city doesn’t yet know why it broke. It expects to be able to reuse some parts of it. Once it obtains the other replacement parts, the fix should be ​“straightforward,” Zinn stated.

With one caveat: ​“Of course, it is possible that once we put the shaft back together another problem unknown at this time manifests itself, however this is clearly the first issue to resolve.”

In the meantime, Fire Chief John Alston Jr. reported in a city release that his department has ​“moved some assets to the other side of the river, in order to ensure response times are not negatively impacted.”