Poughkeepsie - The Walkway Over the Hudson project moved into its construction phase this week as workers assembled the pieces of a mammoth 100-ton crane in preparation for the laying of concrete decking panels on the Poughkeepsie-Highland Railroad Bridge, which has been cleared of the railroad ties and steel rails of its past.
The firm of Harrison & Burrows Bridge Constructors Inc., the general contractor for the Walkway Over the Hudson project, has begun repairing steel beams and other elements of the 120-year-old bridge’s superstructure in advance of the laying of the 6-foot-by-32-foot prefabricated concrete panels that will be laid side-by-side and end-to-end to comprise the pedestrian Walkway’s new deck. Railings and other amenities will be added as the project progresses across the bridge from the western shore of Highland, over the Hudson River and eastward to the City of Poughkeepsie.
"If all goes as it should, we expect the construction crews to reach the western shoreline and begin heading out over the Hudson River by mid-October," said Walkway Chairman Fred Schaeffer. "This puts us on schedule to finish the project by August, 2009."
When the Walkway Over the Hudson is completed it will become the longest elevated public park in the world and serve as the Mid-Hudson Valley’s legacy project for New York State’s Quadricentennial Celebration. At that point, the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation plans to begin managing the Walkway as a new state park.
For more information about the Walkway Over the Hudson project please visit www.walkway.org or call 845-454-9649 for more information.
