HIGHLAND - The host of the DIY Network’s Project Xtreme, Matt Blashaw, joined steelworkers dangling from beams high above the Hudson River on Wednesday, participating in the ongoing effort to transform the former Poughkeepsie-Highland Railroad Bridge into the world’s longest elevated pedestrian walkway.
With cameras rolling and temperatures near freezing, Blashaw joined workers from the Harrison & Burrowes Bridge Constructors company conducting steel repairs and placing concrete decking panels on the 120-year-old structure that soars 212 feet above the Hudson River . Harrison & Burrowes of Glennville , New York is serving as the general contractor for the Walkway Over the Hudson project, which is scheduled to be completed by September, 2009 in time for the park to serve as the legacy project for the state’s Quadricentennial Celebration.
“We want our viewers to experience what an extreme project is all about,” said Ross Babbit, director of programming at DIY Network. “The Walkway project certainly is extreme!”
Project Xtreme, currently filming new episodes that will premiere in 2009, takes viewers behind the scenes of perilous projects and introduces them to the trained professionals who take on these tough tasks. Blashaw shows just how challenging jobs—including scaling the side of a Chicago high-rise to construct a building using plywood and concrete and giving Disney Cruise Line’s inaugural ship a required facelift—can be and what it’s like for the people who do them every day.
Walkway Over the Hudson Chairman Fred Schaeffer expressed appreciation that the DIY Network had decided to feature the Walkway in an upcoming episode. “This will share our vision for the future Walkway Over the Hudson park with DIY’s millions of viewers throughout the world, which is especially important while we are in the midst of a focused capital campaign to raise funds to support the project,” said Schaeffer, referring to the project’s ongoing fundraising drive. “What’s more, we think the show will help to introduce the world to the beauty and the grandeur of the Mid-Hudson Valley .”
The $35.5 million Walkway Over the Hudson project broke ground on May 27, 2008 under an expedited 15-month construction schedule. Construction at the site has progressed smoothly and on schedule as Harrison & Burrows’ crews have installed more than 150 of the nearly 900 prefabricated concrete panels that will be needed to serve as the 1.25-mile long Walkway’s new deck. Meanwhile, steel repairs are being conducted as railings and other amenities are being installed simultaneously in an effort to maintain the ambitious construction schedule.
Project management, planning, engineering and inspection services are being provided by Albany, NY-based Bergmann Associates. “As the result of excellent public/private collaboration among many stakeholders, and innovative contract management and design techniques, we have been able to maintain the very aggressive schedule we established in the summer of 2007,” said Peter Melewski, P.E., project manager and a principal with Bergmann, who was formerly in charge of all engineering design for the New York State Thruway Authority. “We have thoroughly enjoyed working with the many wonderful people at the Walkway and in the Mid-Hudson Valley who all are so passionate about this project.”
Upon completion, the Walkway will bring immediate, lasting and significant benefits to the people of the Mid-Hudson Valley and New York State . Eventually, the Walkway will connect to an evolving network of more than 27 miles of hiking and biking trails in New York ’s Dutchess and Ulster counties, creating a new recreational network and a world class tourist attraction that promises to be an economic catalyst in the Mid-Hudson Valley region. Studies estimate that the Walkway will attract 267,000 visits and generate up to $21 million in new economic impact for the region annually. The project will also preserve a nationally-significant landmark listed on the National Register of Historic Places for many future generations.
