Walkway Over the Hudson

Walkway over the Hudson
Poughkeepsie-Highland Railroad Bridge in 1978, viewed from the northwest, in Highland
Carries	Railroad (1889–1974) Walkway (2009–present)
Crosses	Hudson River
Locale	Poughkeepsie, New York to Highland, New York
Characteristics
Design	Cantilever deck truss bridge
Total length	6,768 feet (2,063 m)
Width	35 feet (11 m)
Height	212 feet (65 m)
Longest span	2 × 548 feet (167 m)
No. of spans	7
Clearance above	Unlimited
Clearance below	160 feet (49 m)
History
Constructed by	Manhattan Bridge Building Company
Construction begin	1886
Construction end	1889
Opened	January 1, 1889 (railroad) October 3, 2009 (walkway)
Poughkeepsie-Highland Railroad Bridge
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
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Location	Poughkeepsie, New York
Coordinates	41°42′38″N 73°56′40″W / 41.71056°N 73.94444°W / 41.71056; -73.94444Coordinates: 41°42′38″N 73°56′40″W / 41.71056°N 73.94444°W / 41.71056; -73.94444
Built	1886–1888
Architect	O'Rourke,John F.; Union Bridge Co.
NRHP Reference #	79001577
Added to NRHP	February 23, 1979 (original) May 20, 2008 (additional documentation)

The Walkway over the Hudson (also known as the Poughkeepsie Bridge, Poughkeepsie Railroad Bridge, Poughkeepsie-Highland Railroad Bridge, and High Bridge) is a steel cantilever bridge spanning the Hudson River between Poughkeepsie, New York, on the east bank and Highland, New York, on the west bank. Built as a double track railroad bridge, it was completed on January 1, 1889, and formed part of the Maybrook Railroad Line. It was taken out of service on May 8, 1974, after it was damaged by fire. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1979, and its entry updated in 2008. It was reopened on October 3, 2009 as a pedestrian walkway as part of the new Walkway Over the Hudson State Historic Park.

In 1868, an engineer proposed a railroad bridge across the Hudson River at Poughkeepsie, in a letter published in the Poughkeepsie Eagle newspaper. The proposal seemed so absurd that the Eagle ridiculed it, and it was effectively forgotten for a few years.

Over the years, many plans had been made for a fixed span across the Hudson River south of Albany to replace numerous car float and ferry operations. One of the most persistent was originally chartered in 1868 as the Hudson Highland Suspension Bridge Company, whose proposed bridge would have crossed from Anthony's Nose to Fort Clinton, now roughly the site of the Bear Mountain Bridge. It was never built.

The Poughkeepsie Bridge Company was chartered in June 1871 to build the bridge, and J. Edgar Thomson of the Pennsylvania Railroad was persuaded to support the effort. Contracts were let to a firm called the American Bridge Company (not the company of the same name founded later), but the Panic of 1873 intervened and the scheme collapsed.