So this was my secret! A bridge over the Hudson! It was once called the Poughkeepsie Railroad bridge, but now more than one hundred years after it was built, it is the Walkway Over the Hudson. And what an amazing thing this is!
This is the view of the entrance to the bridge on the west side of the Hudson, on a beautiful Sunday morning. Look at all the people walking across!
This is a closer view, mid span, of part of the bridge, showing one of the supports and two of the trusses. Built as a double track railroad bridge, it was completed on January 1, 1889 and was part of the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad. Considered an engineering marvel of the day, the bridge has seven main spans. The total length is 6,768 feet, including approaches, and the top of the deck is 212 feet above the water. It was taken out of service on May 8, 1974 after it was damaged by fire. The Walkway over the Hudson was opened on October 3, 2009. What a brilliant idea to save the bridge and make it an incredibly popular place for tourists like us to visit! Even in this close up view, people on top of the bridge are just tiny specks.
The bridge was designated as a National Historic Civil Engineering Landmark by the American Society of Civil Engineers in 2009.
As you can imagine there are wonderful views from the top of the bridge. In the foreground is a cable-laying ship anchored for the weekend. The gray buildings in the middle of the photograph are of Marist College. The brick buildings in the distance appear to be an abandoned religious facility that seems to be being demolished. I could not figure out what that was.
For me, one of the best views was of the nearby Mid Hudson Bridge which we crossed several times to get from the west side of the river to the East side to get to Hyde Park. This is a beautiful suspension bridge and a joy to see from this close. It is only half a mile from the Bridge over the Hudson Walkway.
Another view of all the people out walking on the bridge. The original railroad bridge is made of steel, and the top of it was covered with huge wood beams which then had railroad ties fastened to them, and then the railroad tracks were on the ties.
I found this historic photograph on Wikipedia of the bridge after the fire. There was so much heat from the burning timbers and railroad ties, that the tracks were warped. This photograph was taken in 1981, seven years after the fire, and the photographer was Morgan D. Wright. What a stunning image!
And last, but not least, here is a panorama of the entire bridge from one side of the river to the other! please click on this and it will open up much larger so you can see detail. I hope you will think it was worth waiting to find out how I managed to photograph those three speedboats!
4 comments:
So many interesting photos. The one of the bridge after the fire is exceptional.
Joan
This is a very interesting secret. Reminds me of the High Line but without all the beautiful trees and gardens. Wonderful that they made it into a walkway. Obviously, people love it. Must be great to look down and watch the river traffic. I was shocked to see how much the tracks warped after the fire. Betsey
Great photos of the Hudson River walking bridge, the river and the surrounding area. Fascinating history. I feel like all of us readers of the blog went on a trip to the Hudson Valley in the past week and saw some great stuff! Trace
Thank you all for your wonderful comments and observations. This place is so amazing that when we were there, a tour bus pulled up and everyone got out to walk at least part of the way out on the bridge/walkway.
Post a Comment