Walkway over the Hudson

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Walkway Over the Hudson
Coordinates	41°42′40″N 73°56′38″W / 41.711°N 73.944°W / 41.711; -73.944
Carries	Railroad (1889–1974) Hudson Valley Rail Trail (2009–present)
Crosses	Hudson River
Locale	Poughkeepsie, New York, to Highland, New York
Website	walkway.org
Characteristics
Design	Cantilever deck truss bridge
Total length	6,768 feet (2,063 m)
Width	35 feet (11 m)[1]
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 start	1886
Construction end	1889
Opened	January 1, 1889 (railroad) October 3, 2009 (walkway)
Poughkeepsie-Highland Railroad Bridge
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
Location	Poughkeepsie, New York
Coordinates	41°42′38″N 73°56′40″W / 41.71056°N 73.94444°W / 41.71056; -73.94444
Built	1886–1888
Architect	John F. O'Rourke; Union Bridge Co.
NRHP reference No.	79001577
Added to NRHP	February 23, 1979 (original) May 20, 2008 (additional documentation)[2][3]
Location

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 of the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad.

It was taken out of service on May 8, 1974, after it was damaged by a tie fire. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1979, and its entry updated in 2008.^[2][3] The bridge was designated as a National Historic Civil Engineering Landmark by the American Society of Civil Engineers in 2009.^[4]

It was reopened on October 3, 2009, as a pedestrian walkway as part of the new Walkway Over the Hudson State Historic Park. The New York State Bridge Authority owns and is charged with maintaining the bridge structure (as directed by the Governor and Legislature in July 2010). The park is operated by the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation.^[5] In 2017, the walkway hosted 593,868 visitors.^[6] The park connects the Hudson Valley Rail Trail in Highland to the Dutchess Rail Trail, and forms part of the Empire State Trail.^[7]

At a length of 6,768 feet (2,063 m), it was the world's longest pedestrian footbridge from its opening^[8][9][10] until October 2016, when it became the second-longest after being surpassed by the 7,974-foot (2,430 m) Mile Into the Wild Walkway in Keenesburg, Colorado, United States.^[11][12] The Walkway over the Hudson now refers to itself as the world's longest elevated pedestrian bridge as it has a much higher elevation than the Mile Into The Wild.^[13] The Walkway over the Hudson allows bicycles and the Mile Into The Wild does not. Also, the Walkway over the Hudson does not have an admission fee.