Walkway Over the Hudson

I used to drive back and forth from Rhinebeck, NY to Poughkeepsie, NY on a daily basis. On my way I would drive under a huge railroad bridge and then pass by the Poughkeepsie-New Paltz bridge. Both of these landmark structures carried goods and people across the Hudson River for years.

The railroad bridge was completed in 1889 and had two tracks, so rail traffic could easily go both ways. The bridge soared over 200 feet above the water, and was almost 7,000 feet long. There are approach viaducts on either side that add another 4,000 feet  in length.

The railroad ties on the bridge caught fire in 1974.  Burning debris rained down on the Poughkeepsie side of the bridge. After years of finger pointing, squabbling over insurance payments, and failure to pay taxes, the bridge was deeded over to a private group and the vision for a "Walkway Over the Hudson" was conceived in 1998. In 2009 conversion work was completed and the walkway was opened to pedestrian and bicycle traffic.

The approach viaduct reaches almost a mile into the city of Poughkeepsie.

We first tried to walk the bridge on a Sunday. The place was mobbed. There were several planned bridge walk fund raisers going on for different causes. We couldn't find a parking place within a mile or more of the entrance. We were going to be in the area one more day, so we came back and thoroughly enjoyed the walk. 

Looking toward the Highland side of the bridge

The views are spectacular.

This is the Clearwater sloop. 

It was first launched by Pete Seeger in 1969 for environmental education and advocacy.

We stopped at the middle of the bridge for a selfie.

The bridge has quite a few posters placed on the railing.

One can learn about the redevelopment of the bridge as a walkway,

about history of the area and about things you can see along the way. 

The Bridge is now a National Historic Civil Engineering Landmark.

London Bridge

We drove to London.... 

via Lake Havasu City, AZ!

Wikipedia

Lake Havasu City is where the famous London Bridge 

was reconstructed beginning in 1968.

The bridge was purchased by Robert McCulloch (McCulloch Chainsaws and McCulloch Oil Corporation) at auction for $2.46 million. London decided to sell the bridge, originally built across the Thames River in 1831, as it was not able to support the increased demands of modern traffic. 

But why, you might ask, would McCulloch want an old London bridge? He wanted the PR. He wanted to create a tourist attraction to draw people to Lake Havasu City... his city! McCulloch originally purchased some land around Lake Havasu to test boat motors. Later he decided to create a retirement community. Some sources say McCulloch was given the land in exchange for promises to develop it. Other sources indicate he paid a King's ransom for the land. Regardless, people weren't coming. He needed something to draw people to this off-the-beaten track area of Arizona.

The bridge was disassembled and each granite block of the outer casing was numbered and shipped to the US. A concrete structure was built across to an island and the blocks of the original bridge were reassembled as a skin around the concrete bridge. The construction took three years, and as that was happening, a recreated English village was built on the mainland as an additional draw for tourists. 

Much of the village had fallen into disrepair and has been demolished, but some buildings still stand housing shops and restaurants in the shadow of the bridge.

Because of the bridge, people did come to Lake Havasu City and construction of homes and businesses continues. I think McCulloch, who passed away in 1977, would be thrilled to see the buzz of activity in 'his' town!