MILLBROOK—The Dyson Foundation will fund a $1.5 million engineering and design study that will serve as the first critical step in the plan to transform the former Poughkeepsie-Highland Railroad Bridge into a lofty pedestrian park spanning the Hudson River.

The grant will allow Walkway Over the Hudson, a nonprofit group dedicated to preserving and converting the historic bridge into a public park, to “fast-track” the project in hopes of finishing it in time for the 2009 Henry Hudson Quadricentennial celebration.

“As much as the Golden Gate Bridge defines San Francisco, we believe this historically significant and visually stunning pedestrian walkway will someday define the Hudson River Valley,” said Robert R. Dyson, president of the Millbrook-based Dyson Foundation. “With this grant, we look forward to forging a private-public partnership between various levels of government, local non-profits and the private sector, which will be the only way to bring Walkway Over the Hudson’s long held dream a step closer to reality.”

Walkway Over the Hudson Chairman Fred Schaeffer said securing the funding adds significant momentum and credibility to his group’s nearly 12-year effort to turn the abandoned railroad bridge into what would become the world’s longest elevated pedestrian walkway, soaring 212 feet above the Hudson River.

“The Dyson Foundation is providing a tremendous service to the community because this will be great for the entire Hudson Valley. It will help the economy by providing an attraction that will draw tourism from throughout the world,” Schaeffer said. “Once it’s refurbished, it will be able to accommodate walking, jogging, biking, rollerblading, picnicking and just daydreaming. The views from up there are breathtaking.”

"This will be a wonderful park," said Carol Ash, Commissioner of the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation, pledging to work with the coalition of interested parties toward the goal of making the pedestrian walkway a public park. "I am enthused by this project and I look forward to working with the Dyson Foundation, our colleagues in government and Walkway Over the Hudson to make it a reality."

Walkway Over the Hudson has already secured nearly $1 million in promised funding from federal and state sources that will eventually help pay for construction costs, Schaeffer said. A total budget for the project will be determined by the planning and engineering study.

The $1.5 million grant will pay for comprehensive project management, planning and engineering services to be conducted by Bergmann Associates Inc., an Albany-based engineering and architectural firm with a proven track record in the inspection and rehabilitation of historic bridges. Peter Melewski, project manager and a principal with Bergmann, was formerly in charge of all engineering design for the New York State Thruway Authority.

“We’re aiming at a very aggressive schedule,” said Melewski, explaining that the Dyson Foundation grant allows his firm to immediately begin a comprehensive assessment of the bridge’s maintenance needs and alternatives for adaptation to its proposed use as a pedestrian walkway. Initial inspections last fall by Bergmann team divers indicated that the bridge’s massive underwater foundations were more than up to the task ahead.

“We will assess its maintenance needs and its current capacity, but we feel the bridge is more than adequate for the proposed purpose,” Melewski added. “Our schedule is ambitious, but it’s doable as long as there’s support and coordination among the stakeholders.”

Under the current timeline, Bergmann Associates aims to complete bidding documents by the summer of 2008 and commence construction by next fall in order to meet the Fall, 2009 deadline. (The actual commemoration of explorer Henry Hudson’s fateful journey up the Hudson River will occur in September, 2009—400 years after the Dutch adventurer actually sailed up the Hudson River Valley and deep into the heart of the New World.)

When it was completed in 1888, the Poughkeepsie-Highland Railroad Bridge was the longest bridge in the world. A 6,767-foot engineering marvel, it was the first Hudson River bridge to be built between Albany and New York City, opening a new vein of commerce between New England and the Western states. In 1974, a fire sealed its demise as a railroad bridge and it went unattended until the mid-1990s when Walkway Over the Hudson commenced its grassroots preservation effort.

Established in 1957, the Dyson Foundation is a private, family-directed grantmaking foundation led by Robert R. Dyson, who has served as the Foundation’s President since 2000.  Headquartered in Millbrook, the Foundation awards grants through a diverse regional funding program serving the Mid-Hudson Valley. The Foundation’s assets stand at approximately $337 million and, in 2006, it awarded grants in excess of $18.4 million.

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