Walkway airs on Project Xtreme

The Walkway Over the Hudson will be featured on the DIY Network series Project Xtreme this week.

Here is the announcement from the Walkway folks:

Walkway Featured on DIY’s ‘Project Xtreme’ May 19
Walkway Episode to be Aired Four Times

HIGHLAND, N.Y.—Fans of Walkway Over the Hudson and the DIY Network will have a lot to cheer about at 10 p.m. on Tuesday, May 19 when the Walkway is featured on the network’s popular series, Project Xtreme. The debut airing of the 30-minute show chronicles host Matt Blashaw’s efforts to assist construction workers precariously perched 212 feet above the Hudson River.

“This is a marvelous opportunity for the community to see the Walkway under construction on national television,” said Walkway Chairman Fred Schaeffer.

The episode will air four times altogether: May 19 at 10 p.m., May 20 at 2 a.m., May 26 at 10 p.m., and May 27 at 2 a.m.

With cameras rolling and temperatures near freezing last November, Blashaw joined workers from the Harrison & Burrowes Bridge Constructors company conducting steel repairs and placing concrete decking panels on the 120-year-old structure that spans the Hudson River between the City of Poughkeepsie and the Town of Lloyd. Harrison & Burrowes of Glennville, New York is serving as the general contractor for the Walkway Over the Hudson project, which is scheduled to be completed by September, 2009 in time for the park to serve as the legacy project for the state’s Quadricentennial Celebration.

“We want our viewers to experience what an extreme project is all about,” said Ross Babbit, director of programming at DIY Network. “The Walkway project certainly is extreme!”

Project Xtreme takes viewers behind the scenes of perilous projects and introduces them to the trained professionals who take on these tough tasks. Blashaw shows just how challenging jobs—including scaling the side of a Chicago high-rise to construct a building using plywood and concrete and giving Disney Cruise Line’s inaugural ship a required facelift—can be and what it’s like for the people who do them every day.

“This will share our vision for the future Walkway Over the Hudson park with DIY’s millions of viewers throughout the world, which is especially important while we are in the midst of a focused capital campaign to raise funds to support the project,” said Walkway Executive Director Amy Husten, referring to the project’s ongoing fundraising drive. “What’s more, we think the show will help to introduce the world to the beauty and the grandeur of the Mid-Hudson Valley.”

The $35.5 million Walkway Over the Hudson project broke ground on May 27, 2008 under an expedited 15-month construction schedule. Construction at the site has progressed smoothly and on schedule as Harrison & Burrows’ crews have installed almost half of the nearly 900 prefabricated concrete panels that will be needed to serve as the 1.25-mile long Walkway’s new deck. Meanwhile, steel repairs are being conducted as railings and other amenities are being installed simultaneously in an effort to maintain the ambitious construction schedule.

For more information about Walkway Over the Hudson visit www.walkway.org or call the office at 845-454-9649.