In 1777 British General Burgoyne, trapped with over 9,000 troops and camp followers on the Washington County side of the Hudson River, charged his engineers to come up with a way to cross the rapid waters which had washed away previous bridge building attempts. They rose to the occasion, building the famous “Bridge of Boats,” successfully crossing just upriver of where HCP’s very own Dix Bridge now stands…only to meet their defeat at the Battle of Saratoga.

Now, in 2020, Hudson Crossing Park challenges engineers of all ages to build their own bridges…out of cardboard!

For 15 years Hudson Crossing Park has proudly hosted the Annual Cardboard Boat Races, challenging builders of all ages to build a boat that will carry them across the Hudson River and back (or not). This year, unable to host the races due to COVID-19, we have decided to carry on the cardboard tradition with a twist: instead of boats, we’re building bridges!

This contest will have both a virtual and, CDC and state guidelines allowing, in-person components.

Participants are challenged to build a bridge of any style that successfully fulfills the contest requirements.

For virtual event:
Enter virtually with a video submission (up to 10 minutes) describing your build process and demonstrating the strength of your bridge by fully crossing the span and standing on it for at least one minute. Entries must be received by no later than 5pm on August 23, 2020. Email entries to kmorse@hudsoncrossingpark.org.

For in-person event:

We have unfortunately decided not to hold the in-person portion of this event. In order to ensure no one misses out on the fun we have extended the submission deadline for virtual entries to Sunday, August 23 at 5pm. See above for details!