Zhangjiajie Glass Bridge
Zhangjiajie Glass Bridge (also called Zhangjiajie Grand Canyon Glass Bridge) is a bridge located in Zhangjiajie, China, above the Wulingyuan area. The bridge, built as an attraction for tourists, is glass-bottomed and is transparent. It is the longest and tallest glass bottomed bridge in the world. The bridge, opened to the public on 20 August 2016, measures 430 metres in length and 6 metres in breadth, and is suspended about 300 metres above the ground. The bridge spans the canyon between two mountain cliffs in Zhangjiajie National Forest Park in China's central Hunan province. As per the design, the bridge can carry up to 800 visitors at a time. The bridge was designed by Israeli architect Haim Dotan.
The mountains in Zhangjiajie had inspired the movie Avatar. To build the bridge, engineers erected four support pillars on the edges of the walls of the canyon. The bridge is made of a steel frame with more than 120 glass panels. Each of these panels is three-layered and is a 2-inch-thick slab of tempered glass. There are three long swings attached to the underside of the bridge. Also there is a provision for making an 870-foot bungee-jump. This is considered to be highest such jump in the world.[1]
According to the Management Committee of the Bridge, the bridge has set as many as ten world records spanning its design and construction.[2]
Some other glass-bottomed bridges
The first glass-bottomed bridge ever to be constructed in China was the Brave men's Bridge in the Shiniuzhai National Geological Park. This bridge that is 300 meters long, elevated at a height of 180 meter above ground. In comparison, the Grand Canyon Skywalk in Arizona is just 69 feet long and hovers about 718 feet above the canyon floor. Canada's Glacier Skywalk in Alberta extends 115 feet from the cliff and is just under 984 feet tall.[3]
Closure of the bridge
Just after 13 days the bridge was opened, the authorities put out a notice saying that they are closing the bridge due to overwhelming visitor traffic.[4] The bridge designed to hold 800 persons at a time and expected to be visited by about 8000 people per day, has reportedly attracted more than 80,000 visitors per day.[5] The authorities said that the government decided to suspend operations due to the "urgency to improve and update" the attraction. Parts of the infrastructure that will be improved include its car parks, ticket-booking system, and customer service. A date for the reopening of the bridge had not been firmly set.[4]
See also
References
- ^ Grennan Milliken. "China is Building the longest and highest glass bridge in the world". Popular science. Retrieved 15 November 2016.
- ^ "World's longest, highest glass bridge to open". Xinhuanet. Retrieved 16 November 2016.
- ^ "World's longest 'glass bridge' closed down after large influx of visitors in China". Fox News. Retrieved 16 November 2016.
- ^ a b Chris Graham (3 September 2016). "China's record-breaking glass bridge closes after 13 days 'due to overwhelming demand'". The Telegraph. Retrieved 16 November 2016.
- ^ Nick Mafi. "Why Did the Zhangjiajie Grand Canyon Glass Bridge Suddenly Close?". Architectural Digest. Retrieved 16 November 2016.