World's longest glass bridge opens in China
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BEIJING - The world’s longest glass bridge was opened to the public on Sunday. It is located in Shijiazhuang, Hebei province near Bejing, the capital of China.
The bridge stretches 488 meters long and two meters wide. It stands at 218 meters above the valley between two steep cliffs in Hongyagu Scenic Area in Pingshan county.
It is made of 1,077 panes of transparent glass with each being four centimeters thick and weighs a total of 70 metric tons.
The sky bridge is designed in a such a way that it swings a little when visitors walk to its center.
Hebei Group, the local tourism company that built the bridge said that the movement of the bridge was included to create a thrill among the visitors.
According to a video by People’s Daily China, Liu Qiqi, in charge of the project, said the bridge can support up to 2,000 people, however, only 500 people will be on it at one time.
Walking on the transparent bridge will be quite a daredevil heart and it does not seem to be for the faint-hearted. Along with being located at quite a height, the transparent floor could be spine-chilling for visitors. However, the view from the top is spectacular.
Quite some glass-floor bridges have been built in China in the recent past.
Last year, a 430-meter-long and six meters wide bridge opened last year in the Grand Canyon Scenic Area in Zhangjiajie, Hunan province.
Located in the UNESCO world heritage site, it was temporarily closed after a huge influx of tourists. It was said to be the longest and highest bridge of its kind in the world.
However, the recent one at Hongyagu is the only one in China supported by structures beneath the span, Liu said.
