The skywalk glass bridge stretching across the Zhuangjiajie Grand Canyon will soon be completed. (Photo/Changjiang Daily)
According to China Railway Major Bridge Reconnaissance and Design Institute, the skywalk glass bridge that was designed by the institute will soon be completed. The steel decks will be joined on Thursday, and the bridge will be open to public in May 2016.
Stretching across the Zhuangjiajie Grand Canyon, this glass bridge has set many world records.
As a landscape bridge, it is not only a passageway. Tourists can go bungee jumping and ziplining from that bridge. Spanning a total of 430 meters, the bridge is 375 meters long, 6 meters wide and 300 meters above the valley floor. This transparent glass bridge ranks first globally in both length and height.
Wan Tianbao, deputy chief engineer of China Railway Major Bridge Reconnaissance and Design Institute as well as designer of the bridge, said that, based on the complex geological condition of the canyon and the fast wind speed of the bridge location, the bridge is designed to be a suspension bridge with a long span. "When many people walk on the bridge in quick progression, it is easy to cause resonance, which can lead to structural deformation. To avoid this, we placed a number of giant glass balls on the deck to restrain the vibration," Wan Tianbao said. Each glass ball weighs 400 kilograms, and they are placed irregularly, which will interrupt the steps of pedestrians and restrain the vibration.
According to Wan Tianbao, the maximum visitor capacity of the bridge is 800, and there is no need to worry about the load capacity of the glass deck because it is extremely well fortified.
