Walking on Air

Photo Credit: hualapaitourism.com/Facebook

Walking on air takes on a new dimension when walking on the world’s longest suspension bridge. 

Built with a glass pane floor, uncovered top and open wire sides, the approximately 1,000 foot long and 590 foot high bridge at the Shiniuzhai National Geo-park in Pinging county, Hunan province, China, is called Haohan Qiao, which translates in to “Brave Men’s Bridge”. The glass panes used to construct the bridge floor are 24mm thick and twenty-five times stronger than normal glass.

Two weeks after opening, visitors were evacuated and the glass suspension bridge was closed due to a cracked pane. Officials state that after the damaged pane is replaced, the bridge will again be open to the public.

Image CNN

Over 100 women doing yoga on this glass-bottomed bridge in Pingjiang County, Hunan Province, on November 5, 2015. (Photo: Yang Huafeng, China News Service)

China is already planning to construct their next glass-bottomed suspension bridge, claiming it will trump this one. In the Zhangjiajie Grand Canyon area, about 185 miles northwest of Shiniuzhai, this new bridge will be over 1,400 feet long and 985 feet high, granting it the designation as the world’s highest and longest glass bridge. The image below is a design concept of what the finished bridge might look like.

This is not the first use of glass panels to create pathways. There are other walkways, elevators and observation decks all round the world which allow an individual to step over the edge.

The Glacier Skywalk in Jasper National Park, Canada

The Grand Canyon Skywalk

From the Grand Canyon Skywalk builders, with shots of the see-through path

The see through effect is used at public aquariums, where the visitor can literally walk through the tank, with sharks and/or other species swimming all around the vistors lingering in the hallway. Wonder what the sharks really think about the visitors they see.

“Georgia Aquarium – Ocean Voyager Tunnel Jan 2006″ by Diliff – Licensed under CC BY 2.5 via Commons

“Aquarium tunnel” by pfly from Pugetopolis – Aquarium tunnel. Licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0 via Commons 

The Aquarium of the Bay in San Francisco

Major cities all around the world have tall buildings with glass observation decks or platforms. This one is in Chicago. 

“Willis Tower glass box” by Mike Gonzalez (TheCoffee) – Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 via Commons

For the One World Trade Center in New York, during the 42-second elevator ride, visitors are shown a detailed recreation of New York City’s industrialization and construction. The elevator appears to emerge from bedrock in the year 1500, revealing marsh land yet to be colonized, and then quickly advances to show the rapid expansion that led to the Manhattan we know today. The doors open at the top floor of 102, and the rider steps from the virtual view into the real skyline of today.

Reuters image

The Tower of London bridge now offers walkers a vertigo inducing walkway

 

A glass cube the size of a phone booth extends off the edge of Aiguille du Midi in the French Alps. Placed at an elevation of 12,605 feet, an individual can see Mount Blanc and other alpine peaks. Also in view are the mountain climbers trying to reach a peak’s summit and the waiting 3,300-foot drop waiting just below.

© Robert Pratta/Reuters/Corbis

There are so many other breathing taking sites all artound the world, waiting for travelers to take that first step. Enjoy the adventure.

Photo Credit: hualapaitourism.com/Facebook