Zhangjiajie Glass footpath is a
skywalk
A skyway, skybridge, skywalk, or sky walkway is an elevated type of pedway connecting two or more buildings in an urban area, or connecting elevated points within mountainous recreational zones. Urban skyways very often take the form of enclos ...
bridge
A bridge is a structure built to span a physical obstacle (such as a body of water, valley, road, or rail) without blocking the way underneath. It is constructed for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle, which is usually somethi ...
in
Zhangjiajie
Zhangjiajie (), also known in Tujia language as ''Zhangx jif avlar'' /dzaŋ˩ ji˥ a˩.la˥/, is a prefecture-level city in the northwestern part of Hunan Province, China. It comprises the district of Yongding, Wulingyuan and counties of Cili ...
,
Hunan
Hunan (, ; ) is a landlocked province of the People's Republic of China, part of the South Central China region. Located in the middle reaches of the Yangtze watershed, it borders the province-level divisions of Hubei to the north, Jiangxi ...
, above the
Wulingyuan
Wulingyuan (, zh, c=武陵源) is a scenic and historical site in the Wulingyuan District of South Central China's Hunan Province. It was inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1992. It is noted for more than 3,000 quartzite sandstone p ...
area. The bridge, built as an attraction for tourists, is glass-bottomed and is transparent. When it opened it was the longest and tallest glass bottomed bridge in the world. The bridge, opened to the public on August 20, 2016, measures in total length and in width, and is suspended about above the ground. The bridge spans the canyon between two mountain cliffs in
Zhangjiajie National Forest Park
Zhangjiajie National Forest Park () is a national forest park located in Zhangjiajie, Hunan Province, China. It is one of several national parks within the Wulingyuan Scenic Area.
History
In 1982, the park was recognized as China's first na ...
in the northwest of Hunan province. It is designed to carry up to 800 visitors at a time. The bridge was designed by
Israel
Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...
i
architect
An architect is a person who plans, designs and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...
Haim Dotan.
To build the bridge, engineers erected four support pillars on the edges of the walls of the canyon. The bridge is made of a metal frame with more than 120 glass panels. Each of these panels is three-layered and is a slab of
tempered glass
Tempered or toughened glass is a type of safety glass processed by controlled thermal or chemical treatments to increase its strength compared with normal glass. Tempering puts the outer surfaces into compression and the interior into tensi ...
. There are three long
swings attached to the underside of the bridge. There is also a provision for making a
bungee jump
Bungee jumping (), also spelled bungy jumping, is an activity that involves a person jumping from a great height while connected to a large elastic cord. The launching pad is usually erected on a tall structure such as a building or crane, a ...
, considered to be highest bungee jump in the world.
According to the Management Committee of the Bridge, the bridge has set ten world records spanning its design and construction. The record as longest glass bridge has since passed to a glass bridge in the Hongyagu Scenic Area,
Hebei
Hebei or , (; alternately Hopeh) is a northern province of China. Hebei is China's sixth most populous province, with over 75 million people. Shijiazhuang is the capital city. The province is 96% Han Chinese, 3% Manchu, 0.8% Hui, and 0 ...
.
Closures
On September 2, 2016, just 13 days after the bridge was opened, the authorities put out a notice saying that they were closing the bridge due to overwhelming visitor traffic.
The bridge, designed to hold 800 people at a time and expected to be visited by about 8,000 people per day, had reportedly attracted more than 80,000 visitors per day. The authorities said that the government decided to suspend operations due to the "urgency to improve and update" the attraction, including its car parks, ticket-booking system, and customer service. The bridge reopened on September 30, 2016.
Gallery
File:Zhangjiajie Glass Bridge 20190726 (2).jpg, Centre view
File:Zhangjiajie Glass Bridge 20190726.jpg, Glass panel
File:Glass Bridge in Zhangjiajie China.jpg, Side view
See also
*
East Taihang Glasswalk
References
{{reflist
Bridges in Hunan
Tourist attractions in Zhangjiajie
Bridges completed in 2016
Glass-bottomed bridges