China’s First Completely Glass Bottom Bridge Opens!

by Eric

Over the past several years, there have been more and more tourist attractions opening which utilize glass to add the thrill factor to the experience.  For example, tourists visiting the Tower Bridge in London, the Hualapai Skywalk at the Grand Canyon, and the Skydeck at the Willis Tower in Chicago will all get a chance to look directly beneath their feet and see… nothing!

Haohan Qiao in China

glass-bottom-bridge-china

In Hunan Province in China, a bridge was recently completed.  The glass walkway is suspended 180 meters (590 feet) above a sheer drop.  CNN did a recent article on this bridge, in which they say:

Haohan Qiao, as it’s known in Chinese, is the latest in a series of glass-floored attractions to open in China and the rest of the world. Despite its terror-inducing appearance, its creators say the bridge in the Shiniuzhai National Geological Park is perfectly safe. Each of the glass panes is 24 millimeters thick and 25 times stronger than normal glass.  “The bridge we build will stand firm even if tourists are jumping on it,” a worker who constructed the bridge told the state-owned China News Service. “The steel frame used to support and encase the glass bridge is also very strong and densely built, so even if a glass is broken, travelers won’t fall through.” Haohan Qiao was originally a wooden bridge before the park experimented by replacing a small section with glass in 2014. It decided to increase the thrill by revamping the whole overpass earlier this year, making it China’s first all-glass suspension bridge.

I’m all for travel thrills.  What are your thoughts on this one?

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