When I first saw an email describing the Grand Canyon Skywalk, I suspected a hoax — a good artist could create this, even if there were no plans to build it. But this is for real, researched by Snopes and found to be true. You can read more about it on the Hualapai Nation’s web site. From their description:
The Glass Bridge Construction of the Skywalk began March of 2004 and is estimated to be completed by early 2006.
Upon completion, the Glass Bridge will be suspended 4,000 feet above the Colorado River on the very edge of the Grand Canyon. On May 2005, the final test was conducted and the stucture passed engineering requirements by 400 percent, enabling it to withstand the weight of 71 fully loaded Boeing 747 airplanes (more that 71 million pounds). The bridge will be able to sustain winds in excess of 100 miles per hour from 8 different directions, as well as an 8.0 magnitude earthquake within 50 miles. More than one million pounds of steel will go into the construction of the Grand Canyon Skywalk.
I would love to walk on that thing!
Click on the photo for a larger view…
In the old blog, Ted Dunning said:
ReplyDeleteSomebody got their measurements wrong. Ain’t no way you can put 71 M lb on the end of that walk and have it hold up. The bridge might be real, but that loading was said wrong or misunderstood.