AUTHOR R. ANN SIRACUSA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . It isn't the destination that matters -- It's the journey that counts!
Contact me!
  • HOME
  • BLOG
  • BOOKS
    • All For A Dead Man's Leg
    • All For A Fist Full Of Ashes
    • Destruction Of The Great Wall
    • All For Spilled Blood
    • First Date
    • Halloween In The Catacombs
    • All In The Game
    • Family Secrets: A Vengeance of Tears
  • ABOUT ME
    • Resume
  • PHOTO ALBUMS
  • RESOURCES
  • MY ORGANIZATONS
  • BLOGS ABOUT ANN
  • Blog

People Who Walk On Glass Bridges Shouldn't... that's it!

1/29/2021

0 Comments

 
Picture
Since the beginning the year 2000, humanity and engineering have taken a new step together: Glass bridges and boxes hanging out in space. The newest way to experience beautiful scenery and the wonders of nature and still satisfy the need for an adrenaline rush.

A MESSAGE FROM AMYGDALA
All humans share a tendency to search for new and more complex experiences, and all humans experience fear. While it may feel uncomfortable, fear is your amygdala – a small almond-shaped bundle of neurons in the middle of your brain -- sending
Image Source:                             
you a message that you may be headed for danger.   
​
youtube.com/WVriShkwkc&featuree  
Apparently, Thrill Seekers have an unusually high craving for the sensation of new intense experiences, and an insensitive or malfunctioning amygdale. There have always been thrill seekers and risk takers who took on the impossible feats to achieve the exotic new experience. It takes a certain combination of traits and factors to create ultimate thrill seekers like Evel Knievel. For those less driven, we have many extreme sports. Both of these types are likely addicted to adrenaline.

​Then there are the rest of us. We have to resort to roller coasters and the like for the adrenaline rush, or if that is too intense, read a fingernail biting book or see a white-knuckle movie that makes you grip the arms of the seat. In other words, we want to experience the emotions and adrenaline rush without the risk.
​

The operative words being: "without risk".

HANGING OUT IN SPACE
If you can’t fly to space for the ultimate weightless experience, at least you can “hang out in space”. According to engineer Roopinder Tara, “Glass, never the first choice for bridge decks, is nevertheless becoming a thing… Impractical material and impractical bridges, but good entertainment.” Here are a few of the most popular glass bridges.

● Grand Canyon Skywalk
The Americans initiated the trend of walking in space as a tourist attraction with the opening of the Grand Canyon Skywalk in 2007, located at Eagle Point in Arizona near the Colorado River. The Skywalk itself is a bridge shaped liked a horseshoe cantilevered beyond the edge of the west side of the Grand Canyon. The bridge has a glass walkway allowing visitors to look straight down at the vertical drop of 500 to 800 feet.

Picture
Picture
 ▲Image source: en.wikipedia.org/Grand_Canyon_Skywalk                                       ▲ Image Source: maverickairlines.com/skywalk-grand-canyon.aspx
The $30 million Skywalk, owned by the Hualapai Indians, is a joint venture between the tribe and David Jin of Las Vegas. Designed by Architect Mark Johnson, the cantilever can bear at least 71 million pounds, withstand winds over 100 miles per hour, and endure an 8.0 earthquake. Capacity is limited to 120 people at a time.

●  Tianmen Mountain Cliffside Glass Walkway
The Chinese, with their penchant for bigger, longer, taller, and more dramatic combined with their superb engineering skills, didn’t wait too long to get on trend with a series of glass walkways and bridges that inspire vertigo.

​
The Tianmen Mountain Cliffside Glass Walkway, Hunan, China, was the first in a series to open to the public in November of 2011. It is certainly the most dramatic. This one virtually clings to the vertical cliffs at an altitude of 4,600 feet above the ground … three Empire State Buildings on top of each other. https://earthtripper.com/glass-walkway-4600-feet

These mountains in the Zhangjiajie National Forest Park, is the location which inspired part of the Avatar movie. There are three glass walkways in this park.
 
Picture
Image credit: Getty Images
Image Source: www.redbull.com/glass-skywalks
Picture
Image Source: boredpanda.com/glass-bridge-tianmen
This portion of the walkway is named the Coiled Dragon Cliff which is only 5.2 feet wide. Still, the walkway is always full of tourists, and most of them 325-foot-long don’t seem to have any fear of heights.

▼This woman is posing herself for a selfie;      ▼The other doesn’t seem too sure of thing.
Picture
Picture
          Image Source: boredpanda.com/glass-bridge-tianmen                                             Image Source: weirdasianews.com/2011/glass-bridge

● Dachstein Skywalk
Dachstein Skywalk, Salzburg, Austria, sometimes called the Bridge to Nowhere, is a glass overhang type of structure. Opened in July of 2013, the bridge resides at 8,858 feet in the Alps. Consisting of a glass bottomed viewing platform, a suspension bridge, and the Stairway to Nothingness -- an infeasible looking precipice of 14 steps offers a dramatic view over the Dachstein Glacier.

Picture
Picture
                                                                                  Source of Images: nina-travels.com/dachstein-sky-walk

​● Aiguille Du Midi Glass Box
Opened in December, 2013, this glass box in Chamonix, France, hanging at an altitude of 12,600 feet, is claimed to be the closest you can get to Mont Blanc without crampons. This famous needle, which is one of the highest in Chamonix, has been a tourist destination for more than 60 years.

Now, in just 20 minutes -- after a very long wait, tourists report -- the Aiguille du Midi cable car will take you from the centre of Chamonix into the high mountains to the Aiguille du Midi viewing platform.

Picture
Picture
Image Credit: B. Delapierre                                                                                                 Image Source:  darkroom.baltimoresun.com/french-alps
Image Source: redbull.com/8-amazing-glass-skywalks

Stepping into the glass box and looking down makes it worth the wait. There is nothing but 1,000 feet of emptiness under your feet looking down at Bossons Glacier, except for the half-inch-thick triple-layered glass which you won’t even see while you float in the air.

● Haohan Qiao Glass Bridge
Located in Pingjiang in Shiniuzhai National Geological Park, China, this suspension bridge is called Haohan Qiao, which means Brave Man’s Bridge. When it opened in 2015, CNN reported that it swayed a bit but assured readers that the glass panes are 25 times stronger than normal glass and encased in a steel framework. When you are almost 600 feet above the ground, and the nothingness beneath you is moving, that fact is small consolation.
Prior to 2015 there was a bridge made of wood stretching 1,000 foot over the chasm between two mountain peaks.
Picture
Picture
Image Credit: Geddy Images                                                                                             Images Credit: ChinaFotoPress via Getty Images 
Image Source: redbull.com/amazing-glass-skywalks                                                    
Image Source: latimes.com//la-trb-china-glass-bridge 

●
Columbia Icefield Skywalk
Located in Jasper National Park, Alberta, Canada, opened in April 2014. Similar to the Grand Canyon overhang, it is also referred to as Glacier Skywalk. The area was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1984.

From this U-shaped walkway juts out 100ft from the cliff, giving tourists the thrill of looking straight down 1,000 feet or experiencing the powers of glaciers which formed this part of the Canadian Rockies.
Picture
Picture
Picture
  ▲ Source of Images: banffjaspercollection.com/columbia-icefield    ▲                                                            Image Credit: GETTY Images ▲
                                                                                                                                                                          Image Source: redbull.com0/amazing-glass-skywalks 


● Zhangjiajie Glass Bridge
The Chinese outdid themselves when they constructed the Zhangjiajie glass bridge between two mountain cliffs in central Hunan province. The longest and highest glass bridge in the world, Zhangjiajie is 1,400 feet long, 20 feet wide, and almost 1,000 feet above the canyon below.

The bridge was opened in August, 2016, with a great amount of hoop-la and media events,”including one where people were encouraged to try and smash the bridge’s glass panels with a sledge hammer, and another where they drove a car across it.”  theguardian.com/2016/worlds-longest-glass-bridge.
​
                     
Picture
Picture
Image Credit: vcg via Getty Images                                                                                                                     Image Credit: Getty Images
image source: huffingtonpost.com/zhangjiajie-grand-canyon                                                   Image Source: redbull.com/amazing-glass-skywalks
Picture
Image Credit: vcg via Getty Images
huffingtonpost.com/zhangjiajie-grand-canyon

Unfortunately, the facility was closed just 13 days after it open to the public. A spokesperson from the Zhangjiajie Grand Canyon’s marketing and sales department reported to CNN “We’re overwhelmed by the volume of visitors.”
​

The bridge is made of 99 panels of clear glass, and was designed by Israeli architect Haim Dotan to carry 8,000 visitors per day. 

The spokesperson said the demand was ten times that. Officials said on Chinese microblogging site Weibo that while there hadn’t been any damage to the bridge, that it was being closed due to the “urgency to improve and update” the facility.
​
It has since been reopened, if you want to put this on your bucket list. If China is too far, there are many other such glass bridges and boxes springing up around the world. There are also plenty of walkways and suspension bridges which will leave you breathless. You can see from the photo below that the bridge doesn’t need to be glass.


Trift Bridge in Switzerland                                                               JUST SAYIN’
Image Source: latimes.com/travel/china-glass-bridge                 □             
Picture
​Sources:
http://forwarddiving.com/
https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/science-choice/201508/can-you-be-addicted-adrenaline
https://www.outlookindia.com/website/story/india-news-sky-walk-ready-bihars-first-glass-bridge-to-offer-great-view-check-pics/367856
https://www.engineering.com/story/glass-bridges-the-new-thrill-ride
https://triponzy.com/blog/glass-bridges-in-the-world/
https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/resolution-not-conflict/201402/thrill-seeking-what-parts-your-brain-are-involved
https://www.coursera.org/learn/psychology-of-thrill-seekers
https://www.redbull.com/int-en/8-amazing-glass-skywalks
https://www.redbull.com/int-en/8-amazing-glass-skywalks#:~:text=Check%20out%208%20of%20the%20world%E2%80%99s%20wonderful%20glass,4%20Tianmen%20Mountain.%205%20Ngong%20Ping%20360.
https://www.capbridge.com/explore/
https://www.menarakl.com.my/index.php/attractions/tower-experience/sky-box
https://visitanf.com/kinzua-sky-walk-kinzua-bridge-state-park/
https://www.onetravel.com/going-places/glass-bottomed-spots/
https://www.weirdasianews.com/2011/11/24/glass-bridge-death-offers-tourists-thrills-chinese-mountains/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grand_Canyon_Skywalk
https://www.traveloffpath.com/the-top-5-most-terrifying-glass-bridges-in-the-world/#:~:text=Top%205%20Terrifying%20Glass%20Bridges.%201%201.%20Zhangjiajie,5%205.%20Glacier%20Skywalk%20-%20Jasper%2C%20Canada.%20
https://www.chinaeducationaltours.com/guide/article-glass-bridges-in-china.htm
https://www.redbull.com/ca-en/8-amazing-glass-skywalks
https://www.chinahighlights.com/zhangjiajie/attraction/zhangjiajie-glass-bridge.htm
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/oct/08/dont-look-down-officials-close-chinese-glass-skywalk-pane-shatters
https://www.chinahighlights.com/zhangjiajie/attraction/zhangjiajie-glass-bridge.htm
https://www.sfgate.com/technology/businessinsider/article/The-glass-bridge-across-China-s-Grand-Canyon-is-12861214.php
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/sep/03/worlds-longest-glass-bridge-closes-for-maintenance-two-weeks-after-opening
http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/travel/2017-08/03/content_30341367.htm
http://english.sina.com/news/2017-08-02/detail-ifyiswpt4981113.shtml
http://darkroom.baltimoresun.com/2013/12/step-into-the-void-french-alps/#1
https://www.boredpanda.com/glass-bridge-tianmen-mountain-zhangjiajie-national-forest-park-hunan-china/?utm_source=bing&utm_medium=organic&utm_campaign=organic
http://www.nina-travels.com/dachstein-sky-walk-schladming-austria/
https://www.upi.com/News_Photos/Entertainment/Glass-bridge-opens-in-Hunan/fp/9603/
https://www.weirdasianews.com/2011/11/24/glass-bridge-death-offers-tourists-thrills-chinese-mountains/
https://www.altoonamirror.com/life/area-life/2018/04/so-big-so-green-traveling-the-wilds-of-pennsylvania/
https://www.banffjaspercollection.com/attractions/columbia-icefield-skywalk
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/zhangjiajie-grand-canyon-closed_us_57c97c4de4b0a22de09599ca?
https://earthtripper.com/glass-walkway-4600-feet-above-ground-tianmen-mountain/#:~:text=Up%20in%20the%20Tianmen%20Mountain%20there%20is%20a,State%20Buildings%20stacked%20on%20top%20of%20each%20other%21
0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Author R. Ann Siracusa

    Novelist, retired architect and urban planner, world traveler, quilter, owl collector, devoted wife-mother-grandmother, great-grandmother, and, according to some, wild-assed liberal.

    Archives

    February 2023
    December 2022
    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    May 2016
    November 2015
    February 2015
    November 2014
    August 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    June 2013
    April 2013

    Categories

    All
    Africa
    Baboons
    Bagpipes
    Halloween
    Mopane-Mopani Worms
    Saint Patrick
    Samhain
    Shamrock
    Snakes
    Travel
    Veterans Day

    RSS Feed

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.