Tourists examine a cracked layer of the elevated glass bridge in Yuntai Mountain Geological Park in China. Image credit: Lee Dong Hai/Weibo
Visitors to China’s glass-bottomed walkway at Yuntai Mountain Geological Park saw something surprising today: cracks in the glass, which lead to a closure on the bridge and a lot of frightened tourists.
Mashable reports that a tourist named Lee Dong Hai was the first one who spotted the cracks. He posted a response on the Chinese social media site Weibo: “I was almost at the end and suddenly I heard a sound. My foot shook a little. I looked down and I saw that there was a crack in the floor.”
Another visitor at the time was quoted by the government-run China Net as saying “when I was almost at the end (of the walkway), there was a sudden loud bang and a tremor beneath my feet.”
The glass walkway, which opened in September, runs 3,540 feet above a canyon in the park. An official from the Yuntai Mountain tourism bureau said that the cracks do not represent a threat to safety on the bridge, because only one of three layers of the glass was broken. The damage was caused by a tourist who dropped a stainless steel mug on the glass.
The glass is capable of supporting up to 1,763 pounds per square meter, the park official said. However, the walkway has been reported as being closed until further notice.
Glass bridges have become a popular tourist destination in China. Similar walkways over scenic canyons or gorges have been constructed in Shiniuzhai National Geopark and Tian Sheng San Qiao.
(Via Yahoo News.)
Filed Under: Infrastructure