Zhangjiajie Glass Bridge is a skywalk bridge in Zhangjiajie, China, above the Wulingyuan 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 430 metres (1,410 ft) in total length and 6 metres (20 ft) in width, and is suspended about 300 metres (980 ft) above the ground. The bridge spans the canyon between two mountain cliffs in Zhangjiajie National Forest Park in China's central Hunan province. It is designed to carry up to 800 visitors at a time. The bridge was designed by Israeli architect Haim Dotan.
To build the bridge, engineers erected 4 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 3-layered and is a 2-inch-thick slab of tempered glass. There are 3 long swings attached to the underside of the bridge. Also there is a provision for making a 285 metres (935 ft) bungee-jump. This is considered to be highest such 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.
Closure and reopening
On September 2, 2016, just 13 days after the bridge was opened, the authorities put out a notice saying that they are 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.
