2015年CRI Construction of Longest, Tallest Glass-bottom Bridge in the World Ongoing in China

 

The bridge will be suspended across Zhangjiajie Grand Canyon¹ in scenic² Zhangjiajie National Park in central China's Hunan Province.

When completed, project engineers say the bridge will be 300 meters above ground and 430 meters in length. The bridge itself will be six meters wide, with several glass observatories³ at various ends. Each glass panel of the walkway will be five centimeters thick.

So far, construction workers have completed the preliminary wire framework and foundations for the bridge.

The safety issue of glass bridges or walkways has raised public concerns after cracks were reported at a local glass-bottom walkway in a park in central China's Henan Province during the National Holiday travel rush earlier this month.

The bridge's project manager Guo Kun says there's nothing to worry on the safety front.

"People, especially tourists, will worry a lot about safety since the bridge is all made of glass, but I want to tell everyone that there is no need to worry, because we have done numerous tests, including conducting precise calculation of its carrying capacity when building this glass bridge."

He adds that once the bridge is completed, tourists will be allowed to enjoy the view on the bridge, or even go bungee jumping.

For his part the project's general engineer Ma Liang says the number of people on the bridge at one time will be limited due to ensure safety.

"In accordance with design requirements, we will have a limit on the number of tourists that can walk on the bridge, as we can only have 800 tourists on the bridge at the same time. We will control the number of tourists at the entrances to the site to ensure safety of the bridge."

He adds that the bridge's designers aimed to create a bridge that would be harmonious⁴ with its surroundings.

"The glass parts will be transparent⁵ and glass-bottomed, so when people are walking on the bridge, they can enjoy the landscape of the canyon below. Meanwhile, the white steel structure also fits properly into the surrounding landscape and the mist in the canyon, which is one of the architect's design concepts."

The construction project cost a total of around 250 million yuan, or about 39 million U.S. dollars.

The bridge should be completed at the end of this year, and will be officially open to tourists next January.

In late September this year, China's first glass-bottom bridge, suspended 180 meters above ground, opened in Hunan's Shiniuzhai National Geological Park.

For CRI, I'm Xie Cheng.

1 canyon   

n.峡谷，溪谷

参考例句：

• The Grand Canyon in the USA is 1900 metres deep.美国的大峡谷1900米深。
• The canyon is famous for producing echoes.这个峡谷以回声而闻名。

2 scenic   

adj.自然景色的，景色优美的

参考例句：

• The scenic beauty of the place entranced the visitors.这里的美丽风光把游客们迷住了。
• The scenic spot is on northwestern outskirts of Beijing.这个风景区位于北京的西北远郊。

3 observatories   

n.天文台，气象台( observatory的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• John Heilbron, The Sun in the Church: Cathedrals as Solar Observatories, 3-23. 约翰．海耳布隆，《教会里的太阳：教堂即太阳观测台》，第3-23页。 来自互联网
• Meteorologists use satellites, land observatories and historical data to provide information about the weather. 气象学家使用卫星、上天文台和历史资料来提供有关天气的信息。 来自互联网

4 harmonious   

adj.和睦的，调和的，和谐的，协调的

参考例句：

• Their harmonious relationship resulted in part from their similar goals.他们关系融洽的部分原因是他们有着相似的目标。
• The room was painted in harmonious colors.房间油漆得色彩调和。

5 transparent   

adj.明显的，无疑的；透明的

参考例句：

• The water is so transparent that we can see the fishes swimming.水清澈透明，可以看到鱼儿游来游去。
• The window glass is transparent.窗玻璃是透明的。