Grand Canyon Skywalk
| Grand Canyon Skywalk | |
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Skywalk from Outside Ledge
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| Coordinates | 36°0′44″N 113°48′40″W / 36.01222°N 113.81111°WCoordinates: 36°0′44″N 113°48′40″W / 36.01222°N 113.81111°W |
| Carries | Pedestrian |
| Locale | Grand Canyon, Arizona, USA |
| Official name | Grand Canyon Skywalk |
| Owner | Hualapai Tribe |
| Characteristics | |
| Design | Curved pedestrian cantilever bridge |
| Total length | 70 feet (21 m) |
| Width | 10 feet 2 inches (3.10 m) |
| History | |
| Architect | Mark Ross Johnson |
| Opened | March 28, 2007 |
 Grand Canyon Skywalk
Location in USA
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The Grand Canyon Skywalk is a horseshoe-shaped cantilever bridge with a glass walkway in Arizona near the Colorado River on the edge of a side canyon in the Grand Canyon West area of the main canyon.USGS topographic maps show the elevation at the Skywalk's location as 4,770 ft (1,450 m) and the elevation of the Colorado River in the base of the canyon as 1,160 ft (350 m), and they show that the height of the precisely vertical drop directly under the skywalk is between 500 ft (150 m) and 800 ft (240 m).
Commissioned and owned by the Hualapai Indian tribe, it was unveiled March 20, 2007, and opened to the general public on March 28, 2007. It is accessed via the Grand Canyon West Airport terminal or a 120-mile (190 km) drive from Las Vegas. The Skywalk is east of Meadview and north of Peach Springs with Kingman being the closest city of some size.
David Jin, an entrepreneur who had been involved with tourism and the Hualapai Nation for some time, had the idea of extending a platform out over the edge of the Grand Canyon. With the help of architect Mark Ross Johnson, that idea evolved into a rectangular walkway and eventually the "U"-shaped walkway that has now been constructed.
The overall Skywalk width is 65 feet (20 m). The Skywalk length extending out from the post supports closest to the canyon wall is 70 feet (21 m). The outer and inner 32-inch-wide (810 mm) by 72-inch-deep (1,800 mm) bridge box beams are supported by eight 32-by-32-inch (810 mm × 810 mm) box posts having four posts on each side of the visitor’s center, once completed. The eight posts are anchored in pairs into four large concrete footings that are in turn anchored to the bedrock by ninety-six 2 1⁄2-inch-diameter (64 mm) DYWIDAG (acronym pronounced Doo-Wee-Dag) high strength steel threaded rod rock anchors grouted 46 feet (14 m) deep into the rock.
The deck of the Skywalk has been made with four layers of Saint-Gobain Diamant low iron glass with DuPont SentryGlas interlayer. Deck width is 10 feet 2 inches (3.10 m). The Skywalk glass sidings were made with the same glass as the deck, but fewer layers (two) bent to follow the walkway’s curvature. The glass sidings are 5 feet 2 inches (1.57 m) tall and have been designed for high wind pressures.
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Wikipedia