World’s Longest Glass-Bottom Bridge Opens in China

A brand new bridge, 526-metre-long and glass-bottomed, has been opened in China across the Lianjiang River in southern China’s Huangchuan Three Gorges area. The world’s longest glass-bottomed bridge was built by the Architectural Design & Research Institute of Zhejiang University. 

Built as a tourist attraction, the bridge has got expansions for platforms where tourists can pause for photos as they make the jaw-dropping, and rather terrifying, walk. The glass bottom is composed of three layers of 1.7 inches thick tempered glass. It’s been designed to be completely see-through, perched 201 metre above the river which is populated by boats.

Glass Bridge in Huangchuan Three Gorges Scenic Area by UAD#architecture #bridge https://t.co/7bavsiAiVB pic.twitter.com/pRoq6s1J0T

— AAsArchitecture (@aasarchitecture) September 3, 2020

It can host up to 500 visitors at a time, and has guardrails made of stainless steel. The bridge towers and main cables are all painted red to stand out against the greenery of the gorges.

The bridge, which completed construction early this year, was officially recognised as the longest glass bridge in the world by Guinness World Records earlier the summer. However, it may not retain its title for too long as China is continually building bigger and longer glass-bridges. Currently, there are nearly 2,300 glass bridges in the country. In 2017, the Hongyagu suspension bridge became the longest and most terrifying bridge in the world as it was designed to swing as people crossed it.