Grey nomads who have ventured across the hugely popular glass bridge at Cobbold Gorge in Queensland’s Gulf Savannah region can be forgiven for having a ‘funny turn’ when hearing some alarming news out of China.
A 100-metre-high glass bridge near the Chinese city of Longjing has shattered in strong winds, leaving one terrified stranded in ‘no-man’s land’.
A statement posted to Longjing City’s official Weibo social media account said the Piyan Mountain tourism area, in the country’s north-east, had experienced extreme weather on Friday, damaging several panes of the glass deck.
“Our staff rushed to the scene with emergency equipment and successfully transferred the trapped person to safety,” it said. “The trapped person was taken to hospital for observation. He was discharged as his mental and physical condition were stable.”
The post said the Piyan Mountain tourist area had been closed and authorities were investigating whether other amusements at the park presented safety hazards.
These glass-deck bridges offering startling under-foot views have become hugely popular across China and some 60 of them have been built since 2016.
The Cobbold Gorge glass bridge was built in 2019, and became Australia’s first ever bridge constructed with an entirely glass surface.
The 11-metre long, 19-metre-high bridge has a glass bottom deck that is 4.5-centimetres thick. It was built at a cost of $600,000. The bridge provides visitors with 360-degree views of the gorge and provides the opportunity to walk over the sandstone cliffs and look down to the waters below.
You ask, have I ever walked over a class bridge, never, but have walked over a steel grated platform that when you looked down, it was 114 mts to machinery. As soon as I looked down, I collapsed to the grate, it really scared me. It was at Burragorang dam., in Sydney.
No thanks
Glass bridge 100m up
Not a good idea
Made in China, enough said !
my stomach does flip flops when i step out of my car onto a grate in the gutter….. glass bridge… yea right
Karma
Yes, I have walked across the glass walkway at Cobbold Gorge, in fact I drove 1,700klm across Queensland last year specifically to walk across it! As far as I’m concerned it’s as safe as anywhere and the views were to die for!
Well…..that’s a statement in itself!
The Ureka observation deck in Sth Melbourne has a glass floor.
Two chances – Buckley’s and none at all!