A cantilever bridge in China that beats one of the U.S. (Photo : www.china.org.cn)
After work first began on a 35-million-yuan ($5.6 million) cantilever bridge in the Longgang scenic area of Yunyang in March 2014, the Chinese province with the country's largest city by population is on the verge of opening its grand structure in time for the May Day holiday.
Even though the construction team installed the final piece of glass on the bridge on Feb. 11, the surrounding facilities are yet to be completed and the due date has been scheduled for the last days of April.
Yunyang is located in Chongqing municipality, in China's southwestern region, and was chosen as the host of the extraordinary structure, which is mostly transparent and positioned 718 meters above the ground. The cantilever reaches out to a length of 26.68 meters and is five meters longer than the Grand Canyon Skywalk in the U.S.
Glass components, of which there are 50 in total, serve as the outer layer of the almost 150-square-meter bridge, so that people who stand on the cantilever structure can view the canyon and river under their feet.
Visitors can be reassured about the absence of any potential risks, as the builders of the bridge used special glass to ensure public safety. Natural disasters, including typhoons up to a magnitude of 14 and earthquakes registering a maximum of 8.0 on the Richter scale, will not destroy the foundation of the bridge.
As the world's longest cantilever bridge, the new attraction will be able to sit alongside the Great Wall of China in the tourism publications, which are likely to feature the impressive photos that appeared on the Ecns and CriEnglish websites.
