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March 22, 2007

Grand Canyon Skywalk

Hualapai Indians, who live near the rim about 90 miles west of the Grand Canyon National Park, allowed a Las Vegas developer to build a $30 million Skywalk in hopes of creating a unique attraction on their side of the canyon.

The Skywalk is a glass-and-steel horseshoe -- a glass-bottomed observation deck that extends 70 feet beyond the canyon's edge with no visible supports above or below. The deck is anchored deep into a limestone cliff. As people walk across it, the glass layers creak and the deck shakes almost undetectably. The Skywalk can support the weight of a few hundred people and will withstand wind up to 100 mph. The observation deck has a 3-inch-thick glass bottom and has been equipped with shock absorbers to keep it from bouncing as people walk on it. (Photographs of the Grand Canyon Skywalk can be seen here and here.)

The vision of the Skywalk was to enable visitors to walk beyond the canyon walls, becoming surrounded by the Grand Canyon while standing at the edge of the Glass Bridge. This Glass Bridge suspends more than 4,000 feet above the Colorado River on the very edge of the Grand Canyon's West Rim. - Destination Grand Canyon

It's scheduled to open to the public on March 28. - Grand Canyon Skywalk

Cindy