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Glass walkway at the Grand Canyon

LoKyBuckeye

I give up. This board is too hard to understand.
Fri Aug 26,12:23 AM ET

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20050826...xeUCPes0NUE;_ylu=X3oDMTA3ODdxdHBhBHNlYwM5NjQ-

PHOENIX - Great views — and plenty of goosebumps for those afraid of heights.

An American Indian tribe with land along the Grand Canyon is planning to build a glass-bottomed walkway that will jut out 70 feet from the canyon's edge.

The horseshoe-shaped skywalk, expected to open in January, is part of the Hualapai Tribe's $40 million effort to turn 1,000 acres of reservation land into a tourist destination that will also feature an Indian village and Western-themed town.

The tribe's reservation is some 200 miles by road to the west of the section of the Grand Canyon National Park that most tourists visit.

The walkway, with a glass bottom and sides, will be supported by steel beams and will accommodate 120 people, though it is designed to hold 72 million pounds, said Sheri Yellowhawk, chief executive officer of the Grand Canyon Resort Corp., the tribal-owned company that is overseeing the project.

"You're basically looking 4,000 feet down. It's a whole new way to experience the Grand Canyon," Yellowhawk said.

Admission will be $25.

The project is still seeking an insurer, said architect David Jin, who said he came up with the skywalk idea while visiting the canyon in 1996.

capt.ny12808260249.canyon_tourism_ny128.jpg
 
I don't mind hights at all when I'm on something secure. I'm not sure I could walk out on something that looked liked that.

I hiked rim to rim through the GC last year - but I still can't go to the edge of an overlook and look down. My brother is the same way. When he was in Paris he couldn't make himself go up in the Eiffel Tower - but he is a retired C-130 pilot.
 
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Speaking of being scared of heights, anybody else do the X-Scream ride at the top of the Stratosphere in Vegas? That's a serious thrill, especially if you're in the front row.

I guess they now have another ride up there, called Insanity, that spins you in a circle, hanging over the edge 900 feet. I haven't tried that one.

"At 866 feet, X Scream is the world's third highest thrill ride. Shaped like a giant teeter-totter, X Scream is an open vehicle that propels riders head-first, 27 feet over the edge of the Stratosphere Tower and dangles them weightlessly above the Strip before pulling it's riders back and over again for more!"

"Insanity-The Ride consists of an arm that extends out 64 feet over the edge of the Tower and will spin passengers at up to three 'G's.' As the ride spins faster and faster, the riders are propelled up to an angle of 70 degrees. Riders will experience the thrill of being flung over the edge of the Tower and literally facing downward at the City of Las Vegas below. The ride is programmable with various ride options. An unobstructed view of historic downtown Las Vegas rewards those riders brave enough to experience three 'G's' at a height of more than 900 feet."

The first picture is Insanity, the second one X-Scream.

tower_img_thrill.jpg
 
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MililaniBuckeye said:
Even if there were 120 Thumps, that's only 36,000 pounds which is only .05% of the rated capacity. Talk about overkill...
I hear it's going to be designed and the parts manufactured by the ACME Co., and then assembled by Wile E. Coyote and Sons Inc.

If the Insurance Co. needs people to test it, they can always recruit Michigan.
 
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