Shaohua Glass Walkway

Shaohua Glass Walkway
少华山玻璃栈道
Huaxian, Shaanxi, China
(82) feet high / (25) meters high
(100) foot span / (30) meter span
2017

Slithering along the edge of a mountain ridge, the Shaohua Glass Walkway is one of Northern China's grandest cliffwalks. Most of China's cliffwalks are concrete decks simply cantilevered 2 meters out from the side of a vertical cliff but here at Shaohua the terrain was more of a slope so the engineers decided to elevate the walkway above and away from the ground via a series of quad shaped trusses. This allowed the architects to customize the path of the viaduct to have more open views above the surrounding trees while also retaining the height necessary to give guests a good dose of vertigo from the 100+ meter drop into the gorge. At least one section of glass panels is on a surprisingly steep grade making for a possibly slippery walkway.

The glass panels alternate between more conventional planks and are supported by a steel box truss. One disadvantage of this design is the view through the panels is somewhat obscured by the clutter of truss beams. But the customized brown railings are pleasing to the eye with an S-shape cross section that blends nicely into the wood deck.

Shaohua Glass Walkway location map.