China tests safety of world's longest glass bridge with truck

Chinese officials today successfully drove a two-tonne truck onto the world's longest and highest glass bridge in China's central Hunan province to conduct a safety test ahead of its scheduled opening next month.
To further convince the public of the sturdiness of the 430-meter bridge tucked between two steep cliffs at Zhangjiajie which is 300 meters above the ground, 20 volunteers used hammers to try to smash the glass, before an all-terrain vehicle carried 11 volunteers across the cracking glass.
Another team of 10 volunteers then tried again to smash the glass. Despite some fractures on the surface, the glass did not break, state-run Xinhua news agency reported.

The bridge is made of three layers of the tempered glass, all together 99 pieces, each of 3 by 4.5 meters and 15 mm thick. Damaged pieces can be removed and changed.
The unique pillar-like mountain formation in Zhangjiajie appeared in the Hollywood blockbuster movie "Avatar".
The Grand Canyon Scenic Area in Zhangjiajie received more than 1.2 million visitors from home and abroad last year.
Last year a big throng of tourists had a fright of their life when a newly-built glass bridge built on the cliff of high mountain in Henan province in China cracked setting off panic among the crowd.

Hundreds of tourists flocked to that glass bridge at the Yuntai Mountain walkway which developed cracks under the weight of huge crowd.