China invites reporter to 'slam sledgehammer' on world's highest glass bridge

The Zhangjiajie Grand Canyon bridge requires safety check ahead of it’s opening in Hunan, China, next month

The world’s longest and highest glass-bottom bridge in the world is set to open in Hunan, China next month and its operators are ready to go the extra mile to ensure it is safe.

To assuage fears, makers of Zhangjiajie Grand Canyon bridge invited BBC reporter Dan Simmons to carry out a safety test. The test involved Simmons standing on top of an elevated glass panel which was placed on the bridge and slamming a sledgehammer on it.



At Simmons' first swing, the top layer of the panel showed visible cracks. He was then encouraged to take a few more swings at the glass panel. Despite the cracks that showed up after several hits, the glass panel remained intact.

The test comes after the Yuntaishan glass bridge in central China's Henan province cracked last September.



Chinese engineers began work on Zhangjiajie Grand Canyon bridge in 2015. The bridge has been suspended across Zhangjiajie Grand Canyon in Hunan Province's scenic Zhangjiajie National Park some 984 feet above ground. It is 430 meters long and six meters wide.

The bridge has been designed by Israeli architect Haim Dotan and is capable of holding 800 people at once, with plans for it to be used as a bungee jumping point and even a fashion runway.

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This article originally appeared on Mashable.

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