Chinese officials drive two-tonne truck onto the world’s highest glass bridge in safety test

Chinese officials yesterday successfully drove a two-tonne truck onto the world's longest and highest glass bridge in China's central Hunan province in a safety test ahead of its scheduled opening next month.

In a further demonstration of the sturdiness of the 430-meter bridge straddling 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 comprising 10 volunteers tried again to smash the glass, but despite some fractures on the surface, the glass did not break, according to state-run Xinhua news agency. The bridge comprises three layers of the tempered glass, totaling 99 pieces, each of 3 by 4.5 meters and 15 mm thick.

Damaged pieces can be changed after they are removed. The unique pillar-like mountain Zhangjiajie featured in the Hollywood blockbuster movie Avatar.

The Grand Canyon Scenic Area in Zhangjiajie received over 1.2 million visitors from home and abroad last year.

Last year, a large number of tourists who had flocked to a newly built glass bridge at the Yuntai Mountain walkway had the shock of their lives when the bridge developed cracks under the weight of huge crowd.

The bridge, designed by Israeli architect Haim Dotan, had cost 460 million yuan ($69 million), and the national park's operators are keen to address the public's fears of the bridge being unsafe.