The glass for The Skywalk?s side rails ? technically referred to as ?balustrades? ? arrived onsite Tuesday, October 10 at Grand Canyon West. The side rails will be 1.5 inches thick (38 millimeters) composed of two layers of glass with one layer of structural interlayer. The materials are placed, ready for installation, next to the two fully-welded stainless steel handrails supports. Fabricated in Germany, the pieces of glass were successfully transported via ocean freight to a port in California and then driven to the jobsite at the Grand Canyon?s edge. Installment of the glass is scheduled to start before the structure is ?jack and rolled? out 4000 feet over the canyon floor. The glass floor on The Skywalk, also manufactured in Germany, will be shipped and then transported to the jobsite between November 10 and 24.
The Skywalk is a partnership between the Hualapai tribe and entrepreneur David Jin of Las Vegas. Saint Gobain, a German company that specializes in designing architectural structural glass for unique building projects worldwide, manufactured the glass for the side rails. Mark Steel in Utah manufactured the steel for the two supports. The Skywalk design team includes Las Vegas-based MRJ Architects, Lochsa Engineering, LLC and APCO Construction.
Grand Canyon West is located approximately 120 miles east of Las Vegas, NV, and 72 miles northwest of Kingman, AZ. Attractions available at Grand Canyon West include The Indian Village with authentic dwellings, The Hualapai Market, and The Hualapai Ranch, a western town with horseback and wagon rides. Grand Canyon West is the only location throughout the entire Grand Canyon where visitors can access the river and water recreation activities at the bottom of the canyon via helicopter tours. For more information and how to purchase visitor packages, log on to www.destinationgrandcanyon.com or call 1(877) 716-WEST (9378).
How cool is that going to be? I saw a conceptual drawing of it when I was trying to plan (much too last minute, as it turned out) a trip out there. I think I’ll let a few people try it out first though. It’s not heights that bother me, it’s the rather violent and messy splat at the bottom that gives me the willies.