One of the most incredible views and tourist attractions of the Grand Canyon is the Skywalk. Stand 4,000 feet above the ground and 70 feet away from the edge of the cliff on a glass suspension walkway and peer down into the depths of the amazing Grand Canyon.
The Skywalk deck was designed for a 100-pound-per-square-foot live load along with code-required seismic and wind forces. The foundation can withstand an 8.0 magnitude earthquake within 50 miles (80 km). Fine-tuning of the project occurred after a wind loading and pedestrian induced vibration analysis. Two tuned mass dampers were installed inside the outer box beam as well as one inside the inner box beam at the furthest extension of the Skywalk to reduce pedestrian footfall vibration. The walkway could carry 822 people that weigh 200 pounds (91 kg) each without overstress, but maximum occupancy at one time is 120 people.
The Skywalk was assembled on top of the canyon wall in line with its final placement and moved into final position by a jack and roll rig. The Skywalk infrastructure itself weighs a little over 1,000,000 pounds (450,000 kg) without counterweights but including the tuned mass dampers, railing hardware, glass rails, glass deck and steel box beams. At the time of roll-out, the Skywalk weighed approximately 1.6 million pounds (730,000 kg). The process was completed in two days.
Picture Credit : Google
