Written by: Dave Owen



In recent years China has developed a real fondness for building glass bridges in terrifying places, usually slung between impossibly high mountains.

Now they’re planning an ‘invisible’ bridge that promises to be the scariest of them all.

Set between two mountains in China’s Hunan province, in the Zhangjiajie region, the transparent footbridge will be built using mirrored stainless steel, with a floor made of black stone that becomes reflective when wet. This way the structure will mirror the environment and seem to disappear into thin air.

Gulp.



The idea for the bridge comes from Martin Duplantier Architectes and Daqian Landscape Architects, who won a design competition. It will cost over £4million to build.

If the idea sounds like a whole lot of nope, the bridge will have two layers to cater for nervous visitors: the upper level is in the shape of an elliptical disk and has a black stone floor that is completely visible. Water is sprayed onto the path every seven minutes, creating mist between the mountains.

The lower level, on the other hand, has a floor of 100% glass.

The mountains of Zhangjiajie are already home to the world’s longest and tallest glass bridge, one that has had to be closed several times due to its huge numbers of visitors. You can expect the same amount of interest in the new ‘invisible’ bridge.