Vietnam’s new glass bridge is declared the world’s longest bridge; sets Guinness World Record

A glass-bottomed bridge in Vietnam, which opened to much public fanfare in April, has been declared the world’s longest bridge of its kind by Guinness World Records.

Suspended approximately 492 feet above the ground and measuring 2,073 feet in length, the glass bridge was a collaboration between local tourism authorities and a French construction company to revive tourism, badly hit by the global pandemic when the country shut its borders to international visitors.

It is supposed to be sufficiently able to help up to 450people at a time. An SUV was recently driven over it to test its strength.

The reinforced glass utilized for the bridge has three layers, each 40mm thick, and can hold up to 450 people at a time, according to a statement from the facility’s owner, a Reuters report reads.

“The engineering required to build that into the side of a cliff but maintain all the features of nature, the greenery, the rocks, it’s been an amazing project,” said Glen Pollard, a representative of Guinness World Record told Reuters. The bridge is said to be able to support up to 450 people at a time.

The record for the world’s longest glass-bottomed bridge was held by a bridge measuring 1,726 feet long in Guangdong, China. Called the Bach Long Bridge, it is located in the rural region of Son La province.

It offers visitors a panoramic view of the lush mountain rainforest. The suspension bridge is the third such bridge in Vietnam. Bach Long in Vietnamese translates to ‘White Dragon’.

Guinness World Records officials certified the bridge over the weekend, local media outlets reported.

It is the third glass bridge to be built in Vietnam. In 2018, one more spectacular mountain footbridge, held up by a pair of enormous stone hands, made global headlines after it opened in the Ba Na Hills area in Central Vietnam.