Saint Gobain Supplies Glass for Grand Canyon Skywalk's U-shaped Glass Bridge

The new Grand Canyon Skywalk's U-shaped glass bridge is suspended 4,000 feet above the Colorado River, making it possible for visitors to take in incomparable views of the western edge of the Grand Canyon. What makes this engineering marvel possible is the durable and ultra-clear glass that was designed and produced by Saint-Gobain. Low-iron Diamant® glass was processed into laminated glass. The deck, approximately 10 feet wide and 70 feet deep, is made of laminated tempered glass more than 2 inches thick, produced in 46 pieces that were shipped directly to the western edge of the canyon. Each piece of glass is held in place by connectors specifically designed by Saint-Gobain for the bridge. The floor glass includes structural interlayers of DuPont SentryGlas® Plus for optical clarity and strength. The glass deck is supported by outer and inner steel beams anchored into solid stone in the wall of the Grand Canyon. The Skywalk is said to support approximately 100 pounds per square foot, can withstand an 8.0-magnitude earthquake and 100-mph winds. Headquartered in Paris, Saint-Gobain has more than 200,000 employees throughout the world, including 24,000 in the United States and Canada. In addition to its leadership in glass for architectural products, the company is said to be the world's largest supplier of building materials and manufactures abrasives, ceramics and other high-performance materials.