Tuesday, March 20, 2007
No Effin' Way
While this is a rather cool idea, let me just say that there is no flippin' way I would ever walk out onto that thing.
What thing? Well, for those of you too lazy to click the link above, a large "skywalk" has been installed at the Grand Canyon, allowing you to walk out 70 (seventy!) feet from the Canyon's edge. As though that's not freaky enough, it's also got a transparent bottom! That's right, you'll be walking on basically a glass-bottom boat teetering out over the edge of the Grand Canyon, a mere 4,000 feet from the bottom of the ravine. The good news is that at that height, when it gives way nobody will be splattered with blood. You won't even be able to hear them hit the bottom. Yikes.
This just worries me. I know there are likely safety engineering fail-safes in effect, but there's a show on the History Channel called "Engineering Disasters," and it isn't a one-time show. There are plenty of catastrophic failures from an engineering perspective to keep filling the show up.
From the story:
The Skywalk has sparked debate on and off the reservation. Many Hualapai (pronounced WALL-uh-pie) worry about disturbing nearby burial sites, and environmentalists have accused the tribe of transforming the majestic canyon into a tourist trap.
Transforming the majestic canyon into a tourist trap? Right, good point. No tourists go there now. Environmentalists are so smart.
Construction crews spent two years building the Skywalk. They drilled steel anchors 46 feet into the limestone rim to hold the deck in place. Earlier this month, they welded the Skywalk to the anchors after pushing it past the edge using four tractor trailers and an elaborate system of pulleys.
I'm no geologist but isn't limestone really crumbly? And also, those sound like very precise tools -- tractor trailers and an elaborate system of pulleys. I like to picture them suspending a tractor-trailer off the side of the canyon attached to a pulley that keeps the skywalk balanced. That would be an elaborate system of pulleys.
Architect Mark Johnson said the Skywalk will support the weight of a few hundred people and withstand canyon winds of 100 mph. The observation deck has been embedded with shock absorbers to keep it from wobbling like a diving board as people walk on it.
A "few hundred people"? Sounds rather nonspecific, doesn't it? I'd like to know precisely how much weight it can hold before I share it with a fat tourist from Iowa. I do, however, appreciate that it won't wobble like a diving board as people walk on it. That would probably no do much for its popularity.
The local indian tribe are christening the Skywalk by having two former astronauts join them on it and the story concludes with this gem:
And, as the Apollo 11 astronaut famous for walking on the moon, Aldrin said he has no fear of heights.
Because this is basically the same thing.
What does having walked on the moon have to do with heights? Does Aldrin think there was a chance he might have fallen off the moon and plummeted to, say, Florida? This is like saying, "As the first man to cross the Atlantic in a rowboat, I've got no fear of pogo sticks."
Makes about as much sense.
What thing? Well, for those of you too lazy to click the link above, a large "skywalk" has been installed at the Grand Canyon, allowing you to walk out 70 (seventy!) feet from the Canyon's edge. As though that's not freaky enough, it's also got a transparent bottom! That's right, you'll be walking on basically a glass-bottom boat teetering out over the edge of the Grand Canyon, a mere 4,000 feet from the bottom of the ravine. The good news is that at that height, when it gives way nobody will be splattered with blood. You won't even be able to hear them hit the bottom. Yikes.
This just worries me. I know there are likely safety engineering fail-safes in effect, but there's a show on the History Channel called "Engineering Disasters," and it isn't a one-time show. There are plenty of catastrophic failures from an engineering perspective to keep filling the show up.
From the story:
The Skywalk has sparked debate on and off the reservation. Many Hualapai (pronounced WALL-uh-pie) worry about disturbing nearby burial sites, and environmentalists have accused the tribe of transforming the majestic canyon into a tourist trap.
Transforming the majestic canyon into a tourist trap? Right, good point. No tourists go there now. Environmentalists are so smart.
Construction crews spent two years building the Skywalk. They drilled steel anchors 46 feet into the limestone rim to hold the deck in place. Earlier this month, they welded the Skywalk to the anchors after pushing it past the edge using four tractor trailers and an elaborate system of pulleys.
I'm no geologist but isn't limestone really crumbly? And also, those sound like very precise tools -- tractor trailers and an elaborate system of pulleys. I like to picture them suspending a tractor-trailer off the side of the canyon attached to a pulley that keeps the skywalk balanced. That would be an elaborate system of pulleys.
Architect Mark Johnson said the Skywalk will support the weight of a few hundred people and withstand canyon winds of 100 mph. The observation deck has been embedded with shock absorbers to keep it from wobbling like a diving board as people walk on it.
A "few hundred people"? Sounds rather nonspecific, doesn't it? I'd like to know precisely how much weight it can hold before I share it with a fat tourist from Iowa. I do, however, appreciate that it won't wobble like a diving board as people walk on it. That would probably no do much for its popularity.
The local indian tribe are christening the Skywalk by having two former astronauts join them on it and the story concludes with this gem:
And, as the Apollo 11 astronaut famous for walking on the moon, Aldrin said he has no fear of heights.
Because this is basically the same thing.
What does having walked on the moon have to do with heights? Does Aldrin think there was a chance he might have fallen off the moon and plummeted to, say, Florida? This is like saying, "As the first man to cross the Atlantic in a rowboat, I've got no fear of pogo sticks."
Makes about as much sense.
Labels: employment for washed-up astronauts, Grand Canyon, Skywalk
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When I first read this article I thought the walkway was enclosed. If you look at the pictures on cnn.com, it's not! I guess that adds to the thrill. I would walk on it though, but not for $50+!
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