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High winds are reported to have broken a glass-bottomed bridge in China, leaving a man clinging to a handrail above a 91-metre drop. Authorities claim that the bridge outside the city of Longjing was struck by winds of up to 150 kilometres per hour.
With similar glass-bottomed tourist attractions becoming more common around the world, from Tower Bridge in London to the Grand Canyon Skywalk in Arizona, should people be concerned about safety?
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Paul Bingham, a materials scientist at Sheffield Hallam University, UK, says he would have no qualms about walking on one – as long as it wasn’t during 150-kilometre-per-hour wind. “Designers and architects need to think carefully before speccing these materials, but I don’t think people should be worried,” he says.