Walk on thin air as 'skywalk' opens

APOLLO 11 astronaut Buzz Aldrin was among the first visitors to walk upon "the newest wonder of the world" – a glass-bottomed walkway over the Grand Canyon.

Architectural wonder ... the walkway is constructed with 10cm-thick glass, massive steel bolts driven 14 metres into surrounding bedrock and giant shock absorbers capable of supporting the weight of several hundred tourists. Picture: AP

WHAT is being billed as one of the newest architectural wonders of the world was unveiled today at the Grand Canyon.

Apollo 11 astronaut Buzz Aldrin was among the first visitors to walk upon the gleaming glass-bottomed walkway which juts out over the edge of the Grand Canyon.

The Skywalk, a horse-shoe shaped observation deck, which extend 20 metres over the western lip of the vast chasm in the Hualapai Indian Reservation, about 193 kilometres east of Las Vegas, will carry tourists who will be able to peer straight down 1200 metres to the canyon floor below.

Apollo 11 astronaut Buzz Aldrin and Hualapai tribal leaders were among the first to venture out onto the walkway at a 12.00pm (0500 AEDT) opening ceremony. Architects say the structure is capable of supporting several hundred people simultaneously and will not be affected by powerful winds that often roar through the Grand Canyon.

Weighing around 500 tonnes, the walkway is constructed with 10-centimetre thick glass and is supported by massive steel bolts that have been driven 14 metres into surrounding bedrock. Giant shock absorbers will also prevent the structure from quivering under the weight of visitors, architects say.

The project, which took two years to complete, is the latest example of Native American tribes seeking to generate income through tourism. The Hualapai are hoping that the Skywalk will persuade visitors to come to their remote section of the Grand Canyon, which previously struggled to lure tourists with its Old West-style villages and tours.

The Skywalk was dreamed up by Shanghai-born businessman David Jin. The Las Vegas-based investor is reported to have bankrolled construction of the $37.6 million project and under a deal with the Hualapai will collect up to half of the revenues from ticket sales over the next 25 years to recoup his investment.

Tickets for the Skywalk, which opens to the public on March 28, will cost around $US25.

But construction of the project has been criticised by some Hualapai members and environmentalists, who have said the tourist attraction has been built on sacred ground.

"We have disturbed the ground," said Dolores Honga, 70. "Our people died right there. It's spiritual ground."

Environmentalist Kieran Suckling, of the Center for Bio-Diversity, meanwhile complained about the creation of a gleaming architectural marvel on the site of one of the natural wonders of the world.

"The Eiffel Tower is an architectural wonder," he told CNN. "But do I want the Eiffel Tower on the edge of the Grand Canyon? No."

Sheri Yellowhawk, a Hualapai tribal councilwoman who has been closely involved with the development of the project, defended the Skywalk. "Our people have suffered poverty and unemployment for years. I don't think we can be criticised for wanting to change that," she said.