Grand Canyon Skywalk

This makes me sick!

The $30 million Grand Canyon Skywalk is scheduled to open January 1, 2006 on the Hualapai Indian Reservation. Tourism is the reservation's biggest source of income.
"The Skywalk will be an attraction unlike any other in the world," said Sheri Yellowhawk, CEO of the Grand Canyon Resort Corporation. The company is building the bridge in the Hualapai Indian Reservation on the south rim of the canyon.

The Skywalk will jut out about 70 feet into the canyon, nearly 4,000 ft above the Colorado River, and will accommodate 120 people. Built with more than a million pounds of steel beams and includes dampeners that minimize the structure's vibration, the Skywalk was designed to hold 72 million pounds, withstand an 8.0 magnitude earthquake 50 miles away, and withstand winds in excess of 100 mph. It has four inches thick glass bottom and sides.

"They've been able to exploit their natural beauty and become a tourist destination," Esquerra said. "What we've normally seen in the past between the tribes and national Park Service is like the Blackfeet in Montana appealing to get free access to Glacier National Park. But the Hualapais have a new and aggressive attitude to develop markets on their own land."