Designing the Grand Canyons new laminated
glass walkway
Dr. Stephen J. Bennison, E.I. DuPont de Nemours & Co. Inc., GLS Technical Associate
Mr. Francis Serruys, Saint-Gobain Glass - CDI, SGGS Project R&D and Marketing Manager
Keywords
1=outdoor glass ooring 2=low iron glass
Abstract
In this contribution we discuss the
methodology used to design an external
glass ooring application in the Skywalk
at the Grand Canyon West. The
methodology is based upon structural
calculations of laminated glass using
nite element-based procedures. In
addition, sacricial glass plies that are
redundant to the structural function are
included to allow for the possibility of
accidental glass breakage due to contact
damage. The nite element simulations
are based on the mechanical properties
of the glass and the ionoplast structural
polymer interlayer used in the job. The
designed multi-ply laminate has been
veried by testing. The top surface
of the glass is partially treated with a
non-slip surface for walkway safety. A
standard PVB laminated safety glass is
used as a balustrade assuring a clear,
unobstructed view of the canyon.
1. Introduction
A cantilevered, all-laminated glass
skywalk jutting 21.34m out over the
Grand Canyon West has now been
opened for visitors. The 2.8 meter wide,
Figure 1
View on the Skywalk in the Grand Canyon West
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3=ionoplast interlayer 4=slip resistance
U-shaped skywalk sits 1,200 m above
the Colorado River and offers fabulous
vertical and horizontal vistas of the
Canyon (see gure 1).
The Skywalk project is a partnership
between the Hualapai Native American
Indian tribe and entrepreneur David Jin
of Las Vegas. The design team for the
project included MRJ Architects and
Lochsa Engineering LLC. The 54.1 mm
thick laminated glass oor panels as well
as the curved glass balustrades were
manufactured in Germany and shipped
to the U.S. for installation.
2. Designing the Skywalk
From a design perspective, Principal
of MRJ Architects, Mark R. Johnson
wanted to create a unique experience
for visitors to the Grand Canyon. His
goal was to create a feeling of being
unsupported, of oating in the air,
of a total freedom. Glass was central to
this goal.
The specic requirements set for the
glass were:
Glass as clear as possible
Loading
Short duration
- Wind load (up- and downward)
Long duration applied to the glass
oor
- Uniform applied trafc load (1h)
- Concentrated trafc load (1h)
- Self-weight
Human safety impact load for the
balustrade
Slip resistant top surface of the glass
oor
Sustained upper use temperature of
50C
The glazing method takes into account
differential movement between the
2 steel support beams due to e.g.
different expansion; seismic effects; etc.
2.1 Glass
Low iron glass SGG Diamant, having
an iron oxide content of less than 1/6th
the content of standard oat glass has
been used. This crystal clear glass
gives a true colour rendition of the
scenery viewed through the glass even
in the case of thicker laminated glass
compositions.
The mechanical resistance of the
individual glass panels is increased by
carrying out heat treatments i.e. heat
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strengthening or thermal tempering.
The uppermost glass of the oor
panel has a slip resistant ceramic frit
hiding the support beams and offering
safety. The slip resistance has been
tested according to ASTM F1679-02
with a Variable Incidence Tribometer.
The baseline for adequate performance
is the widely endorsed value 0.50 as
threshold of safety for normal walking.
For the Skywalk project a slip resistance
coefcient > 1 under dry as well as wet
conditions has been used
Additional shoe covers for visitors
minimize the risk of slipping and
falling in the central clear viewing area
and also minimize the risk of contact
damage of the walkable glass surface
(see gure 2).
2.2 Interlayers
A structural interlayer: DuPont
SentryGlas Plus, has been chosen
for laminating the heat treated oor
panels. The structural properties
of this ionoplast interlayer reduce
the overall laminate thickness and
hence the weight of the glass oor,
giving maximum structural efciency.
Moreover, the interlayer does not
add colour to the laminate and offers
good edge stability as the oor is only
2-sided supported with a butt-glazed
joint between panels. Above all, this
structural interlayer provides signicant
structural performance in case of
accidental glass breakage. Additional
information can be found elsewhere [1]
A standard PVB (PolyVinyl Butyral)
interlayer is used for the balustrade.
The main function of this interlayer is to
meet basic safety requirements in the
case of accidental human impact.
2.3 Glazing
The laminated, load-bearing oor glass
is supported on the short ends by a
pillow block system so as to simply
support the glass. The pillow blocks are
xed on the steel support beams (see
gure 3). A structural adhesive is used
to glaze the panels with a minimum 5
mm thickness and glass surface contact
of minimum 50 mm to reduce the risk
of glass-metal contact and to reduce
stress-concentrations at the termination
points of the partial supports along the
long edges. This structural adhesive also
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Figure 2
View on the glass oor with the central clear
viewing area, the slip resistant ceramic frit along
the outer portions of the glass surface and visi-
tors shoe covers.
Figure 3
Detail of the oor and guardrail glazing.
provides important support in the case
of accidental breakage of all the glass in
the laminate.
Additional structural adhesive and
supports are applied to laminate edges
and along the top of the laminate for
support against upward wind action.
The guardrail, having a height of
1, 40 m, is constructed in such a way
that the handrail is independent from
the guardrail glass. Consequently, the
function of the guardrail glass is mainly
limited to human impact safety i.e.
restraining visitors from penetrating the
laminate under accidental impact.
3. Engineering the glass oor
The approach to engineering such a
glass oor is to rst determine a suitable
laminate construction that provides low
breakage probability under the various
loading actions specied. Once this
construction is established, additional
glass plies are added to the structure
to allow for accidental breakage due
to contact damage and allow for glass
replacement. As with all glass and
laminate design, suitable values of
load duration and use temperature are
334
Figure 4
Cross section of the Finite
element model.
Figure 5
Maximum principal glass
stress under self-weight.
Maximum stress = 3.25
MPa, maximum deection
= 0.42 mm.
established based on a risk analysis. For
this application, one hour load duration
at a sustained use temperature of 50C
had been used. This assumes that the
full design loads would act on the
ooring for one hour after breakage
of an upper glass ply (essentially 7
well-built, persons per square meter).
This approach is common practice and
is being standardized in a currently
developing ASTM standard Standard
Practice for the Design and Performance
of Supported Glass Walkways.
System deformation and load
resistance have been estimated using
nite-element based procedures for the
structural analysis of laminated glass [2,
3]. Similar to the ASTM E 1300 04
standard and to actual work within the
European Standardisation CEN/TC 129/
WG 8 Glass in Building Glass Design,
the nite element simulations are based
on the mechanical properties of the
glass and polymer interlayer.
3.1 Support conditions
Each oor plate, dimensions 1219
mm x 2896 mm, is supported along
the two short (1219 mm) edges. The
support is extending 686 mm along
the edges from each corner, giving an
unsupported span of 1524 mm.
3.2 Loading
Windload
Upward load: 3.83 kPa
Downward load: 2.15 kPa
Self weight: long duration permanent
load (> 1 year)
Trafc load
7 kPa uniform applied pressure,
assumed to have a duration of 1
hour;
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Concentrated load of 1.34 kN
applied for 1 hour over a 50 mm x 50
mm area at the maximum moment
location (middle of unsupported
edge)
A maximum sustained temperature of
50 C is used.
3.3 Glass strength values
ASTM E 1300 04 guidelines (Appendix
X9) for allowable stresses of seamed
or polished glass edges under a 1 hour
applied load duration have been used
[2] (see table 1).
Seamed or Polished edges
[MPa]
Heat-strengthened 23.4
Glass
Tempered Glass 46.7
Table 1
Allowable glass edge stress, 1 hour load, accord-
ing ASTM E 1300 - 04
3.4 Calculation results
A 40 mm thick quadruple laminate build
consisting of heat strengthened glass
and one fully tempered glass (lower
supported ply) with structural interlayer
has been analyzed using a quarter
plate nite element model. Symmetry
was used to minimise the job size. An
additional upper 8 mm tempered ply
is ignored in the analysis and provides
additional safety and redundancy.
Figure 4 shows details of the nite
element model and mesh used in the
analysis. Note that the supporting
structural glazing adhesive is included in
the analysis.
Figures 5 through 7 show the results
of a series of simulations for three types
of loading.
 Glass stress values are signicantly Figure 6
less than the guidelines in ASTM E Maximum principal glass
1300 04 and therefore represent a stress under 7 kPa uniform
pressure. Maximum stress
low probability of breakage under the = 22.6 MPa, maximum de-
dened loads and support conditions. ection = 2.5 mm.
The simulations indicate that maximum
stress occurs opposite the termination

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points of partial support along the long
edges.

4. Conclusion
The design process of the Skywalk
made it possible to build a pure glass
skywalk structure, uncluttered by visible
supports, with a high degree of safety
Figure 7
for visitors. A highly efcient solution
was achieved by using state-of-the-art Maximum principal glass
stress under 1.34 kN con-
modelling techniques and materials centrated load. Maximum
property characteristics. The design stress = 3.25 MPa, maxi-
realises the dream of David Jin. mum deection = 0.42 mm.
Just like an eagle can y into the
Grand Canyon, my vision was to
enable visitors to walk the path of
the eagle, and become surrounded
by the Grand Canyon while standing
at the edge of the glass bridge.
The bridge gives us a chance to share
the wonder of the canyon that the
Hualapai Tribe has graciously offered.
My dream was to nd a balance
between form, function and nature.
Once a dream now reality.
March 2007, David Jin

5. References
[1] S.J. Bennison, C. A. Smith, A. Van Duser, & A.
Jagota, Structural Performance of Laminated
Safety Glass Made with Stiff Interlayers,
Proceedings of Glass Processing Days 2001,
Tampere, Finland June 2001.
[2] ASTM E 1300 - 04 Standard Practice for
Determining Load Resistance of Glass in
Buildings. West Conshohocken, PA 19428-
2959 (USA)
[3] Laminated Glass News, Issue No. 35, February
2007

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