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World's longest (and scariest) pedestrian bridge opens

 

Switzerland has just opened a new 494-meter suspension bridge that is the longest pedestrian suspension in the world, and possibly the scariest at 85m above the valley floor.

The bridge, near Zermatt at one end, links two portions of a popular hiking trail, the Europaweg. The trail is a two day hike from Randa to Zermatt.

The new span replaces a bridge that closed almost as soon as it opened in 2015 because of the danger of falling rocks.

Locals campaigned for a replacement, and funds were raised privately; the new bridge costs about $775,000 to build. Amazingly, it was built in under ten weeks by a Swiss rope cable maker called, not surprisingly, Swissrope. 

The best part of every trip is realizing that it has upset your expectations

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I dislike walking on these swinging bridges because of how you're bounced around when someone else is on them.  It is truly an impressive feat of engineering, although I'm pretty sure we had to cross swinging bridges much higher than this in Nepal when I was hiking there.

Twitter: @DrFumblefinger

"We do not take a trip, a trip takes us".  John Steinbeck, from Travels with Charlie

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