Longest pedestrian suspension bridge opens at Czech resort

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Longest Pedestrian Suspension Bridge Opens At Czech Resort
People stand on the suspension bridge a day before its official opening at a mountain resort in Dolni Morava, Czech Republic, © AP/Press Association Images
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By Associated Press Reporters

The longest pedestrian suspension bridge of its kind has opened at a mountain resort in the Czech Republic.

The 2,365-foot-long bridge is built at an altitude of more than 3,610ft above sea level.

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It connects two mountain ridges and hangs up to 312ft above the valley below.


Visitors cross the bridge
Visitors cross the bridge (Petr David Josek/PA)

Sky Bridge 721, as it is known, is located in the north-east of the country in the Kralicky Sneznik mountain range near the border with Poland, some 125 miles east of Prague.

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The bridge offers unusual views for visitors who have a head for heights.

Up to 500 people will be allowed on the bridge at once, although that number will be halved for the first two weeks following Friday’s opening.


The bridge
The bridge is the longest of its kind (Petr David Josek/AP)

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The bridge will be closed for safety reasons if winds reach 84mph.

Construction took two years and cost 200 million Czech crowns (£6.9 million).

Critics say the bridge is too big for the surrounding environment, while others argue it will attract too many tourists to the town, which has a population of less than 500.

CzechTourism believes the bridge could attract tourists from all around the globe.

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The bridge will close if it is too windy
The bridge will close if it is too windy (Petr David Josek/AP)

Theo Scheepens, 59, from the Netherlands, was one of the first.

“Marvellous, impressive; the bridge moves so you think something is going to happen,” he said.

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“I wonder what is going to happen when it is windy. It is terrific weather, we are very blessed.”

The previous longest such bridge is in Arouca, Portugal, and is 1,693 feet long.

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