The world’s longest suspension pedestrian bridge opened near Zermatt this weekend on Saturday 29 July.
It means that the Europaweg trail, a two-day hiking route that runs between Zermatt and Grachen can now be hiked again without a detour.
The trail offers a spectacular view of the iconic 4478m Matterhorn and replaces a similar bridge that was closed in 2010 due to rockfall damage.
After that damage hikers were forced to climb 500m down to the valley floor and then back up again on the other side.
Excavation works along the steep slopes so that the anchor posts can be installed © Burn Spezialbau AG, Adelboden
Anti-swinging system
The new bridge measures 494m in length and hangs 85m above the Grabengufer ravine.
The Zermatt Tourist board has claimed the new structure as the world’s longest suspension bridge. A similar bridge in Reutte, Austria is higher, hanging 110m off the ground, but only 404m long.
The bridge took ten weeks to build by contractor SwissRope and its cables alone weigh around 7000kg. The structure also includes a special system to dampen down turbulence to prevent it from swinging.
Accommodation in Zermatt
If you’d like to test the bridge yourself and are looking for accommodation in Zermatt, please contact Ed or Suzanne on +41 79 247 15 88
Facts
- Inauguration on Saturday 29 July, 10 am, above Randa
- Length: 494 m
- Width: 65 cm
- Highest point: 85 m
- Diameter of the two cables: 53 mm
- Weight of the cables: 8 tonnes
- Accessible from Randa: 2.5 h
