Somehow work on the bridge had progressed significantly before anyone noticed.
According to VnExpress, on Monday local authorities ordered the Thanh Thanh Cong Lam Dong Tourism JSC to stop working on the glass-bottomed bridge, which stretches 220 meters between the Valley of Love and Mong Mo Hill in Da Lat.
The structure is two meters wide and stands 28 meters above the ground, and is nearly complete, while officials only just realized the project hadn't received approval. The company was also in the process of building a waiting room for visitors, and cut down six pine trees without permission.
Thanh Thanh Cong Lam Dong has been fined VND40 million (US$1,724) and was given 60 days to submit a license to build the bridge. If that deadline is not met, it will be seized.
This is just the latest in what seems to be an ongoing glass-bridge bonanza. In April 2019, an 80-meter-long bridge festooned in gaudy colors opened in Son La Province, though it was quickly roasted on social media. Digital renderings of the bridge showed it spanning an incredible river valley, but in reality it spanned some grass at an entirely unimpressive height.
Then, in November, a 60-meter-long bridge perched 600 meters above the ground opened at the O Quy mountain pass, located 17 kilometers away from Sapa. This all follows the absurd global success of the Golden Bridge at Ba Na Hills outside of Da Nang.
[Photo by Khanh Huong via VnExpress]
