The Russian city of Sochi, on the shores of the Black Sea, is home to one of Russia’s most spectacular adventure parks, in its namesake national park. At an altitude of 330 metres above sea level, Skypark features climbing walls, zip lines, bungee jumping facilities, via ferratas and other adventure attractions, as well as restaurants, recreational areas, a museum and other amenities. Well, one of its highlights, a true marvel of design and engineering, is the impressive Skybridge suspension pedestrian bridge, the longest in Russia and one of the longest in the world. At 439 metres long and 224 metres high, the Skybridge connects both sides of the Akhshtyr Gorge over the Mzymta River via 627 steps.
The design and research work to define the Skybridge project, carried out by the New Zealand engineering firm Tyndall Association, took three years, whilst it took another two years to build. It involved 740 tonnes of low-temperature resistant metal and more than 2,000 cubic metres of concrete. Helicopter assistance was required to cross the first cable from one end of the gorge to the other. The rest of the bridge was built with the help of a crane, with the particularity that, given the height, the crane could not lift parts weighing more than 5 tonnes. The Skybridge was therefore divided into lighter parts and assembled piece by piece.
The Skypark adventure park’s pedestrian bridge was designed to support the weight of 3,000 people simultaneously, although it does not have the capacity for that many. It is also capable of withstanding earthquakes of up to 9.0 on the Richter scale, hurricane-force winds, ice formation and thunderstorms.
The Skypark adventure park was developed by Russian developer Dmitry Fedin, in collaboration with the creator of the extreme sport of bungee jumping, New Zealander A.J. Hackett, whose organisation currently operates it. The Skybridge pedestrian suspension bridge is not only an extreme entertainment attraction, but also offers unique views of the Sochi National Park.
