CN Tower
Pictures
Glass Floor
The lowest observation deck features a glass floor of about 25 square metre. When you stand on this floor, you can see the base of the tower, 342 metre deep. As you see on the pictures, it is indeed permitted to walk on the floor. Usually however, there are far more people wachting the floor than walking on it.
I have seen many tough guys with body builder muscles and intimidating tattoos who were too chicken to walk on the floor. And yet, it is perfectly safe. It doesn't matter if this behaviour is acquired or inborn. The fear is definitely very real.
The floor is strong enough to carry 14 hippos. Hence, it is probably safer on the glass floor than on the concrete floor next to it. The simple fact of being able to look this deep while standing on the floor, obviously has a strong, yet completely irrational influence. It is a nice illustration of the fact that people in abnormal unknown circumstances also exhibit abnormal strange behaviour.
How thick is the floor? It's actually much thinner than I thought. The total thickness is 6.82625 cm (2 11/16 inch):
- A scuff plate (the glass you actually walk on) of 0.47625 cm (3/16 inch). This plate is changed every year because it loses its transparence after a while.
- Two plates of tempered glass with a thickness of 1.27 cm (1/2 inch) laminated together.
- An air filled empty space of 2.54 cm (1 inch). This is meant for isolation. Toronto may very well be much less cold than most Europeans have been led to believe, it still can be quite cold during winter and even more so at a height of 340 metre where the winds can blow freely.
- Two plates of tempered glass with a thickness of 0.635 cm (1/4 inch) laminated together.
The size of the panels is 106.68 cm (42 inch) by 127 cm (50 inch).
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Last updated on April 16th, 2002
© Bart B. Van Bockstaele 1996-2002 - All rights reserved
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