A glass box tourist attraction suspended 1,300 feet above the ground was closed yesterday for a ‘routine inspection’ after visitors reported the sound of cracking glass.
The Garibay family visiting from California were posing for pictures when they heard the cracking sound and saw the coating resemble a shattered windscreen on the transparent viewing deck on the 103rd floor of Chicago’s Willis Tower.
After alerting staff, all four boxes of The Ledge were closed yesterday morning for maintenance.
A spokesman for the Willis Tower said that what cracked was a protective coating on the top of three layers of glass one half-inch thick.
"This coating does not affect the structural integrity of The Ledge in any way. Occasionally, the coating will crack, as it is designed to in order to protect the surface of the glass," Brian Rehme, a spokesman for PR firm Fleishman Hillard said in a statement.
The three-inch thick glass is meant to withstand 5 tonnes and a spokesman said that although unusual, this has happened before and is perfectly safe.
He told the Daily Mail: "We have temporarily closed the four Ledge boxes for routine inspection we hope to reopen them shortly."
The Willis Tower, formerly the Sears Tower, is the world’s 8th tallest building. The four viewing boxes extend four feet out from the tower and with transparent walls, floors and ceilings, provide tourists with the feeling of being suspended on air.
