Charles Kuonen Footbridge

Charles Kuonen Footbridge
Charles Kuonen Hängebrücke
Randa, Valais, Switzerland
279 feet high / 85 meters high
1,621 foot span / 494 meter span
2017

The second longest span footbridge in Europe and the fourth longest footbridge span in the World, the Charles Kuonen hanging bridge is located along a popular hiking trail between Zermatt and Grächen in the Valais Canton of Switzerland.

Designed and built by the famous footbridge company Swissrope, the gargantuan length of the free span of nearly 500 meters was accomplished via 2 main cables totaling 8 tons in weight. The deck is .65 meters wide and sags 20 meters below the anchorages.

The Charles Kuonen Footbridge is a replacement for the 2010 Randa Hängebrücke that was also known as Europaweg. Completed in June of 2010, the 250 meter long main span was heavily damaged just 3 months later in September of that year when a rock slide took out a 10 meter long section of walkway at the center of the bridge. With no guarantee that future slides would not destroy the Randa Footbridge, a decision was made to build a replacement span almost twice as long as the original but at a much lower elevation across the same ravine.

A typical round trip hike to the Charles Kuonen Footbridge is 4 hours with an elevation gain of more then 500 meters. The bridge was named after the renowned Swiss psychologist and winery owner Charles Kuonen.

Click on the page below to see the many other spectacular and high footbridges that have been built by Swissrope.

http://swissrope.com/website/?page_id=25

World's 25 Longest Footbridge Spans

1. Baglung Parbat, Nepal - 567 meters

2. 516 Arouca, Portugal - 516 meters

3. Wanjiazhai Dam, China - 500 meters

4. Charles Kunonen, Switzerland – 494 meters

5. Kushma Bungy, Nepal - (490) meters

6. Huangchuansanxia Glass, China - 460 meters

7. Rappbode Dam, Germany - 458 meters

8. Daqingshan Glass Footbridge, China - 450 meters

9. Hongyagu Glass, China - 445 meters

10. Sochi Skybridge, Russia – 439 meters

11. Zhangjiajie Grand Canyon Glass, China – 430 meters

12. Tianyundu Glass Footbridge, China - (420) meters

13. Yinzuotianmeng, China – 420 meters

14. Highline 179, Austria – 402 meters

15. Mishima Grand, Japan – 400 meters

16. Kokonoe Otsurihashi, Japan - 390 meters

17. Ryujin, Japan - 375 meters

18. Skywalk Sattel, Switzerland - (374 meters)

19. Geierlay, Germany – 360 meters

20. Kushma-Mudhikuwa, Nepal - 359 meters

21. Baiheshanzhuang Footbridge, China - 358 meters

22. Bailihuang Glass Footbridge, China - 350 meters

23. Triveni Garas, Nepal - 350 meters

24. Bunwajorghat, Nepal - 350 meters

25. Shuiyuan Footbridge, China - 342 meters

Image by www.nzz.ch.

Image by Valentin-Flauraud.

Image by Valentin-Flauraud.

Image by Valentin-Flauraud.

Image by Valentin-Flauraud.

Image by Valentin-Flauraud.

Image by Valentin-Flauraud.

The following images are of the now defunct 250 meter span Randa Footbridge that was damaged and removed in 2010.

Note the partially visible slide area bypass tunnel below the bridge.

The damaged span from a rock slide in September, 2010.

The 2010 Randa Bridge was not high enough to clear winter glacier flows.

The unique slide tunnel bypass that is now permanently damaged.

Image by Christian Wasmer.

Charles Kuonen Footbridge satellite image.

Charles Kuonen and Ronda Footbridges location map.