Coating on Willis Tower Skydeck's Ledge Cracks Under Tourist

[teflepi]

All four boxes of The Ledge, the 103rd floor tourist attraction atop Chicago's Willis Tower, were closed Thursday morning for what an official said was a routine inspection.

The move comes hours after cracks appeared in what the official said was a coating designed to prevent scratches on the glass.

"Skydeck Chicago is open today while the protective coating is being replaced," said Brian Rehme, a spokesman for public relations firm FleishmanHillard. "We have temporarily closed the four Ledge boxes for routine inspection we hope to reopen them shortly."

Rehme insisted the structural integrity of The Ledge boxes were sound.

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Alejandro Garibay, his brother, and two cousins were in the glass enclosure that juts out of the west side of the building shortly before 10 p.m. Wednesday when Garibay said they heard cracking.

"Crazy feeling and experience," Garibay wrote in an email to NBC Chicago.

Rehme said the visitors were never in any danger.

"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," Rehme said in a statement.

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Still, it was a frightening experience for the family members visiting from California. Garibay said he and others were joking with staff about the strength of the boxes even before his group walked out into one of the boxes.

"They jokingly and confidently responded, 'It's unbreakable,' so we just went on," said Garibay.

While he and his family members were on the Ledge, Garibay said he heard cracking. They stepped off and alerted staffers.

"I walked them over so they could see and they were totally shocked and asked us to step away and then proceeded to start calling staff and techs and I don't know who else. When we pulled our phones to start recording and take pictures they asked us to leave right away," he said.

When the tourist experience opened in 2009, engineers said the boxes were composed of three layers of glass each about one half-inch thick. They were built to hold five tons, officials said.

Another tourist attraction at the John Hancock Center, called Tilt, opened to visitors earlier this month.

Holy s

[Deleted]

::insert fat joke here::

[pixy0stix]

[iammalcolmx]

Nuh uh

[kittycatlove]

Even before this happened you couldn't pay me to go on that ledge. No way.

[Daria Morgandorffer]

I can't even look UP at that ledge let alone come remotely near it.

[meshaliuknits]

Fuck that noise.

[FloFTW]

I always tell people to NEVER TRUST GLASS. This was a main theme that I always remembered from one of my professors from school. No way in hell I would go on that thing (or the thing over the grand canyon). Never lean on a window either.

[msmerymac]

May 29, 2014 14:42:10 GMT -5 kittycatlove said:

Even before this happened you couldn't pay me to go on that ledge. No way.

This. I am not fat enough to crack the glass, because I would never ever be standing on that glass. 

[NewOrleans]

[NitaX]

So, you know, I was looking at Chi activities before this hit the interwebz and ran across this on TripAdvisor. I took a look at the photos and was like -





Then not TWO minutes later, this story pops up in my feed. I was like - see right there - that's confirmation that I don't need to do that at all in the Chi. 

[debatethis]

May 29, 2014 15:36:22 GMT -5 NitaX said:

So, you know, I was looking at Chi activities before this hit the interwebz and ran across this on TripAdvisor. I took a look at the photos and was like -





Then not TWO minutes later, this story pops up in my feed. I was like - see right there - that's confirmation that I don't need to do that at all in the Chi. 

Please see this: www.360chicago.com/tilt/ and then repost that image x a billion.

[pugz]

My legs are shaky just reading this. We went to the top once and immediately regretted it. We couldn't get within 6 ft of the glass w/o shaking. The line to go back doen was 45 min long. We haaaated it

[StrawberryBlondie]

I knew I was smart not to go on that thing last time I was in Chicago.

[pixy0stix]

May 29, 2014 16:03:46 GMT -5 debatethis said:

May 29, 2014 15:36:22 GMT -5 NitaX said:

So, you know, I was looking at Chi activities before this hit the interwebz and ran across this on TripAdvisor. I took a look at the photos and was like -





Then not TWO minutes later, this story pops up in my feed. I was like - see right there - that's confirmation that I don't need to do that at all in the Chi. 

Please see this: www.360chicago.com/tilt/ and then repost that image x a billion.

Why would someone pay money to do that? NO. I'm not scared of heights, but FUCK people, spend your money on a sbux or something.

[secretlyevil]

May 29, 2014 14:42:10 GMT -5 kittycatlove said:

Even before this happened you couldn't pay me to go on that ledge. No way.

yup

[secretlyevil]

May 29, 2014 16:16:16 GMT -5 asdfjkl said:

May 29, 2014 16:07:49 GMT -5 StrawberryBlondie said:

I knew I was smart not to go on that thing last time I was in Chicago.

A friend of mine worked in a firm in the tower and she said on windy days (which, you know, Chicago) she could feel the building swaying.  "You get used to it."  I do not think I would get used to that.  Nope.

 that's how I would be daily.

[msmerymac]

May 29, 2014 16:16:16 GMT -5 asdfjkl said:

May 29, 2014 16:07:49 GMT -5 StrawberryBlondie said:

I knew I was smart not to go on that thing last time I was in Chicago.

The best part of the Willis Tower is the second floor sushi bar where you can buy sushi by the ounce a piece at a time.  And it's good sushi.  Yeah... I had lunch there like every week for a year.

A friend of mine worked in a firm in the tower and she said on windy days (which, you know, Chicago) she could feel the building swaying.  "You get used to it."  I do not think I would get used to that.  Nope.

The skyscrapers in LA have rollers. For earthquakes. But those happen so infrequently that people who feel earthquakes in their skyscraper offices say it just feels kind of bizzare, which I believe, since I've been through minor earthquakes that I thought were vertigo until I looked up and could see chandeliers swinging. Wind? Well, it's not the windy city for nothing, right?! So the building sways pretty much all the time?

[NewOrleans]

NOPE!

[redheadbaker]

May 29, 2014 14:54:40 GMT -5 FloFTW said:

No way in hell I would go on that thing (or the thing over the grand canyon). Never lean on a window either.

My boss had to go to Vegas for a conference. His wife went with him While he was out there, they took a bus tour down to the Grand Canyon. He was considering going out on the glass walkway. I felt panicky just hearing about it.

[tef]

I barely could do it on the CN Tower and now, nope. NOPE

[lilibet]

May 29, 2014 16:03:46 GMT -5 debatethis said:

May 29, 2014 15:36:22 GMT -5 NitaX said:

So, you know, I was looking at Chi activities before this hit the interwebz and ran across this on TripAdvisor. I took a look at the photos and was like -





Then not TWO minutes later, this story pops up in my feed. I was like - see right there - that's confirmation that I don't need to do that at all in the Chi. 

Please see this: www.360chicago.com/tilt/ and then repost that image x a billion.

Dh just showed me this - HELL NO!!!

[josieposy]

I'm so glad Tilt wasn't there when we visited!

The bldg I worked at in Minneapolis for awhile can sway with the wind, and it creaks something awful when it's really windy. Freaked me out every single time.

[FloFTW]

The swaying isn't scary for me. Buildings are supposed to move. If they didn't move they'd just crack and fall apart. But glass? No. Glass is not structural. GLASS IS JUST FOR LOOKING.

[KateAggie]

[PinkSquirrel]

When I was younger I walked and jumped around on the glass floor at the CN Tower in Toronto. I just looked it up and they had a fun little fact sheet. See, that 2 1/2" thick? That seems a little on the thin side, but when you keep reading and see that ONE OF THOSE INCHES IS AIR .... yeah, no.


Glass Floor
The Facts
Thickness: 2 ½ "

Size of each panel: 42" by 50"

Layers from the top down:

3/16 " scuff plate (replaced annually)

Two ½ " layers of clear tempered glass, laminated together

A one inch layer of air (for insulation)

Two ¼ " layers of clear tempered glass, laminated together

Load tests are performed annually on each panel to ensure safety

[wawa]

May 29, 2014 19:38:33 GMT -5 FloFTW said:

The swaying isn't scary for me. Buildings are supposed to move. If they didn't move they'd just crack and fall apart. But glass? No. Glass is not structural. GLASS IS JUST FOR LOOKING.

But...I mean... half the walls in my house aren't structural but I sTill lean on them.

[eponinepontmercy]

While he and his family members were on the Ledge, Garibay said he heard cracking. They stepped off and alerted staffers.



That sounds like such an underreaction.  I would have peed myself and the staffers would have been alerted by my screaming and hyperventilating.

I don't even like standing on chairs to change lightbulbs.  

[wawa]

I would do any if those things. I go back and forth on heights but generally I'm all for it.

[meshaliuknits]

Put me in a plane or the highest roller coaster & I'm cool. Stand near the railing on the 2nd floor of a mall? Nope. Look down from anything highe? Hell naw.

Sent from my EVO