In the winter of 1953, an innkeeper in Gatlinburg, Tennessee, came up with the idea to put a ski lift on his land. It wasn't snow country, per se; he just thought people would enjoy the views of the Smoky Mountains from up on high. He was right. Partnering with a colleague, he brought in a chairlift from California, which became the first-ever built in Dixieland. It opened to the public the next year as the SkyLift, and quickly became one of the area's most popular attractions. Today, the Gatlinburg SkyLift sweeps visitors from the heart of town up 500 vertical feet to the top of Crockett Mountain.

SkyLift Park, as the area came to be known, recently decided it could improve upon the space, and as of today, visitors can disembark at the top of the lift and cruise across the newly constructed SkyBridge, a stunning 680-foot-long steel-cable suspension bridge that spans the valley bellow. The five-foot-wide bridge, made from rough-cut cedar decking, features breathtaking views of Mount Guyot, Mount LeConte, and Clingmans Dome, some of the region's highest peaks. That it's the longest suspension bridge in the U.S will surely give it a name, but the three structural glass panels making up its midsection will create the biggest attraction. From here, inquisitive and adventurous visitors can peer nearly 150 feet into the verdant valley below.

Tennessee's 680-foot-long bridge is now the longest pedestrian bridge in America.

Building such a bridge is no small task. The bridge's foundations are comprised of 20 micropiles that are planted as much as 94 feet deep and topped with more than one million pounds of concrete. Corten steel adds drama to the bridge's gateways, along with deck frames and suspenders.

“Some of the biggest challenges were simply handling and working with the materials, which were naturally larger and heavier than those we had used for other projects,” says Mandy Stewart, CEO and co-owner of Experiential Resources , which built the structure along with MCW Construction. Each of the six spools of galvanized steel cable used was seven feet tall and weighed more than 7,000 pounds, for example. And the cable tensioner assemblies were so massive, says Stewart, “that we took a photo with our entire core team sitting on just one of them.”

Visitors will be afforded views of the Smoky Mountains.

The team's hard work will pay off today, when the bridge opens to the public. Stewart and team, of course, have already checked out their handiwork. “The first time we crossed the bridge on foot was because our team had just put the 129th deck frame into place to finally complete that span,” says Stewart, who recommends stopping to stand over the center of the glass section to fully appreciate the jaw-dropping view—which may make some visitors a little queasy. “Our stomachs were doing just fine,” confirms Stewart, “although our hands might have gotten little sore from all the high-fiving.”