Skywalk won't last

Tourist Skywalk not so grandFor those of us who look at the skywalk and see a huge eyesore, perhaps we need not wait long for nature to take its course.

Delores Honta, a Hualapai tribal member, believes the walkway's lifespan is only 15 to 20 years. "Our ground is very dry. It will not stay together. You're drilling holes and letting hot and cold air into it," she told National Geographic News.

In the same article, Mark Johnson of Las Vegas-based MRJ Architects, designer of the walkway, said that the rock wall, not the walkway's design, is the wild card that could determine the Skywalk's life span.

"At that height, the wall is made of 350 million-year-old limestone--porous material that is highly prone to erosion," the article said.

Millions of years of erosion, of course, is what have created the unspoiled beauty of the Grand Canyon.Comment:  One good thing about the Skywalk is its lack of permanence. If it doesn't do well or people deem it an eyesore, the Hualapai can remove it.

Of course, Mother Nature may strike first. This has all the makings of a classic tragedy. Indians dare to improve on God's handiwork...Skywalk collapses and falls...Indians are poorer but wiser.