The first piece of an elevated walkway being was set into place at the Minnesota Zoo in Apple Valley Thursday. The 1.25-mile Treetop Trail will be the world’s longest elevated pedestrian loop when it's done next year, and will immerse guests in nature reaching as high as 32 feet above the ground.
The trail is being constructed on the existing tracks of the zoo's old monorail, which closed in 2013.
Members of the PCL Construction team hoisted the 20-foot by eight-foot piece of the trail, complete with railing, onto the Zoo’s original monorail track using a crane/boom truck. Zoo guests will walk upon it when they enter from the Zoo’s Central Plaza.
“Today marks a major milestone for construction of the Treetop Trail,” said Minnesota Zoo Director John Frawley. “With this first completed section being raised, we are seeing, for the first time, the true transformation of the closed monorail into the world’s longest elevated pedestrian loop – allowing our guests and partners to visualize how this momentous project will further immerse them in nature.
The Minnesota Zoo says that they are integrating this into the monorail track’s existing footprint, and that the Treetop Trail will be the “ultimate reuse construction project”.
For more information on Minnesota Zoo’s Treetop Trail click here.
