The department plans to build a mock-up of the Golden Gate Bridge’s suicide barrier on the training tower at the station. The Southern Marin Fire District Station 9 in Mill Valley is seen on Thursday, Aug. While this is meant to deter a person from jumping at all, bridge district Chief Engineer Ewa Bauer-Furbush told the district Board of Directors this week that “it is important to have a rescue plan for such incidents at the Golden Gate Bridge” to prepare for the possibility. The net is a hard surface, meaning a person who lands on it will likely sustain injuries such as broken bones. The net will be made of four-millimeter stainless steel ropes, with the mesh only wide enough to allow fingers or a small hand to reach through. Originally estimated to cost $76 million when the project went out to bid in 2015, the cost has increased to about $206 million, but is expected to reach $215 million by the time it is completed. Originally set for completion in January 2021, the project has faced several construction delays. The 20-foot-wide net will be placed on each side of the bridge and will sit 20 feet below the bridge span. More than 1,800 have fallen to their deaths from the bridge since it opened in 1937. The project began after years of advocacy by families and friends of people who had jumped off the bridge and died after hitting the water nearly 245 feet below. The suicide net has been under construction since 2018 and is set for completion in November 2023 after multiple delays. But of course, we train for it like it could occur at any time.” “The amount of folks we anticipate bringing out of the net is relatively small. “History has shown in other areas such as Ithaca, New York, that it actually does work,” Welch said, referring to nets installed at Cornell University bridges in 2013 in response to suicides. Tom Welch, the district’s deputy chief of training and operations, said he expects the presence of the massive net and the 20-foot drop to deter most people from jumping. If you are dealing with thoughts of suicide, call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-80 or go to. So a net that saves a life today may offer more than just a chance at tomorrow. The consensus from both? Of the people that were stopped from jumping, 90% did not later die by suicide. The Golden Gate Bridge, Highway and Transportation District cited a 1978 Sieden study at the Golden Gate Bridge and a Harvard School of Public Health article. “We are honoring a deep moral responsibility to save lives whenever and wherever we can.”īut how does the net prevent suicides in the long term? House Minority leader Nancy Pelosi echoed the statements in her address at the ceremony. “What you’re doing here today, what the Bridge is doing, what the taxpayers are doing, will hopefully turn that number to zero.” Dianne Feinstein, D-California, said 39 people died last year alone by jumping from the bridge. It sounds like a high price, but for suicide prevention it can have a big impact.Īt a ribbon-cutting ceremony Thursday, Sen. The funds are coming from the Metropolitan Transportation Commission, Caltrans, the Golden Gate Bridge, Highway and Transportation District, state mental health provisions and private donations. The Golden Gate Bridge, Highway and Transportation District posted a video on Facebook to introduce the net project.Ĭosting $211 million to design, plan, and construct, the project is a group effort. Since the bridge was built in 1937, nearly 1,700 people have leapt to their deaths from it, according to the Bridge Rail Foundation, a group dedicated to stopping suicides from bridges. It will be constructed from stainless steel - light enough to be inconspicuous, but strong enough to save lives. The installation will begin in 2018 and the Golden Gate Bridge, Transportation and Highway District expects construction to be completed in 2021.Īnd this isn’t your average net. From there, workers will take careful measurements to begin installing a net that extends 20 feet out along both sides of the 1.7 mile long bridge. In May, crews will begin to erect fencing along the approaches and tower legs, but that deterrent is only temporary. It sounds like a simple response to a complex problem, but the barrier is a big task. The community has a solution: a net covering the perimeter of the bridge. The Golden Gate Bridge has a problem: horrifyingly high suicide rates. Please look at the time stamp on the story to see when it was last updated. This is an archived article and the information in the article may be outdated.
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