Hasta La Ideas

A grim subject, but of important architectural significance. Following decades of discussion and well over 1,000 deaths, a committee within the San Francisco area’s Metropolitan Transportation Commission has approved some of the funds needed to build a suicide barrier on the Golden Gate Bridge. A first step, through an early one for sure, as the Marian Independent Journal reports that the committee only agreed to include $5 million of the $45 million needed. The group will hunt for funding among private donors or through federal and state government channels. Once the money is available, the report continues, the large net will take roughly 18 months to install. Here’s a bit about its design:

The barrier plan calls for a net extending 20 feet below and 20 feet from the side of the span. The net would be made from stainless steel cable and would collapse slightly if someone jumped in, making it difficult to get out, bridge officials said.

…The district had also considered glass panels and fencing along the bridge walkways, but that was deemed to pose too much of an impact on aesthetics.

The Golden Gate has long been a specific draw for people wanting to commit suicide, so much so that a documentary about the subject, The Bridge, was made back in 2006.

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