Work on a suicide barrier for the Golden Gate Bridge will be delayed about two months in part because the original steel selected for the project cannot be manufactured in large enough quantities in the United States.
Rather than have it made overseas, a different type of steel will be used for the project. That will allow it to be made in the United States and help satisfy federal “Buy America” requirements so that taxpayer dollars support American jobs, bridge officials said.
“It continues our tradition of building the bridge with all American steel,” said Priya Clemens, bridge spokeswoman.
All of the steel on the bridge, from the first beam — made in Bethlehem Steel plants — to the recent retrofit projects, has been manufactured in the United States, Clemens noted.
Since the financing plan for the $76 million net was approved by the board last year and the bid request went out in October, the district has received more than 200 questions about the project’s specifications from potential builders.
“This project is the first of its kind, and there are many technical questions that need careful consideration,” says Ewa Bauer, chief engineer for the bridge. “We’re moving as quickly as we can toward building the deterrent, but we will not gloss over critical structural details in favor of speed.”
Because of the steel, other revisions and the volume of questions, the bid opening date has moved from March 8 to May 3. The district expects to award the contract this summer, with construction to take about four years.
The steel net and its supports will be manufactured off site. The contractor will install the net first along the east side of the bridge and then the west side.
“Any delay is a disappointment, but we want it built right,” said Paul Muller of the Bridge Rail Foundation, which has been advocating for a barrier. “We have heard this may speed the work up in the long term. We will follow it closely as we have been.”
The suicide deterrent project will be the first large-scale horizontal net installation on a major bridge in the United States. At 385,000 square feet, it will be almost the size of seven football fields, suspended 220 feet above the water.
The bridge district’s barrier plan calls for a net extending 20 feet below and 20 feet from the side of the span, although it will have to be modified in certain areas because of surrounding terrain. The net would be made of stainless steel, marine-grade cable to stand up to the elements, bridge officials said. The net will be gray instead of red to better blend with the water.
The net design will allow for moveable scaffolding called “travelers” to move around the bridge for maintenance of the span. The current setup would be in conflict with the net and it must be replaced, adding to the cost.
Caltrans will contribute $22 million to the overall project, the state $7 million from Mental Health Services Act funds and the Golden Gate Bridge district $20 million in addition to $27 million from the Metropolitan Transportation Commission.
While people could still jump into the net, such occurrences might be rare because the net would act as a deterrent. A similar net was placed more than a decade ago on the Munster Terrace cathedral in Bern, Switzerland, and since then no suicide attempts have been reported.
“We are very hopeful this will curb the scourge of suicide at the bridge,” Clemens said.
