Whereas nonetheless below development, the suicide prevention web on the Golden Gate Bridge confirmed vital leads to 2023 and is anticipated to proceed to cut back deaths this yr, officers stated.
Final yr, officers recorded 14 confirmed suicides from the bridge, down from an annual common of 30. This yr, the quantity is anticipated to be even decrease, in keeping with the Golden Gate Bridge, Freeway and Transportation District.
The online is fabricated from “marine-grade chrome steel netting put in 20 toes under the sidewalks on the bridge and lengthening out 20 toes over the water,” the district stated in a written assertion.
At a commemoration ceremony held in mid-July, native leaders spoke in regards to the multiyear undertaking that started in 2018 and was accomplished in early 2024.
The online was initially scheduled to be accomplished in 2021, however infighting between builders and the federal government induced delays and value overruns.
“The Golden Gate Bridge is a supply of immense delight to San Francisco — however for too many households in our group, the bridge has additionally been a spot of ache,” stated former Home Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who has represented San Francisco for 37 years. “With the completion of a suicide deterrent system for the Golden Gate Bridge, we’re offering a crucial second probability for troubled people.”
Finally, the undertaking value about $224 million, the transportation district stated — effectively over the 2014 estimate of $76 million when it was authorised but additionally a lot lower than the $398 million determine cited in a 2022 lawsuit between contractors and the district.
Suicide prevention and disaster counseling assets
In case you or somebody you understand is scuffling with suicidal ideas, search assist from knowledgeable and name 9-8-8. The USA’ first nationwide three-digit psychological well being disaster hotline 988 will join callers with skilled psychological well being counselors. Textual content “HOME” to 741741 within the U.S. and Canada to achieve the Disaster Textual content Line.
The online’s objective is to discourage would-be jumpers and save those that do bounce from dying. Nonetheless, being caught by the web “is designed to be painful and should end in vital harm,” the transportation district stated.
A 2017 examine in Switzerland discovered that boundaries and nets on bridges cut back suicides by as much as 77%. In Pasadena, the Metropolis Council is contemplating suicide prevention boundaries on the Colorado Road Bridge, in keeping with Pasadena Now.
On the Golden Gate Bridge ceremony, Kymberlyrenee Gamboa spoke in regards to the lack of her 18-year-old son, who jumped from the bridge in 2013.
The undertaking’s completion “brings a profound sense of hope and therapeutic in figuring out that future households could also be spared from enduring such a devastating loss,” she stated.
