Golden Bridge Installs Suicide Prevention Nets

Facts

• San Francisco on Wednesday announced that it had finished installing stainless-steel nets along both sides of the Golden Gate Bridge as it looks to prevent people from committing suicide.¹
• The nets stretch 1.7 miles along both sides of the iconic bridge, which has seen nearly 2K people jump to their deaths since it was built in 1937. On average, 30 people per year have committed suicide by jumping from the bridge over the last 20 years, but that number was down to 14 in 2023.²
• The net received approval in 2014 with a budget of $76M, but construction didn't start until 2018, and the total cost reportedly ended up being $224M.³
• The project’s lead contractors, Shimmick Construction Co. and Danny’s Construction Co., filed a lawsuit against the district in 2022, claiming that the cost would reach $400M and that changes and flaws in the government’s design, along with poor maintenance, saw the companies lose $100M.³
• The district countersued last year, with legal proceedings due to commence in June.³
• With suicide deterrent systems covering 95% of the bridge, the nets are located 20 feet below the bridge’s sidewalk and extend 20 feet out from the structure.⁴

Sources: ¹ABC7 San Francisco, ²USA Today, ³Associated Press and ⁴FOX News.

Narratives

• Narrative A, as provided by CBS. San Francisco has done the right thing. While critics may complain about the cost of the project, there's no price tag on human life. The Golden Gate Bridge has tragically seen nearly 2K people take their lives, and this project was necessary to give people a chance to reconsider suicide and choose to continue living.
• Narrative B, as provided by Sfist. In typical California fashion, a public project comes years too late, millions of dollars over budget, and not fully complete. While the project is well-intentioned, it's merely a Band-Aid that many psychiatrists doubt will even stop suicides. Of course, a physical net will prevent people from jumping off the Golden Gate Bridge, but it doesn’t do anything to meaningfully help individuals and stop them from committing suicide elsewhere.