Leaping in a Single Bound
Up in San Francisco, the board of the Golden Gate Bridge Highway and Transportation
District has decided to put a web of steel netting along the length of the Art Deco landmark. I'm not sure I have to tell you the reason for this - but in case you're wondering - it has to with the number of suicides that occur at the site every year. As with any decision making process in California, but especially in San Francisco, the resolution to this problem was long and arduous. Of course we're also dealing with a monumental, world recognized landmark so it's a sticky situation to say the least. How do you alter the look of something so familiar in the name of saving lives? After years of controversy and all kinds of proposals, the board has decided to install a web of plastic-coated steel cable that will be painted in the signature Golden Gate red. It will be located 20 feet down from the pedestrian walkway and extend 20 feet out from the side of the bridge. Of course, this is not the first landmark structure in the world to deal with this issue.
Empire State Building, 2007, wallyg via flickr /Artwork: designslinger]
When the Empire State Building opened for occupancy in 1931, it was a marvel of
engineering and construction. The 102-storey building was built in an astonishing 16 months, and the 86th floor observation deck was an immediate hit with the public. The deck had a limestone parapet wall that acted as a safety rail and gave the viewer an unobstructed view of the city and it's environs. Unfortunately, it also provided emotionally distressed people an unobstructed jumping-off-point from which to leap their death. When King Kong climbed to the top of the building in 1933 he didn't intend to jump, but the poor thing fell to his death anyway. In 1947, when 5 people tried to leap from the limestone ledge during a three week span, the building owners decided to act. They constructed a steel wire, diagonal-patterned mesh that had openings large enough to see through, but small enough to prevent full body access. They topped off the fencing with small steel rods that looped up and over the observation walkway, in an attempt to avert someone climbing on to the top of the fence and jumping from that point. The design was handled so well, that if you hadn't seen a picture of the outdoor area without the safety barrier, you would assume that it had always been there.
flickr; Upper portion of Eiffel Tower - Observation Deck area, skiena via flickr /Artwork: designslinger]
The third landmark that seemed to attract the suicidal, is the Eiffel Tower. Built in 1889
for the Paris Exposition, the Gustav Eiffel design was not meant to be a permanent fixture on the Parisian skyline. It was constructed to show-off 19th century engineering and the wonders of steel. By the time the expo was over Paris had fallen for the tower, and so it remained to serve as the world's tallest public viewing platform. It also served as the ideal place for an unhappy soul to come and take a plunge to their death. The two observation platforms have two distinctly different steel mesh barriers. The first has a wire screen that has square openings which aren't too intrusive for viewing and is topped by angled iron that supports wire threading. The other is almost cage-like in it's design. The vertical portion of the fencing is capped by a crown of mesh that creates an overhang which completely encloses the walkway. There is so much going on visually at the Tower with all of it's lacy steel supports that the fence seems as though it is simply an extension of the structure itself, but it is much more practical looking compared with the more decorative Empire State railing.
We may not see the Golden Gate prevention barrier anytime soon because the $50 million
or so it will cost to erect the fence doesn't exist. And, the debate will continue to rage about whether any public money should be spent on preventing someone from committing suicide. If the barrier is erected, I hope the designers create a steel web that is as visually pleasing as the fence created at the top of the Empire State Building.
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