GG Bridge suicide barrier status?

GG Bridge suicide barrier status?
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Mr Neutron @ 4th Oct 02:16PM:
GG Bridge suicide barrier status?

Before anyone leaps (ahem) to the wrong conclusion here, I am making this query solely as a matter of curiosity and not because I am clutching a plane ticket in my sweaty little hand, anxious to fly out and chuck myself off the Golden Gate Bridge before any such barrier goes up.

Okay? :p

And now that any Nervous Nellies have been soothed (I hope): I know that there was talk (at least) of erecting a suicide barrier on the bridge. Has the ReDepression and resulting lack of funds halted the work on this temporarily (or permanently)? Or was I grossly misinformed about a barrier being installed in the first place?

I probably would like to fly out and take a look around before any such (presumably view-spoiling) barrier does go up, and I guess that's why I ask.

Can anyone local to the area please comment on this?
--
Damascus, Aurens.

Aurens, not this. Go round.

Damascus, Aurens - Damascus!

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Jtmo @ 4th Oct 06:04PM:
Re: GG Bridge suicide barrier status?

Still in the works. Come on out and check it out before they make it ugly with $50 million dollars worth of stuff that they will get around anyways.
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Mr Neutron @ 4th Oct 06:45PM:
Re: GG Bridge suicide barrier status?

said by Jtmo :

Still in the works. Come on out and check it out before they make it ugly with $50 million dollars worth of stuff that they will get around anyways.

That's what I'm thinking, too: it's a lot of money, the bridge will look worse as a result, and people who are serious about offing themselves are simply going to find some other way to do it that might pose a greater risk to others.

I have a friend in Palo Alto I talk to every now and again. Last time I spoke with him, (about a month ago) he made it sound like stepping in front of trains was/is the new "in" thing there. :(

When you say the barrier is "in the works," do they not have some kind of timeframe it will be up by? I'm hoping that they're "thinking about it" but don't plan to have anything up before, say, 2011 or so.
--
Damascus, Aurens.

Aurens, not this. Go round.

Damascus, Aurens - Damascus!

reply

Jtmo @ 4th Oct 07:26PM:
Re: GG Bridge suicide barrier status?

Yes, they are stepping in front of trains often in the Palo Alto area, many kids from a local High school. Makes you wonder how much 'cliques' play a part in that .

The GGB barrier has been talked about for years, could be next year, or never. Though they have spent many hundreds of thousands on studying it already.
Likely it will be a net, and some barriers cables on the sidewalk. Both of which you could bet around I am sure.
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Mr Neutron @ 5th Oct 05:56AM:
Re: GG Bridge suicide barrier status?

said by Jtmo :

The GGB barrier has been talked about for years, could be next year, or never. Though they have spent many hundreds of thousands on studying it already.

Ah, I see. I guess I was under the impression that things were a bit more firmed up than that.

I'm afraid I'm the kinda guy who looks for some sort of hard-and-fast deadline and there just isn't one to be had here. So it sounds like I can relax in terms of seeing the bridge "one more time" before any barriers, nets, laser beams, giant hands, or enormous trampolines start showing up. It seems it's still going to be quite a while yet. :)

Thank you very much for the posts.
--
Damascus, Aurens.

Aurens, not this. Go round.

Damascus, Aurens - Damascus!

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PrntRhd @ 5th Oct 09:14AM:
Re: GG Bridge suicide barrier status?

They do have some chain link fencing up on the north end of the bridge ostensibly to protect workers below. They did install some phones connected to a suicide prevention hot line a couple of years back.
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Mr Neutron @ 5th Oct 10:57AM:
Re: GG Bridge suicide barrier status?

said by PrntRhd :

They do have some chain link fencing up on the north end of the bridge ostensibly to protect workers below.

Is that the bit that most people jump off of?

There was a rather lengthy article on the bridge a few years ago that actually had some sort of chart illustrating where people had jumped from. And IIRC, there's a strange compulsion to jump on the side that's facing San Francisco rather than the side facing the Pacific (or something like that).

I've seen pictures of the phones online. That's prolly a good idea, but I'd sure hate to be the person on the other end of the line. I mean, what could you tell someone who is talking about jumping off a bridge?

"Nice day we're having!" just doesn't seem to cut it. :o
--
Damascus, Aurens.

Aurens, not this. Go round.

Damascus, Aurens - Damascus!

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Mankind121 @ 5th Oct 08:22PM:
Re: GG Bridge suicide barrier status?

said by Mr Neutron :

said by PrntRhd :

They do have some chain link fencing up on the north end of the bridge ostensibly to protect workers below.

Well the eastern side, the SF side, is the side of the bridge designated for pedestrian use, the western side is designated for bikes only. So it wouldn't surprise me to hear that.
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refused @ 8th Oct 11:19AM:
Re: GG Bridge suicide barrier status?

bobrk @ 8th Oct 12:16PM:
Re: GG Bridge suicide barrier status?

Nice photoshop.
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