Golden Gate Bridge suicide barrier wins Construction Dive’s 2018 “Project of the Year” Award

By METALCON.

Remarkable project designed to reduce the number of people who commit suicide each year.

Scope of steel:

The “net” is actually 385,000 square feet of marine-grade stainless steel stretched across 555 tons of steel supports 20 feet out and 20 feet under most of the bridge’s 1.7 mile span.

Who, when, where and how much:

The Shimmick-Danny’s JV, under a more than $142 million contract, is building the entire project during normal operation of the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, California, for completion in 2021.

Outlook:

Proponents are sure that a net or some other physical add-on would help stop the 30 or so people per year who end their lives by jumping off the San Francisco landmark.

The Golden Gate Bridge Physical Suicide Deterrent System and Wind Retrofit Project will include the largest-scale installation of a bridge suicide net in the U.S. The additions and upgrades, designed by engineers at the Golden Gate Bridge, Highway and Transportation District and HNTB, will cost a total of $211 million. The project is remarkable due to the sheer challenge of the task as well as its potential to save lives.

The “net,” being installed by crews from the joint venture of Shimmick Construction, an AECOM company, and Danny’s Construction, is actually 385,000 square feet of marine-grade stainless steel that will be stretched across 555 tons of steel supports 20 feet out and 20 feet under most of the bridge’s 1.7-mile span.

The wind retrofit aspect of the project, which will be installed before the net system, had to address well-found concerns that the suicide barrier could change how the bridge responded to high winds, thereby making the Golden Gate potentially unstable. To solve this potential problem, the joint venture is building a 425-ton steel wind retrofit system along the main span on the west side of the bridge. Portland, Oregon-based Vigor is manufacturing components for both the net’s steel support system and the wind retrofit.

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Source: METALCON.