安装防护网惹争议,金门大桥如何摆脱“自杀圣地”之名？

作为美国旧金山市的地标，金门大桥每年吸引数百万的游客，湾区上百万上班族也都从这里经过。而据《旧金山纪事报》统计，自金门大桥1937年落成以来，已有将近1700名自杀者从桥上跃下。早在上世纪50年代就有人提议，应想办法阻止人们从跨度1.7英里，约合2736米的大桥跳下寻死，直到本月初，桥上的自杀防护网才终于开工。但还是有人有意见。

按理说，在金门大桥竖起防护网阻止自杀者，不该有什么争议。但这块面积38.5万平方英尺（约合3.5768万平米）的不锈钢防护网却在湾区引起了一场旷日持久的论战。

一些旧金山居民反对修建防护网，因为他们觉得，不该为此浪费公共资金。据称，该项目耗资2.11亿美元，是80多年前整座金门大桥修建成本的三倍。而且最终耗资远超最初投标的报价1.42亿美元，也超过了工程顾问们起初对项目成本的预估：7600万美元。

当地人反对的另一原因是，认为防护网或者防护栏阻止不了自杀的人跳下大桥。近几十年来自杀率攀升就能证明。同时，全社会已经在加大防范自杀的力度，世界卫生组织（WHO）发布了预防自杀的指导，以及令人警醒的统计数据。多项提醒公众关注的活动也提高了社会预防自杀的力度。例如，今年9月18日将迎来第15个世界预防自杀日。

WHO统计，每年全球有将近80万人自寻短见，自杀是15岁到29岁人群排名第二的致死原因。比起其他自杀方式，跳下建筑不是选择最多的方式。但跳大桥自杀方面，金门大桥是世界上第二大热门地，仅次于中国的南京长江大桥。而且《洛杉矶时报》指出，尽管自杀圣地的名声流传很广，金门大桥却一直是全球唯一毫无防护措施的自杀热门地。

最后，还有些文物保护组织反对一切影响金门大桥美观的做法。（顺便一提，这不是旧金山才有的争论，全球其他自杀热门地点都安装了防护网，阻止了多起自杀悲剧。）成功竞标金门大桥防护项目的两家公司之一Danny’s Construction 称，将使用600吨钢铁设在大桥公共通道下方20英尺（约合6米）处支撑自杀防护网。防护网不是橙色，而是钢质地的灰色，取自旧金山著名的天气特征——雾。这样一来饱受争议的防护网看起来会没那么明显。

有关是否应该建以及应该怎样建防护网才能阻止自杀者跳下金门大桥，人们已经争论几十年，随着防护网工程动工，争论终将归于平静。安装工程将持续两三年，定于2021年竣工。（财富中文网）

译者：Pessy

审校：夏林

Every year, San Francisco’s iconic Golden Gate Bridge draws millions of tourists and millions more Bay Area commuters. And since it was erected in 1937, nearly 1,700 suicidal people have leapt to their death from the landmark, including 14 in 2018, according to the San Francisco Chronicle. Proposals dating back to the 1950s have sought to curb suicide attempts on the 1.7-mile-long span, but it wasn’t until earlier this month that construction finally began on a suicide prevention barrier. And not everyone is happy about it.

While building a barrier to prevent suicidal jumpers shouldn’t seem controversial, construction of the Golden Gate Bridge’s 385,000-square-foot, stainless steel net has been a protracted battle in the Bay Area.

Some San Francisco residents opposed building a barrier because they didn’t think public funds should be spent on the effort. All told, the project is projected to cost $211 million, which is more than three times what it cost to build the Golden Gate Bridge over 80 years ago. That’s also significantly higher than the initial winning bid of $142 million, which was above what consultants had originally hoped would be a $76 million project.

Another reason some locals oppose the bridge’s suicide barrier is that they simply didn’t believe nets or rails prevent people from trying to jump. This argument comes as the suicide rate has soared in recent decades. Meanwhile suicide prevention efforts have gained greater weight, with the World Health Organization (WHO) publishing prevention guides and sobering statistics. Numerous public awareness campaigns have also raised the profile for suicide prevention. One example, World Suicide Prevention Day, takes place on September 10, 2018 and is now in its 15th year.

Worldwide, nearly 800,000 people die by suicide each year, and its the second-leading cause of death for individuals 15 to 29 years old, according to the WHO. And while other methods of suicide outpace jumping from structures, in terms of bridges, the Golden Gate Bridge is the world’s second-most popular suicide destination, ranking behind China’s Nanjing Yangtze River Bridge. Despite this gruesome designation, it has long been the only international suicide landmark without a barrier, according to the Los Angeles Times.

Lastly, preservationist groups have decried any efforts to change the aesthetics of the landmark bridge. (This is not a uniquely San Francisco debate, by the way. Other suicide sites around the world have installed nets that have successfully prevented numerous tragedies.) Six hundred tons of steel will be used to support the Golden Gate Bridge’s suicide net, which will hang 20 feet below the public walkway, according to Danny’s Construction, one of two firms that jointly placed the winning project bid. The net will not be orange but rather a steely gray, with the idea that San Francisco’s most famous weather feature—its fog—will often obscure the controversial barrier from view.

With construction finally underway, the decades-long debate about whether and how to build a barrier to keep people from jumping into the San Francisco Bay should finally be put to rest. Construction will be ongoing for the next two to three years. The barrier is scheduled to be completed by 2021.