Bridge suicide barriers not installed, despite advice
Suicide barriers on the Auckland Harbour Bridge have not been installed, despite a report recommending the move as being key in preventing deaths more than three years ago.
The 2019 feasibility study, carried out by the Auckland Motorway Alliance for Waka Kotahi New Zealand Transport Agency (NZTA), found three-metre anti-climb barriers would be an ‘‘effective strategy’’ for reducing suicides.
They could be built in such as way that it would be ‘‘highly unlikely’’ that the average person would be able to scale the barriers, the document, released this month under the Official Information Act, said.
‘‘Based on previous research it is clear that suicide prevention barrier is an effective strategy for reducing suicide in that particular location and that people are unlikely to increase [their] level of effort to overcome all types of barrier system[s].’’
This would be the ‘‘most costeffective’’ suicide prevention system for the Auckland Harbour Bridge, the study said. It was estimated the project would cost between $12.8 million and $26.4m.
‘‘The most suitable design for a vertical barrier given the existing constraints would be to construct the new system from the existing barrier system,’’ the document said.
The existing barriers, which increased height over the north span of the bridge, were put in place to stop debris from damaging local properties, but also acted as an anti-climb fence, it said.
Other measures to curb possible suicide attempts included buoys located at multiple locations on the east and west extensions that could be deployed at the point of entry to the bridge at the press of a button. Camera monitoring systems also spotted possible suicide attempts.
The Auckland Harbour Bridge is one of the most critical structures in the city, carrying more than 180,000 vehicles a day across the Waitematā Harbour.
Suicide attempts from the bridge have caused ‘‘major disruption on the network’’ and the likelihood of this occurring has increased each year, the report said.
When the report was commissioned, there had been a sharp increase in the number of suicides. The coroner reported that, across New Zealand, more than 660 people died by suspected suicide from July 2017 to June 2018.
‘‘It’s the fourth year in a row the number has increased, and 10% more than the previous year’s figure of 606,’’ the coroner said.
Rates had slightly dropped since, with 607 people dying by suspected suicide in 2021, compared to 628 in the previous 12 months.