Contractor: Golden Gate Bridge suicide net cost rises
SAN FRANCISCO — A suicide prevention net on San Francisco’s Golden Gate Bridge that is already years behind schedule will cost about $400 million, more than double its original price, because of problems sparked by the government agency that manages the span, the lead contractors allege.
The allegations filed, Monday, in state court by Shimmick Construction Co. and Danny’s Construction Co. say that changes to and flaws in the government’s net design and the lack of transparency about the deterioration of the bridge’s maintenance platforms have raised the construction price from $142 million to at least $398 million.
“We were alarmed to discover the District concealed significant information during the proposal phase of the Project, including extensive deterioration in certain areas of the bridge,” Shimmick said in a statement.
The project aims to add 20-footwide stainless steel mesh nets on both sides of the 1.7-mile bridge and replace maintenance platforms used by bridge workers that were built in the 1950s. Work on the net began, in 2018, and was set to be completed, by January 2021, but has been repeatedly delayed.
Bridge officials, in 2008, voted to move forward with the net, meant to deter those looking to jump to their deaths and catch those who do. Paul Muller, president of the Bridge Rail Foundation, a nonprofit created to end suicides on the bridge, said the span with sweeping views of the Pacific Ocean and San Francisco bay has been the site of nearly 2,000 suicides since it opened, in 1937, including 25, last year, alone.
Shimmick Construction Co. and Danny’s Construction Co., which formed a joint venture to handle the project, were sued, last year, by subcontractor Vigor Works, LLC, which claims it’s owed millions of dollars. The joint venture countersued, earlier this year. In the motion filed, this week, they asked a judge to allow them to also sue the Golden Gate Bridge, Highway and Transportation District, which manages the span.
The contractors contend in the latest court documents that the district delayed the completion of the project and damaged their reputations by concealing “significant information … including extensive deterioration in certain areas of the bridge.”
According to the joint venture, the deterioration is mainly in the maintenance platforms — U-shaped structures known as travelers that are powered by diesel engines and hug the bridge on both sides and bottom to give workers access to the bridge’s underside and hard-to-reach areas.
The alleged problem with the platforms remains unclear because the information was redacted from the court documents. A spokesperson for Shimmick said that was done for security reasons and that it will be up to the judge to make the information public.
The contractors allege that they toured the bridge before submitting a bid but that they were not allowed to take photographs or record video and had access only to areas chosen by district officials.
District spokesman Paolo Cosulich-Schwartz said the delays and cost overruns are due in part to Shimmick having had three different owners since beginning work on the suicide barrier.
“We are deeply frustrated by Shimmick’s slow pace of construction and multiple delays building the suicide barrier,” Cosulich-Schwartz said in a written statement. “The District has been transparent about the condition of the Bridge with Shimmick throughout the project.”
The joint venture has completed about 47% of the net and expects to finish it by December 2023, nearly four years behind schedule.