CEE Students Design Barriers for the Golden Gate Bridge

Four students in Prof. Robert Bea's recent Engineering Systems course undertook a project to design an aesthetically pleasing suicide deterrent barrier for the Golden Gate Bridge. Seniors Douglas Wahl, Danielle Hutchings, Ryan Stauffer and Robert Simpson studied many designs, considering not only appearance but economic and political factors in addition to physical engineering criteria. The team's three final designs were presented to a gathering in San Francisco this week sponsored by the Psychiatric Foundation of Northern California. The designs won compliments from a crowd of over 100 people, including several bridge district board members.

"This work can be viewed as a way for policy makers to generate conversation about clarifying what their values might be in such a situation, particularly where issues of aesthetics and cost are so emotionally and politically charged," states the team on the course project web site.

More:
UC Berkeley Press Release
San Francisco Chronicle Article