Lindsay France/University Photography

Associate University Architect Andrew Magre presented the refined designs to city of Ithaca officials at a Sept. 27 meeting of the Planning and Development Board.

Cornell architects have revised designs for the tensile steel mesh net systems the university has proposed it install on seven area bridges as an element of a comprehensive approach to suicide prevention. The design refinements, they say, will make the net systems less visible and easier to maintain than previous designs.

Associate University Architect Andrew Magré presented the refined designs to a Sept. 27 meeting of the city of Ithaca's Planning and Development Board. (The new designs are available online.)

"We based our revisions on feedback from the planning board; on our site visit to Switzerland, where similar nets systems are installed on five bridges; as well as on consultation with Tim Marchell, Cornell's director of mental health initiatives," Magré said.

Marchell later added, "These designs provide protection for vulnerable individuals and preserve the remarkable vistas that benefit the whole community."

The revisions have two components: technical improvements to the net systems and refinements to suicide prevention measures at the bridge abutments, Magré said.

On bridges spanning gorges with gentle slopes, the extent of tensile steel mesh has been reduced, covering only the hazardous areas. Where possible, Cornell designers have also standardized the systems on all the bridges, which aesthetically unifies them and simplifies maintenance. For example, they've replaced the previously proposed 60-foot piece of tensile steel mesh under the Beebe Dam Bridge with several 18-foot panels and have taken a similar tack on the Trolley Bridge.

Refinements to the bridge abutments include removing the majority of the vertical fencing shown in previous designs, to preserve views as one approaches the bridges by foot or vehicle, Magré said. The new designs will also seal off access to abutment areas underneath the bridges, which can be hazardous, by installing vertical panels on the sides of the bridge abutments below the guardrails and out of sight.

The new designs also call for the struts, from which tensile steel mesh will hang, to match the color of existing bridge trusses to make the struts as unobtrusive as possible, Magré said.

During the meeting, the planning board scheduled site visits to the bridges in October. The board also plans to visit a mockup of a panel of tensile steel mesh scheduled to be installed on the Ithaca Fire Department's training tower in November.

Cornell has requested the city's permission to install nets under three city-owned bridges as a suicide prevention measure: two Stewart Avenue bridges and the Thurston Avenue Bridge. The city's Common Council must approve the request.

University officials have also sought permission to install nets under or along four Cornell-owned bridges: the Suspension Bridge, Beebe Dam Bridge, Stone Arch Bridge and Trolley Bridge. Those designs must be approved only by the planning board.

For all the bridges, Cornell will bear the estimated $1 million-per-bridge project cost, university officials have said. Vice President for Government and Community Relations Stephen Philip Johnson confirmed in a Sept. 2 letter to Mayor Carolyn Peterson that the university is working with the city to develop "a memorandum of understanding" that is cost neutral to the city, addressing repair, maintenance, training, property damage insurance and liability insurance, according to John Gutenberger, senior director of Cornell's Office of Community Relations.

The net system proposal, or means restriction, is the missing link in Cornell's comprehensive approach to suicide prevention, Cornell officials have said.