Luminous Veil
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The Luminous Veil is a suicide barrier added to the Prince Edward Viaduct in Toronto, Canada. First approved by the Toronto City Council in 1998, the construction of the Luminous Veil was delayed for years due to funding concerns. During the delays in construction, the viaduct was the site of an estimated 60 suicides.[1] The city council originally approved a C$2.5 million budget for the Luminous Veil. However, the minimum bid for construction was C$5.5 million. After a year delay, they endorsed a fundraising campaign to raise the rest of the money.[2] Construction was completed in 2003 at the cost of C$5.5 million dollars, with C$2.5 million coming from taxpayers.[2] Since completion of the barrier, there have been zero suicides on this bridge.[3][4]
The Luminous Veil was designed jointly by architect and University of Waterloo Professor Derek Revington and engineers at Halcrow Yolles, a structural engineering firm in Toronto. It consists of over 9,000 rods, each 5 meters tall, spaced 12.7 cm (5 inches) apart and held in place by an angled steel frame.[5] The tensile structure was difficult to analyze and required several tests at the University of Toronto. The design, which is an effective suicide barricade without significantly disrupting the view from the viaduct, won the 1999 Canadian Architect Award of Excellence.[6]
Some critics have argued that rather than preventing suicides, the Luminous Veil merely caused them to shift to other bridges in the area instead.[citation needed]
While the barrier was intended to be illuminated from the top horizontal member, the lighting was never installed due to cost. However, the name "Luminous Veil" continues to be used.
The band Barenaked Ladies' 2003 song "War on Drugs" contains the lyrics:
Near where I live there's a viaduct
Where people jump when they're out of luck
Raining down on the cars and trucks below
They've put a net there to catch their fall
Like that'll stop anyone at all
What they don't know is when nature calls, you go
Barenaked Ladies singer/guitarist Steven Page lives in Riverdale, very close to the viaduct, and has introduced the song in concert with the story of the Luminous Veil.
