Work gets underway to erect barrier at Van Stadens

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 Work to erect a protective barrier at Van Stadens bridge gets underway on Tuesday.

The barrier project is the brainchild of the Friends of the Van Stadens Bridge Trust, a voluntary organisation working with other stakeholders to prevent suicides at the bridge.

Spokesperson, Cliff Rose, says the contractor will be moving the protective concrete barrier on to the bridge to make place for the working crew and their equipment.

The erection of the barrier will take about eight months to complete and is being completely funded by the SA National Roads Agency Limited to the tune of around 10-million rand.

Rose says while the barrier may not entirely stop people from jumping off the bridge, it will make it harder for people.

"We have had video footage where we have seen it only takes 2 seconds to get over the barrier and we need to make that a little bit more difficult. With the barrier that we have proposed it is virtually not impossible, but more difficult to jump over the barrier" Rose said.