The Luminous Veil is an anti-suicide

Suicide

Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Suicide is often committed out of despair or attributed to some underlying mental disorder, such as depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, alcoholism, or drug abuse...

 barrier that was added to the Prince Edward Viaduct

Prince Edward Viaduct

The Prince Edward Viaduct System, commonly referred to as the Bloor Viaduct or the viaduct, is the name of a truss arch bridge system in Toronto, Ontario, Canada that connects Bloor Street East, on the west side of the system, with Danforth Avenue on the east...

 in Toronto

Toronto

Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...

, Ontario

Ontario

Ontario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....

, Canada

Canada

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

. First approved by the Toronto City Council

Toronto City Council

The Toronto City Council is the governing body of the city of Toronto, Ontario, Canada.Members represent wards throughout the city, and are known as councillors....

 in 1998, the construction of the Luminous Veil was delayed for years because of concerns about funding. During the delays in construction, the viaduct was the site of an estimated 60 suicides. The city council originally approved a C$

Canadian dollar

The Canadian dollar is the currency of Canada. As of 2007, the Canadian dollar is the 7th most traded currency in the world. It is abbreviated with the dollar sign $, or C$ to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies...

2.5 million budget for the Luminous Veil. However, the minimum bid for construction was $5.5 million. After a year's delay, they endorsed a fundraising campaign to raise the rest of the money. Construction was completed in 2003 at the cost of $5.5 million, with $2.5 million coming from taxpayers.

The Luminous Veil was designed jointly by architect and University of Waterloo

University of Waterloo

The University of Waterloo is a comprehensive public university in the city of Waterloo, Ontario, Canada. The school was founded in 1957 by Drs. Gerry Hagey and Ira G. Needles, and has since grown to an institution of more than 30,000 students, faculty, and staff...

 Professor Derek Revington and engineers at Halcrow Yolles, a structural engineering firm in Toronto. It consists of over 9,000 rods, each 5 metres (16.4 ft) tall, spaced 12.7 centimetres (5 in) apart and held in place by an angled steel frame. The tensile structure was difficult to analyze and required several tests at the University of Toronto. The design, which is an effective suicide barrier

Suicide barrier

A suicide barrier is a barrier on a bridge , observation deck or other structure designed to prevent people from attempting suicide by deliberately jumping...

without significantly disrupting the view from the viaduct, won the 1999 Canadian Architect Award of Excellence. Cost prohibited the planned lighting to be installed on the top horizontal member, but the name "Luminous Veil" continues to be used.

While the Luminous Veil appears to have had the intended effect of preventing suicides on the Prince Edward Viaduct, it has had no appreciable effect on the total number of suicides in Toronto.