Security guards to be assigned to Vansu Bridge

  • 2012-07-23

RIGA - To prevent more people from climbing Riga's Vansu Bridge, the Riga City Council plans to surround the first 1.5 meters of the bridge's cables with barbed wire and assign 24-hour security guards.

Riga Mayor Nils Usakovs (Harmony Center) told reporters that, as of today, a private security company will guard the bridge's cables in both directions - from the city's center and Pardaugava. The bridge will be guarded by at least two security guards 24/7.

The contract with the security company will be signed by "Rigas tilti" ("Riga Bridges"). These services will cost 2 - 3 lats (2.85 – 4.27 euros) per hour. The cables will also be equipped with an alarm, however, the security guards are needed so that, when the alarm will set off, police could arrive in approximately five minutes.

As reported earlier, another two daredevils attempted to climb Riga's Vansu Bridge this morning; one of these attempts was prevented by the newly-assigned security guards, but the other man succeeded in climbing nearly all the way up.

Usakovs' press secretary Anna Kononova informed LETA that the security guards prevented the attempt that took place closer to the city's center and their post.

The second man, who managed to climb the cables, did it on the bridge's steeper part, further away from the guard's post.