Summary
Birds ranging from common pigeons to protected species including cormorants had established nesting colonies in the hollow spaces of steel members on a major Metro Vancouver bridge undergoing long-term restoration. The problem was compounded: bird droppings create health hazards for maintenance personnel, and the acids in the droppings attack the protective coatings essential to the longevity of steel structures in Pacific Northwest conditions.
Standard bird exclusion approaches — spikes, netting fastened with adhesives or mechanical fasteners — were ruled out immediately. Any solution that penetrated, bonded to, or created surface contact stress on the protective coating would compromise the restoration work and create liability for the contractor.
The Design Challenge
The brief was clear but technically demanding:
- Permanently exclude birds from hollow structural voids in steel bridge members
- Cause zero damage to existing or newly applied protective coatings
- Be removable and reinstallable to accommodate ongoing restoration staging
- Perform reliably in exposed coastal conditions — wind, rain, and salt spray
No off-the-shelf product existed that met these criteria. We went to the drawing board.
Mag-Nets® — Our Solution
The result was Mag-Nets®: a proprietary magnetic, modular netting system designed and manufactured by our team. The system works as follows:
- Magnetic attachment points anchor to steel members without any adhesive, fastener, or coating contact — magnets are sized to hold reliably under wind load without surface pressure that would damage coatings
- Modular netting panels clip to the magnetic anchors and can be configured to cover any size or shape of structural void
- Tool-free installation and removal — panels can be staged, removed for contractor access, and reinstalled in minutes without specialist skills
- Marine-grade materials rated for sustained coastal exposure
The system was developed and refined through iterative testing during the early restoration phases before full deployment.
The Impact
Mag-Nets® was successfully deployed across the active restoration sections of the bridge. Bird access to structural voids was eliminated without any reported coating damage or contractor workflow disruption. The modular design allowed the system to move with the restoration staging over the multi-year project timeline.
The system has since been refined and is now available for other infrastructure and bridge applications where conventional exclusion methods would compromise surface integrity. We hold the intellectual property and manufacture in Canada.
Applications Beyond This Project
Mag-Nets® is applicable wherever bird exclusion cannot use surface-contact hardware:
- Bridge and overpass restoration
- Heritage buildings with preservation constraints
- Industrial equipment with coating protection requirements
- Transit infrastructure and rail assets
Contact us to discuss application-specific configurations.