From the outside, Lucerne’s Spreuer Bridge looks to be a peacefully bucolic old-world span, the kind where medieval lovers might have met on a warm spring day, but hanging beneath the covered roof are dozens of historic paintings of skeletons and reapers collecting souls and reminding travelers that every second is one closer to death.

The gable-roofed bridge was built in the 13th century to connect a group of mill buildings to the mainland. During its initial usage the bridge was unique in that the mill workers could simply dump their waste into the river since they were so far downstream. The wooden bridge survived for hundreds of years retaining its peaked medieval style.

Then in the mid-1600s it was decided that the bridge would be spruced up a bitarchitect. MGB+A hired JRCA Architects, Inc. (“JRCA”) to
help design a pump house that would host the pumps supplying
water to the splash pad. The city contracted with J. Lyne Roberts and
Sons, Inc. (“JLR”) to construct the splash pad and pump house. JLR
was instructed to install a ladder in the pump house to access the
pump pit, which housed some of the controls. JLR subcontracted
with H&H Steel Fabricators, Inc. (“H&H”) to manufacture the
ladder. The entire splash pad project was completed in April 2013.
   ¶4 Becky Sumsion began working for the City in May 2014. Her
duties required her to make regular adjustments to the pumps
located in the pump pit. On June 2, 2015, Sumsion fell off the pump
house ladder as she was climbing down into the pump pit and broke
her