07-10-2016, 07:07 AM
My guess is that it was a design decision. A deeper and narrower railing, which would be more comfortable to use, would also ruin the visual lines of the railing design - this blends in with the wire from a distance. An engineer probably made the decision to make it wider for the very reason Canard notes - a narrow railing in that orientation is going to bend far too easily. Neither really considered the user, it seems, since we're left with a railing that is uncomfortable to use at best, and ineffective at worst.