New Initiatives Launched To Increase Structure Security
For bridge and highway infrastructure engineers, protecting
bridges and other structures used to mean guarding against such natural
processes as fatigue and scour and events such as earthquakes. September
11 changed all that. Since last fall, engineers have faced the new challenge
of how to protect structures from potential terrorist attack. “Bridge
and highway engineers are being asked the urgent questions of how vulnerable
these structures are and what can be done to reduce this vulnerability,”
says Steve Ernst of the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA). To equip
engineers to answer these new and complex questions, FHWA is developing
a Bridge and Tunnel Vulnerability Workshop and has launched other structural
security initiatives.
The workshop is being
developed in conjunction with the U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development
Center (ERDC) Geotechnical and Structures Laboratory in Vicksburg, Mississippi.
For the past 35 years, the ERDC has carried out structural vulnerability
research and development work. This work has included conducting numerous
full-scale explosive tests on bridges and in tunnels, as well as analyzing
complex structural data and developing computer tools. Starting in the
spring of 2003, FHWA and the ERDC will present three workshop sessions
for FHWA engineers and some State personnel. While the agenda is not
yet final, proposed topics include bridge and tunnel vulnerability to
explosive attack, structural response to blast-induced loadings, and
an overview of vulnerability predictive tools and mitigation methods.
Providing guidance to
bridge owners is also the focus of a new FHWA/AASHTO Blue Ribbon Panel
on the Safety and Security of Highway Bridges and Tunnels. The panel
is being formed this fall and will hold its first meeting in November
2002. The panel will develop short and long-term strategies for increasing
the security of critical bridges and tunnels, including implementing
design and retrofit techniques and electronic and physical protection
systems. “The Blue Ribbon Panel will generate ideas to help transportation
program managers make decisions about allocating resources for bridge
and tunnel security,” says Ernst.
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With more bridges than any other State in the country, assessing
and improving the security of structures is a primary concern
for the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT). The agency
has implemented a multifaceted approach to transportation security
over the past year. This approach included first identifying the
State’s most critical bridges. Options were then developed
for deterrence of terrorist acts, as well as surveillance and
protection of the structures, tailored to each specific location.
Deterrence techniques that have been considered include eliminating
parking areas beneath bridges, limiting access to important bridge
components by securing or removing ladders and inspection platforms,
and restricting approach routes from adjacent areas through the
use of fences or other barriers. Options for surveillance that
have been looked at include clearing of vegetation around structures
to improve sight lines and installing motion sensors and other
active sensors to monitor sensitive areas. Actions to protect
critical bridges being considered include installing barriers
around bridge columns.
As part of its security
initiative, TxDOT has launched several research projects. In the
first one, the Center for Transportation Research at the University
of Texas at Austin is examining the design of bridges for security.
“Bridges that are hardened for natural disasters such as
earthquakes, floods, and wind, are not necessarily hardened for
terrorist attack. Solutions are needed that reduce the threat
and mitigate the consequences of such attacks,” says Mary
Lou Ralls, Director of TxDOT’s Bridge Division. Meanwhile,
researchers at Texas Tech University are evaluating techniques
and incentives for rapid bridge replacement in the event a structure
is damaged or destroyed. While the research initiatives started
out as internal TxDOT projects, recognizing their value to other
States and the advantages of gaining additional perspectives,
the initiatives have been changed to Texas-led national pooled-fund
projects. A kickoff meeting for the pooled fund will be held September
10 in Austin, Texas.
TxDOT is also working to ensure preparedness to
handle the consequences of potential future security threats.
For example, the agency has developed an Emergency Highway Traffic
Regulation Plan to expedite and facilitate vehicle movements in
the event of a national security emergency. In addition, site-specific
emergency response procedures are being developed for the State’s
critical bridges. These procedures will cover such areas as traffic
control plans, detour plans, and debris management.
For more information
on TxDOT’s transportation security initiative or the pooled-fund
studies, contact Tom Rummel at TxDOT, 512-416-2254 (email: trummel@dot.state.tx.us).
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FHWA is also participating in a BiNational
Security Steering Committee that is studying the security needs of 8–10
major bridges between Michi-gan, New York State, and Canada. Composed
of representatives from Canada, the United States, and private bridge
owners, this group is working on best practices and standards for identifying
critical infrastructure, assessing its vulnerability, and developing
countermeasures to potential attacks. Other issues being considered
include protocols for identifying which agency should take the lead
in an emergency and for coordinating among operators of the different
bridges if security risks are detected in the area. The committee has
held two meetings to date and will convene again this fall. Jim Steele
and Bob Arnold, FHWA’s Division Administrators for Michigan and
New York State, respectively, represent FHWA on the committee.
For more information on the Vulnerability
Workshop or the Blue Ribbon Panel, contact Steve Ernst at FHWA, 202-366-4619
(email: steve.ernst@fhwa.dot.gov).
For more information on the Bi-National Security Steering Committee,
contact Jim Steele at FHWA, 517-377-1844 (email: jamesj.steele@fhwa.dot.gov).
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Articles in this issue:
After 9/11:Making Transportation Security a Way of Life
New Initiatives Launched To Increase Structure Security
Sustaining a Qualified Transportation Workforce
FHWA Teams Up To Ensure National Defense Mobility
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