PRICE TAG New federal security rules could cost ports $5.4 billion over 10 years. (Photo courtesy of the Port of Seattle) Construction firms hoping for a quick bonanza of homeland security work have found a disappointingly spotty market. They’ve seen pockets of new business from agencies such as the Dept. of Defense, but also hit bureaucratic blind alleys where contract dollars are hard to find. "The money’s not been flowing nearly as fast as everyone thought in the beginning," says Jeffrey Peacock, director of corporate security for CH2M Hill Cos. Adds Charles Neubauer, Parsons Corp. homeland security coordinator: "The market
BIG MISSION Federal study is looking for quick fixes from off-the-shelf equipment. As security concerns rise over the 800,000 daily shipments of hazardous materials over U.S. highways, the once-hard line between electronics and heavy iron is fading fast. At the moment, 100 freight trucks roaming across the U.S. are armed with the latest in computerized gadgets and software as part of a Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration HAZMAT security and equipment test. Leading the research team is Battelle Memorial Institute, Columbus, Ohio, backed by public and private partners, such as the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance, American Transportation Research Institute, Qualcomm
THREAT POTENTIAL Power blackouts are disruptive, but by comparison, an attack on a chemical site could be far more deadly. An investigative reporter and cameraman walk unimpeded into dozens of chemical sites, easily reaching storage tanks brimming with toxic chemicals. An environmental activist takes photographs after slipping inside a chemical facility through an unlocked door, proving his presence. Copies of U.S. chemical trade publications are found in al Qaeda caves. Mohammad Atta, reputed leader of the 9/11 attacks, reportedly visits an airfield in Florida to evaluate the potential of crop-duster planes to disperse deadly chemicals from the air. Industry representatives
SECURED Retrofit of IRS headquarters included extra level of blast protection. (Photos courtesy of OldCastle-Arpal LLC) Maintaining the unique character of historic structures often is a challenging and costly hurdle to overcome during security retrofits. Older buildings, whether classical or post-modern, were not designed for 21st Century functions, energy and building system requirements. Design and construction professionals must balance these diverse needs while protecting occupants and ongoing operations. After the 1995 destruction of Oklahoma City’s Murrah Federal Building, the U. S. General Services Administration addressed security in all federal buildings, especially against truck bombs and other blasts and flying glass
GOING INSIDE Open site plans may end as plant designers opt for enclosed plants. The ominous discovery of U.S. water system plans at an Al Qaeda hideout in Afghanistan two years ago brought home stark new realities facing water agencies. Utility officials and consultants say that the upgrades completed since 9/11 represent only the beginning of far-reaching changes in planning, procurement, design, technology and budgets. "You’re just going to see security issues entering into every part of our business as well as every part of our clients’ business," predicts Deborah English, engineering manager for Kansas City-based Black & Veatch. Utilities
TALL ORDER Haifa high-rise and other post-1922 structures have extra protection. There are few countries that can match the experience Israel has in designing protective structures. Military threats to population centers along the borders forced Israelis into the field decades ago. As early as 1969, the country began gradually adapting military expertise for civilian use. Large-scale investments in securing buildings began in the early 1970s. The primary threat was along Israel’s border with Lebanon, where Palestinians and Lebanese fighters manned mobile Katyusha rocket launchers and artillery batteries. The attacks led to the design and construction of protected rooms in northern
SOFT CELL Changeable units provide a variety of training scenarios for first responders. (Image courtesy of Mike Williams/URS Corp.) Urban Search and Rescue Teams usually train in artificial situations. But thanks to construction industry volunteers, the Fairfax County, Va., Urban Search and Rescue Task Force will soon have a changeable "scenario building" where members can practice rescues in simulated collapsed structures or confined spaces. About a year ago, task force member Leo Titus, a geotechnical engineer with ECS Ltd., Chantilly, Va., reached out to the construction community to help the squad realize its dream of a unique training facility. Fairfax
The Virginia Dept. of Transportation stopped construction for five days on a $650-million interchange project in Springfield after two construction workers died there in two weeks. A third worker died on the job last October. Click here to view chart (Illustration by Guy Lawrence for ENR) The most recent fatality occurred June 5, when Caesar Rivera, a worker for Cress Welding Service, a subcontractor to Shirley Contracting Corp., Lorton, Va., fell about 100 ft from an overpass under construction. VDOT officials say Rivera was working near sheet metal pans on the bridge deck. The accident is under investigation, but it
After a year of gloomy construction market statistics, economists are cautiously closing their umbrellas in anticipation of a fairly sunny 2004. While industry prognosticators see only very moderate overall growth next year, they argue that with total volume at historically high levels, it’s nothing to complain about. Economists are optimistic that the market will strike a balance, as slowly accelerating office and manufacturing construction sectors make up for slowdowns in traditionally dominant housing and public works arenas. If these predictions prevail, it would be a fundamental change from the recent past when the industry often met such transitions with wild
OLD LOOK Home Depot is revising its traditional suburban format for city sites. (Photo by Tudor Hampton for ENR) In typical tongue-in-cheek style, Home Depot likes to brag that it sells about 100 million gallons of paint each year–enough to cover the surface of Manhattan Island "with one good coat and still have enough left over to touch up the graffiti in the Bronx." That statement appears beside growth statistics on a company brochure decorated with its familiar white and orange, boxed-in logo. Though it may sound imperious to some, the notion of Home Depot painting the town orange is
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