Building for a Secure Future is a special editorial supplement to Engineering News-Record and Architectural Record magazines. Both flagship publications of The McGraw-Hill Cos. combine decades of experience in covering design, construction and security trends to provide an in-depth report on the global market for the future of security. Building for a Secure Future is the result of significant effort by both magazine staffs. ENR Associate Publisher Laura Viscusi, ENR Editor-in-Chief Jan Tuchman, AR Editor-in-Chief Robert Ivy and AR Advertising Director David Johnson conceived the section. The following staff members contributed copy: from ENR, Andrew G. Wright; Tom Ichniowski; Sherie
Before a designer can recommend security measures for a facility, he or she must understand what people and property–the "assets" in security parlance–need to be protected. Usually this assessment is quite straightforward, but the task gets complicated when trying to predict where threats may come. This knowledge has a direct bearing on what kinds of damage the designer must attempt to mitigate. "You can't even do the simplest facility assessment until you know what the threats are. What's the point?" says Bill McCarthy, an associate architect with RTKL in Baltimore. "You don't know whether you're protecting from a bomb-laden vehicle
One of the biggest challenges facing designers of U.S. embassies and other federal facilities is the retrofit of existing buildings to meet tightened security standards. But officials say that for the design of newer buildings, tougher criteria have been in place for years. "We already had a heightened posture toward security," says Charles E. Williams, director and chief operating officer of the U.S. State Dept.'s Bureau of Overseas Building Operations, Washington, D.C. GUARDED Design based on prior attacks. (Photo courtesy of NBBJ) For the U.S. General Services Administration, the 1995 attack on the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma
The "bunker." It is the traditional shell used to house facilities fitted with equipment and infrastructure needed to respond to major emergencies. In the new millennium, the bunker mentality is going out of style. COMMAND POST When major emergencies occur, field operations are coordinated from the new Office of Emergency Services building (above). A clerestory (left) lets daylight into the otherwise windowless disaster intelligence room. The emergency operations center located in the capital of one of the most populous East Coast states is typical of the old school. Constructed as a consequence of the Civil Defense Act, the bunker dates
Simple measures that can protect the inhabitants of a building or users of critical infrastructure from chemical and biological attack are becoming routine since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks and the subsequent anthrax outbreaks. Many building owners and developers are demanding that design criteria for their projects include security master plans. And those in charge of protecting infrastructure are working out protocols to protect water, wastewater and other systems. These include risk assessments to determine how much security is truly needed. Threat and vulnerability assessments analyze everything as a system, not just "what can be done to protect," contends Keith
At the annual meeting in January of the Transportation Research Board in Washington, D.C., Deputy Transportation Secretary Michael Jackson addressed a key session, flanked as usual by his key executives, the federal administrators of air, highway, rail and port facilities. But this time, there was a new face around the table as well–John Magaw, head of the newly formed Transportation Security Administration. Intoned Jackson: "9/11 has changed the world of transportation." In the same way, security experts and concerns now occupy a place at the planning table for every firm involved in the design and construction of transportation facilities. Industry
In security design, windows are a major area of concern. Nearly three-quarters of the injuries from the 1995 bombing of Oklahoma City's Alfred P. Murrah Building were caused by flying glass. To help win the fight, manufacturers are devoting unprecedented resources to research and blast-test a new generation of heat-hardened and chemically laminated glass. STATE OF ART Las Vegas courthouse curtain wall mock-ups were tested in New Mexico. (Photo courtesy of Enclos Corp.) Glass manufacturers and structural engineers are testing not only new glass interlayers, but also new window systems, including mullions, frames and anchors. New anchor systems; cheaper, thinner
In last year's September cost issue, ENR reported there initially would be a severe economic shock in the wake of the terrorist attacks on the U.S., but the economy would rebound by the first half of 2002. Right on cue, Federal Reserve Board Chairman Alan Greenspan testified before Congress on March 7 that "an economic expansion is well under way." If true, the recession would be one of the shortest and mildest on record. It may be several months before statistics verify or disprove Greenspan's optimism. However, price trends for several materials already are in the recovery mode. Prices for
The nonstop pace of demolition, debris removal and site stabilization at Manhattan's World Trade Center complex has certainly taken its toll on construction workers. But the cleanup's six-month, 24/7 operation also has not been kind to equipment. (Photo courtesy of FEMA) Keeping the huge array of machines operating–let alone operating at peak performance–hasn't been easy for fleet owners, renters and maintenance crews. The demanding schedule and extraordinary conditions on the 16-acre site have stretched the limit of equipment endurance and repair, but managers say the experience has already provided valuable lessons that may help reduce costs on projects with less
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