Safeguarding Infrastructure // by Christopher Doyle

systems, and barometric altimeters, IGD has demonstrated a successful test that can locate and track to within about three meters. IGD will continue to work on this project, in partnership with DHS Tech Solutions, to refine that accuracy to one meter.

Breaching concrete

In the urban search-and-rescue environment, breaching concrete rubble to reach victims on the other side has long tested the skill and endurance of first responders. So IGD has developed a prototype breaching tool that resembles a jack-hammer butt and even operates like one, though much more quickly. IGD’s breaching tool recently competed against traditional rescue methods for accessing the “other side” of a concrete slab in a head-to-head test. The objective was to create an 18-inch diameter hole in an 8-inch thick slab of reinforced concrete. This new tool took less than half the time to create the hole (13 minutes) when compared to traditional methods using diamond abrasive saws (29 minutes). Additionally, the breaching tool performed its task without creating the high volumes of dust that accompany a concrete saw, an important consideration for keeping first responders safe.

When the levee breaks

When rain and storm surges fall on lands protected by weak levees, this can mean big trouble. Hurricanes Katrina and Rita were devastating reminders of this frightening fact. How, then, can we limit trouble when a levee breaches or, better yet, prevent such a break from ever happening again?

IGD’s levee project is a comprehensive one that looks to discover technologies that can provide early identification of potential weak spots or problem areas in a levee, strengthen these existing structures, provide innovative designs for new levees, and rapidly deploy mitigation technologies in the event of a breach. Solutions being considered include inflatable and drop-in structures that last long enough to prevent extensive damage and allow engineers to repair the breach; fast-growing vegetation to imitate rapidly the effect of marshlands in lowering tides; and ways to reroute flood waters and flood-proof critical infrastructure.

Plugging tunnels

IGD is also coordinating with university and private-sector researchers to find an innovative way to save lives and mitigate damage in the event that a tunnel is breached. For instance, what if a large tunnel — underground or underwater — collapses or sustains a gaping blast hole as a result of terrorism? What kinds of technologies could be used to seal the break and allow just enough time for people to evacuate? Through grants funded by the S&T Directorate’s International Programs, IGD is looking to design a system that could, when prompted, automatically deploy giant air bags, made of a heavy-duty, but inflatable, material. The air bags would fall on both sides of the breach and work like a plug, holding back debris or water. The first challenge will be to develop the complex system itself. How would it be designed and installed? What type of sensors would be needed for it to trigger? What exactly would it be sensing — a change in pressure, flooding, fire and smoke, or combinations of these parameters? All of these questions are being considered in the research.

For more information about DHS infrastructure and geophysical programs, contact S&T-InfrastructureGeophysical@dhs.gov.

Christopher Doyle is director, Infrastructure & Geophysical Division, Science & Technology Directorate, U.S. Department of Homeland Security