BLAST OFF: Conventional steel used in creative ways can create structures that are more resilient to terrorist attacks.  These renderings demonstrate how a side-plate connector helps bridge two steel columns, preventing the progressive collapse of everything above a bomb blast.  (Renderings courtesy of Baldridge and Associates Structural Engineering)

In terrorism's chaotic wake, a fairly low-key structural engineering specialty is getting the spotlight. Anti-terrorism and force protection, familiarly referred to as ATFP, is being studied carefully and applied creatively in vulnerable structures old and new.

Unfortunately, it's an industry that can only get bigger.

Engineering, architecture and consulting firms are moving into position to take advantage of the new market. In New York City, an engineering company with transportation expertise has joined forces with a firm known for its blast forensics work. In California, a company formed by three former FBI counter-terrorism agents and an LAPD bomb squad veteran performs an infrastructure threat assessment for the LA Department of Water and Power.

After September 11, the US Corps of Engineers received $139 million in emergency funds to protect key federal facilities. Six months later, Admiral Dennis Blair talked to the Senate Armed Services Committee about emerging needs of the U.S. Pacific Command (USPACOM).

The command's projects included installation of explosive vapor detectors on the Marine base in Okinawa, and blast mitigation windows on buildings at Korea's Yongsan Base. “However,” Blair stated in his report, “USPACOM still has over 1,070 unfunded ATFP projects totaling nearly $1.5 billion to achieve full compliance with current standards.”

Closer to home, AIA Hawaii's Designer/Builder Symposium last November included a module on anti-terrorism and force protection. Discussion topics revolved around the latest design strategies for new and retrofit ATFP construction, including progressive collapse criteria and the levels of protection needed based on standoff distances between explosives and structures.

One of Linda Lingle's first tasks as governor will be the study of Homeland Security issues in Hawai`i, particularly in this state's ports and harbors. On Kauai, the Pacific Missile Range Facility has a $23 million budget which includes ATFP protection of facilities for Theater High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD), the United States' most advanced ground-based anti-missile weapon. On O`ahu, Honolulu firm Baldridge and Associates Engineering (BASE) is working on several projects that require ATFP technology. These include three Bachelor Enlisted Quarters for $65 million at Pearl Harbor, and the 320,000 sq. ft. high-tech Pacific Command Headquarters at Camp Smith. Alternate structural systems suggested by the firm helped save over $2,000,000.

According to BASE CEO Steven Baldridge, ATFP engineering can add 5%-50% to a construction budget, depending on the level of security needed. “The problem is that construction budgets usually don't go up much [for ATFP], so you have to find creative ways to provide that extra level of safety, without increasing the cost of the project much.”

The $1.3 million engineering firm first began working on projects requiring force protection about five years ago. Since then, Baldridge and several of his engineers have studied protective design in formal settings. Frank Humay, a senior project engineer, spent a week at an ATFP seminar in Virginia Beach in 2001. “The first half was geared toward Defense Department standards; the second toward blast design. Steven and I also spent an intensive week at Penn State for a course on blast-resistant design with people from all over the world.”

Because of federal cost constraints, engineering contractors are being encouraged to experiment with commercial off-the-shelf materials (tidily called COTS by the military). For example, lava lining used on the beds of pickup trucks is being used to retrofit concrete-block walls. “It's inexpensive, easy to apply, and it helps hold things together if there's a blast,” comments Baldridge. His firm has submitted a proposal to Washington's Quantico Marine Base to perform testing on four different force-resistant wall types; one of the panels will use a material being developed by the UH College of Engineering.

“Some people feel that in Hawai`i we're safer than at other places in the world,” warns Baldridge. “The people in Bali probably felt they didn't have anything to worry about. Don't put your head in the sand and think, 'Nothing's going to happen here.' Some of the terrorism is coming from Indonesia and the Philippines. People can blend in easier here than they might somewhere else.”