"Raleigh, N.C., Airport Puts Bomb Resistance on List of Goals"

Friday, March 14, 2003

Raleigh, N.C., Airport Puts Bomb Resistance on List of Goals
The Raleigh-Durham (NC) News & Observer


The words appear just below power and potable water in an otherwise
mundane list of services required for the grand overhaul of Terminal C
at Raleigh-Durham International Airport: "blast assessment." 

RDU probably isn't a top target for terrorists, but the airport plans to
hire engineers who specialize in designing and testing bomb-resistant
buildings, including U.S. embassies in hostile territories. Weidlinger
Associates, based in New York, will help make Terminal C as safe as
possible without building a bunker, said Dave Powell, director of RDU's
capital improvement program.

An airport spokeswoman said RDU has not settled on a budget for
Weidlinger and does not yet know the cost of making the terminal blast
resistant. The renovation will leave much of the building's framework in
place, so the recommendations will likely center on external elements,
such as using laminated glass instead of tempered glass to reduce the
risk of flying shards in an explosion.

The terminal overhaul is expected to cost up to $400 million, according
to the proposed fiscal 2003 budget released this week, and transform the
building into the airport's showpiece. The terminal, expected to open by
2009, will more than double in size to about 1 million square feet and
have 35 to 37 gates and a security checkpoint the width of a football
field.

Other major airports, including Midway in Chicago and Logan in Boston,
had tested their buildings for bomb vulnerability before the Sept. 11,
2001, terrorist attacks shook the aviation industry.

The federal Transportation Security Administration doesn't require blast
assessment for new construction, but other security rules will cost more
than $1 million in the coming year, according to the proposed $99.7
million capital budget. The Raleigh-Durham Airport Authority will vote
next week on the budget, which is financed mainly through parking fees,
airline landing fees, and rents from concessionaires and rental car
companies.

The TSA reviews security at U.S. airports and continues to issues new
guidelines, such as requiring random checks of vehicles nearing
terminals when the national terrorism threat is elevated.

The TSA and the FBI recently started visiting U.S. airports to assess
the vulnerability of departing jets to attacks of shoulder-launched
missiles. A TSA spokeswoman wouldn't say which airports are being
examined, but officials are looking at those near large bodies of water
or parks. RDU borders William B. Umstead State Park, but it's too early
to say what could be done to prevent such attacks.

Starting this spring, workers will roll out five miles of barbed-wire
fence on the east side of the airport "to prevent human intrusion." The
TSA requested the fencing and is paying for a portion of the $650,000
project. The west side of the airfield is already protected by barbed
wire.

RDU has also budgeted $400,000 to widen its security checkpoints to
allow for more equipment and more lanes for passengers. The federal
government covers the cost of the equipment.

The $66.8 million operations budget includes another increase for the
RDU police department, the ranks of which have swelled from 28 police
officers before the Sept. 11 attacks to 87. That includes 52 part-time
officers helping to staff the security checkpoints.

The police budget is expected to grow from $2.4 million in the current
fiscal year to $2.6 million in the coming year. The airport is also
expected to spend $160,000 to post a security guard at all times at an
airfield gate usually used by RDU staff.

Despite these precautions, there is at least one indication that the
concern about terrorist attacks at RDU has its limits. After Sept. 11,
2001, the airport's insurer said it wouldn't include acts of terrorism
in its liability coverage. RDU could take out a separate policy on top
of its liability insurance, which costs about $270,000 a year.

The terrorism coverage would cost $600,000. RDU turned it down.


 Do you have an opinion about this story?
Share it with other readers in our CAA Discussion Forums

http://www.californiaaviation.org/dc/dcboard.php

*****************************************