Terrorism: Reducing Vulnerabilities and Improving Responses U.S.-Russian Workshop Proceedings (2004) / Chapter Skim
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The Three R’s: Lessons Learned from September 11, 2001
The Three R’s: Lessons Learned from September 11, 2001
Pages 58-68
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From page 58... ...
If not, history will write a different epitaph. A UNIQUE PERSPECTIVE I am a New Yorker, one who grew up and worked in the city throughout my entire career, as chairman of Parsons Brinckerhoff, New York's oldest engineering firm whose roots, reaching back to 1885, predate our work on New York City's first subway; as cochair of the Infrastructure Task Force established by the New York City Partnership in the aftermath of the attacks; and increasingly as a student of the history of great engineering "system" failures.
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From page 59... ...
A hijacked passenger jet, American Airlines flight 11 from Boston, Massachusetts, crashes into the north tower of the World Trade Center, tearing a gaping hole and setting the building afire.
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From page 60... ...
The impacts were overwhelming: · 2,801 people killed in New York · 29 million sq ft damaged or destroyed · New York City Emergency Operations Center destroyed · 125,000 workers displaced · section of New York City subway destroyed by beams from the World Trade Center · PATH World Trade Center station partially collapsed, rendering one of three Hudson River crossings out of service · 350,000 passengers initially displaced · $1.9 billion in telecommunications infrastructure destroyed · cell traffic to 10 cell sites interrupted · two substations and local distribution system of power grid badly damaged · local power grid badly damaged · service disrupted for 12,000 electric customers, 270 steam customers, 1,400 gas customers THE THREE R'S OF CRITICAL INFRASTRUCTURE What are we to learn as engineers from the attacks of September 11, 2001, and beyond? What are we to teach to those who follow in our footsteps?
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From page 61... ...
The First R -- Resist Critical infrastructure must be designed to resist attack and catastrophic failure. Immediately following the attacks and the subsequent collapse of the World Trade Center towers, there were those who called for high-profile buildings and other critical infrastructure to be designed to stop airplanes.
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From page 62... ...
That immediate action prevented any loss of life to transit passengers or workers despite the subsequent destruction of portions of the transit system from falling debris. On the heels of that immediate response came an even more daunting challenge: to reconfigure the original transportation system to meet the needs of the 850 businesses and 125,000 workers physically displaced when 29 million sq ft of office space was damaged or destroyed and provide for a reason
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From page 63... ...
· Operational and emergency response training is an integral element of critical infrastructure response. · Today's highly engineered environment requires a first responder team that goes beyond the traditional triad of fire, police, and emergency services.
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From page 64... ...
Such was the case for the regional transit system in the aftermath of September 11, 2001. The core capacity of these systems provided the flexibility to deal with commuting patterns literally modified overnight with lines and stations outside the immediately affected area, seeing changed passenger volumes exceeding those often associated with new point A-to-B connections.
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From page 65... ...
New threats in the form of weapons of mass destruction, higher risk of collateral physical and economic damage, and more extended response time frames need to be addressed. First responder training (actions, interactions, communications, decision making)
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From page 66... ...
Response protocols in our engineered urban environment will increasingly need to proactively incorporate this fourth responder. New, dedicated first responder training facilities reflecting the unique nature of highly engineered environments and their infrastructure need to be deployed, and legislation needs to be provided to remove the onerous risks that accrue to engineer volunteers, who are often not covered by Good Samaritan statutes.
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From page 67... ...
From an engineering standpoint, this can mean many things: · providing for accessibility to the sites of critical infrastructure · ensuring availability of specialized construction equipment, contracts, and materials · developing a well-documented system with clear interface points · preplanning and rehearsing response and recovery scenarios for highprobability events (earthquake, hurricane, flood in areas so prone) However, to truly respond in a highly engineered environment, even more is required.
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From page 68... ...
2003. National strategy for the physical protection of critical infrastructure and key assets.
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