The federal government is creating inflatable plugs to protect subway tunnels from terrorist attacks. The cool thing about these plugs is that they could also be used to protect the subways from flooding during natural disasters.
In January a plug was successfully tested by the Department of Homeland Security using pressurized water. Another test is scheduled for next week for the Resilient Tunnel Project.
Only one plug has been manufactured so far and it will be a couple years before the product is ready to be marketed to the nation's transit and highway authorities.
Greg Holter of the Pacific Northwest National Labority said "If we would have had these things installed in the right places (New York), they could have made a terrific difference. The problem is we don't have a stock of things that we could put in place. It's not like we have a bunch of these sitting in a warehouse. It's a little frustrating really that we weren't at a better stage at this thing."
The plugs are like inflatable balloons that fit to the shape of the tunnel. Team members working on the project say these plugs could have prevented flooding in some tunnels under New York's East River, but not in the porous subway stations. Plug would be made to fit the specific dimensions of the tunnels with the ability to expand or contrast at less than 1%. It is estimated to be cheaper than installing floodgates at $400,000 and with the possibility of being cheaper if manufactured in quantities.
This new technology could be part of future security and prevention.
http://www.cnn.com/2012/10/31/us/new-york-subway-plugs/index.html?hpt=hp_c2
There is a video on the webpage that shows the plug being inflated.
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