Manhole Security

Protecting America's Critical Underground Infrastructure.

Over the past five years, a series of terrorist attacks around the globe created new imperatives to protect civilian populations. High among these priorities is maintaining the integrity of a nation’s critical infrastructure. Most citizens take for granted the vast utility network that lies underground in nearly all major urban areas. Lying just a few feet beneath the pavement is a complicated web of pipes, wires, cables, and other conduit that transport electricity, natural gas, telecommunications, potable water, waste, and steam. In addition to the utility networks, particularly in urban areas, much rail transportation and some road traffic is underground. The entirety of this network is accessible through one common avenue – manholes.

Categories of Risk and Consequences of Attack on Manholes
Category	Risk Level	Consequences	Characterization
Tier I	High	Severe	Strategic locations including: urban centers; key infrastructure intersections; centers of business, industry, and government
Tier II	Moderate to High	Moderate to Severe	Significant landmarks, transportation hubs, public gatherings
Tier III	Moderate to Low	Moderate to Low	Suburban areas; rural and agricultural regions
Tier IV	Low	Low	Rural/low-population density areas; national parks; wildlife centers

Manholes are simply the street side access point to underground infrastructure including public utilities and
telecommunications. They are mostly found in urban areas, where a substantial portion of critical infrastructure is housed underground. However, the overwhelming majority of manholes in the United States are not secured.

The lack of manhole security provides terrorists and other individuals intent on doing harm and damage with considerable opportunity to easily disrupt and damage business and commerce, and generate significant loss of life and injury. It is therefore imperative that high-risk manholes be secured.

Manholes of the highest risk of attack and most severe consequences – classified as Tier I – are located at critical utility junctions and/or near strategic locations. A manhole supplying access to an electrical transformer near the New York Stock Exchange is an example of a strategic location. The second highest risk manholes – Tier II – are found in or near key landmarks including transportation hubs and centers of commerce or government. For example, a manhole near the Lincoln Memorial is a tier II manhole. A manhole found on a main street in a suburban center is a Tier III manhole, and a manhole located in a National Park is classified as Tier IV.

Given the importance of securing manholes in protecting critical infrastructure and key resources, an analysis of various alternatives for manhole security was reviewed. The most practical, effective, and affordable solution to protecting critical underground infrastructure is to secure Tier I and II manholes with a self contained, independent, and locking manhole barrier device.

Securing manholes is a vital step to ensuring the protection of the United States’ critical infrastructure and critical assets and thwarting terrorist and other intentional attacks. To that end, we recommend that Congress take the following steps:

1. Examine new statutory requirements that Tier I and II manholes be secured nationwide by both public and private sector entities. Examine requiring the owners and operators of manholes to assess vulnerabilities and identify tier I and II manholes.

2. Examine appropriating and allocating new funds for urban centers and strategic locations to purchase and install manhole barrier devices for all Tier I and Tier II manholes.

3. Examine incentives such as tax and insurance credits for owners of manholes, including municipalities and corporations – particularly utilities and telecommunications companies – to purchase manhole barrier security devices, and direct the Department of Homeland Security to include manhole security in best practices, policies and procedures.

4. Examine supporting further direct study of this issue by GAO and CRS. Without manhole security, the United States risks suffering significant consequences resulting from open and spontaneous attacks on underground infrastructure including incalculable economic damages, large numbers of civilian casualties, and considerable disruptions to our urban way-of-life.

The aforementioned problems, concerns, and solutions are all considered and discussed in the complete paper by this title, authored by Irwin M. Pikus, PH.D., J.D.

Source: Newsletter of the Environmental & Water  Resources Institute of the American Society of  Civil Engineers.