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• Multiyear Plan for Bridge and Tunnel Security Research, Development, and Deployment

Multiyear Plan for Bridge and Tunnel Security Research, Development, and Deployment

Section 6: Summary

Protecting critical infrastructure against terrorist events is a need imposed on us by the events of September 11, 2001. Although the transportation community has always responded to natural hazards (and there are procedures in place to design for and handle these), managing for terrorist events presents a new challenge. FHWA has been proactive by reaching out to stakeholders to identify critical gaps and needs. This has been accomplished through several forums as presented in this report. The input provided by experts in the field of bridge engineering and others has been evaluated and a program has been proposed to design highway bridges and tunnels for security. There are studies underway addressing some of these needs, but most of these are narrow in scope and additional studies need to be conducted to close the gaps. It is recognized that additional high-priority projects may surface as research is completed and that identification of critical needs is a dynamic process.