Todd Rittenhouse, is an architect with Weidlinger Associates, a firm involved in aiding public and private sector organizations to ”terror-proof" buildings. Whether the building already exists, or is only on the drawing board, the first step that must be taken is to decide which attacks the protective measures should withstand. One feature easy to incorporate for many buildings is the measure necessary to prevent a vehicle being driven into the building's lobby. Next time you walk past an edifice fronted by a row of oversize concrete planters proudly showing off brilliant blooms or small trees, you'll know that what you're actually seeing is the contrivance placed there to rip the axle from any vehicle driven at them. No axle, no forward momentum.
   If the protection is being sought against bomb attacks, the fact is that no matter what size the bomb, there will always be some damage and death. The objective is to keep the damage localized, and the death minimal. If damage can be kept localized, there is hope to avoid disastrous structural failure. Obviously, the best time to install such measures is when the building is going up, but Rittenhouse and his firm are constantly researching ways to integrate such measures into buildings already standing. Some, however, according to Rittenhouse, should be razed and rebuilt, since there is no way to sufficiently compensate for existing limitations in their design. This, of course, will bring us around to the dollar bill sign. It is worshipped by so many who can not see past its golden glow to the danger that can lie beyond it. I wonder how many buildings there are out there right now that need such work done but are not having it done, in order to "save money". For people such as those blinded by the worship of the golden calf, the only time they can see that lives are better saved than money, is when they become personally involved in a disaster that could have been forestalled.
   One aspect of the research being done that really caught my attention, is the work on glass. At the moment, many of the injuries and deaths in an explosion are caused by windows being shattered into daggers. The shards of glass blown into a room become deadly projectiles. There are several possibilities for ameliorating this situation. One is to coat the glass with a glass retention film that minimizes the risk of bodily injury and property damage by holding the dangerous shards together within the window frame, preventing the glass from becoming deadly, flying weapons. There are other ways to deal with the glass problem. Tempering glass will cause it to shatter into cube shaped particles which qualifies it as safety glass. This is the type of glass used in car windows. Laminated glass, or "lami," is made by placing a layer of polyvinyl butyral (PVB) between two or more glass lites. This means that the glass will adhere to the film upon impact and not fly outward in any shape at all. Another way that has not yet made it out of the lab is to create glass that will "shatter" into a dusting of sand-like particles upon impact. How wonderful that we have the technology to develop such measures to save lives. When a hurricane or earthquake strikes, "lami" windows can help to ensure everyone survives. What a shame that we have to work so hard to get these measures into place in order to protect us against our own kind.