Designing Blast Hardened Structures For Military And Civilian Use PDF - A Balanced Survivability Assessment (BSA)

Centuries ago castles and moats addressed the need to keep a facility safe from an attacker. From those massive stone and wood structures, to the hardened reinforced concrete and sophisticated intrusion detection systems of the present, the principles of hardened structures have fundamentally remained the same: Identify the baseline threat and keep it at a safe distance, or create a structure as impervious as possible to that threat. Bruce Walton provides a broad, overall perspective on the problem of designing a hardened structure, and describes some of the techniques, fundamentals, and resources available.

Introduction

Protective structures over the years have relied on distance and mass for protection. For thousands of years, people have used caves and massive stone or wood structures to protect assets. Exterior walls had few openings because doors and windows are difficult to harden and defend. Defenders have used guards, fences, walls, ditches, hills, moats and other barriers to keep potential threats at a safe distance. Like ancient protective structures, most hardened structures today use massive construction of wood, rock, soil, or reinforced concrete with few windows or doors. Contemporary threats are kept at a safe standoff by operational and physical means similar to those used over the millennia. This article provides a broad, overall perspective on the problem of designing a hardened structure. A hardened facility design example is presented to demonstrate the procedure.

Definitions

The terms “hardened structure” and “protective structure” mean different things in different contexts, and lately with the increase in the terrorist threat, the common definitions have changed again. Antiterrorism Protection, Physical Security, and Hardened Structures are terms being used by many. The following definitions will hold for the bounds of this article:

Physical Security

Physical Security consists of measures taken to address criminal and vandal threats. Physical Security uses defensive measures that provide layers of detection and delay around an asset. The defensive layer must provide enough delay time to allow a response force to halt the attack. For the DOD, Physical Security is addressed primarily by policy that defines operational procedures, electronic security systems, and structural security measures to provide the required delay time. The assumption is that some minimal level of protection is required and risk is evaluated on an organization-wide basis with the assumption that there is always a criminal threat.

Antiterrorism Protection

Antiterrorism Protection addresses the design of both the building and the site to minimize the blast loads and weapon effects from terrorist threats to assets - usually people. This may mean the building is destroyed, but damage to assets is minimized. The actual threat to a specific asset is seldom known and it is unlikely that a specific asset will ever have a terrorist attack. The price people are willing to pay for protection from an unlikely threat of unknown magnitude has historically been very little in this country, but it is changing. As part of Antiterrorism Protection, blast hardening is sometimes done, but does not commonly meet the level of protection in the following definition of a hardened structure.

Hardened Structure

A Hardened Structure is usually designed to perform its primary mission after a wartime attack making hardening one of its primary requirements and a significant part of its cost. The facility is protected against a wide range of threats including forced entry, Chemical/Biological/Radiological (CBR), airblast, ground shock, penetration, fragmentation, and damage to the structure and equipment due to explosive loading. Designs must consider how camouflage, concealment and deception, active defense, and manned response can reduce or limit the effectiveness of the threat. The design assumptions are that during a war, the facility will be attacked and that it must survive and function after the attack. Almost all hardened structures inherently satisfy the requirements for both Physical Security and Antiterrorism Protection.

Likelihood of Protection

The conceptual differences between the three types of protective measures defined above are the likelihood of the protection actually being needed, the consequences of it not working, and the willingness of the user to pay for the protection. The government is willing to pay a limited price for physical security for all facilities and a high price for hardened structures for specific assets. In the past we funded antiterrorism protection at a low level because the likelihood was low, but in light of recent events, our population is re-evaluating this stance.

Designing for Wartime Threats

Designing facilities hardened for wartime threats is sometimes politically easier than designing normal facilities for the terrorist threat; because the users of the wartime hardened facilities understand the importance of hardening and are willing to give up things like large doors and windows, fancy interior finishes, and easy access. Some of the key aspects in design include:

Conventional Weapons

A wartime conventional weapon threat can range from airblast only to direct hits from precision-guided bombs and penetrators. Fully hardened facilities are designed to withstand a direct hit and detonation of a penetrating weapon. Semi-hardened facilities are designed to withstand small area weapons and near miss detonations of larger bombs. Other protected facilities are only designed to withstand airblast and fragments from bombs detonating at a distance.

Balanced Survivability

Whatever the threat, the designer tries to incorporate balanced survivability into the building. Balanced survivability is a condition wherein no significant facility failure mode has been overlooked or its importance underestimated, thus the facility has no “Achilles Heel.” Balanced survivability exists for a facility when all critical subsystems and resources required for accomplishing the facility’s mission are equally survivable at a specified threat level.

A balanced survivability assessment (BSA) determines the capability of a facility to survive against a specified threat spectrum and still perform its mission. The BSA is a systems approach to survivability, yielding recommendations that facility designers can use to make prudent investment decisions in light of what they consider to be the most critical systems and most worrisome threats. A BSA can be performed on a facility design or an operational facility, and it is ideal if a team trained in BSA techniques examines design drawings early to identify potential survivability flaws. Balanced survivability ensures that no threat is neglected, and that all threats are addressed consistently. Additional design considerations are re liability, maintainability and logistics.

Incorporating post-attack expedient measures for a facility's systems that could help it recover quickly after an attack (or pre vent further damage) should be considered. Such measures may include incorporating utility cutoffs, additional fire protection, adequate utility backup connections, and structural repair kits.

Site Planning

Key elements in planning the site include:

Dispersion Placing resources in irregular patterns, and using physical separation, orientation, staggering, and system component distribution will increase survivability. Dispersion greatly increases an attacker’s targeting difficulties, and reduces the chance of simultaneous or collateral damage from any single strike.

Orientation Hardened facilities should be oriented so their most vulnerable sides face away from nearby critical structures. Aircraft shelter entrances should not face each other or nearby critical facilities. This decreases the potential for damage to vulnerable sides of the structure if a nearby structure is hit. A critical review of the site, its surroundings, and the building’s orientation and location on the site should be performed. If this siting analysis shows an explosive threat is more probable from one direction, the facility should be oriented and/or the entrances located to minimize blast and fragment loads on the blast door.

Separation From a survivability standpoint, there is an optimum distance between hardened facilities, such that no two facilities can be attacked by a single weapon or be acquired by an airborne target acquisition system on a single pass. Siting facilities too far apart however, may degrade their operational performance.

Building Layout

Redundancy The survivability and overall operability of the protected system can be improved by incorporating redundant facilities, components, paths, and circuits into the system. In this manner, damage to one part of the system will not necessarily shut down the entire system, but instead shift the operation to a redundant part.

Footprint and Floor Plan The footprint of a hardened structure should be a rectangle, square, or other regular geometric shape that attenuates the effect of an explosive blast. Designers should avoid re-entrant corners that tend to amplify blast pressure and enhance a structure’s radar image. (Areas such as recessed entryways contain re-entrant corners.) Activities of a less critical nature should be located on the exterior of the building. Hallways should be located along the exterior wall. Compartmentalized functional areas (isolation zones) should be considered to prevent fire or internal bomb blasts from propagating from one area or zone to another. Compartmentalization can be accomplished both by careful functional zoning and by proper design of walls, internal blast doors, and other separations.

Exterior Openings Exterior openings include personnel and equipment access, fresh air ventilation, cooling, and combustion equipment intake and exhaust portals. Designers should anticipate the possibility of blast pressure, heat, dust, fragments, and toxic gases entering the facility through exterior openings, and take appropriate preventive measures. Entrance openings should be kept as small and few in number as possible to minimize shielding problems, but still satisfy operational and emergency ingress and egress requirements.

Proportioning components The structural design process has two major, interdependent phases: (1) selecting a trial structural configuration (arrangement, shape, and material), and (2) proportioning components to prevent failure under prescribed influences. The proportioning phase is calculational in nature, and therefore requires a numerical response threshold (performance criterion) for each failure mode (failure modes are established during design). Typical failure modes are those associated with airblast, fragmentation, spall, weapon penetration or perforation, shock motion, cratering, fire, suffocation, and CBR agents. For the various failure modes, the performance criteria quantify the survivability requirements of the protected system elements and functional spaces in terms of personnel tolerances, equipment tolerances, endurance periods, and post failure capabilities.

Terrorist Threats

Once a defined threat is specified, standard design procedures for hardened structures are applied. Even if no threat is defined, the DOD has determined that a minimum level of protection is warranted for all inhabited buildings, and Unified Facilities Criteria (UFC) 4-010-01 “DOD Minimum Antiterrorism Standards for Buildings” is applied. This standard establishes criteria for DOD-inhabited buildings to minimize the potential for mass casualties and progressive collapse from a terrorist attack. The overarching antiterrorism philosophy is that an appropriate level of protection can be provided for all DOD personnel at a reasonable cost, and reduces the risk of mass casualties. Full implementation of the standards provides a level of protection against all threats and significantly reduces injuries and fatalities for the threats upon which these standards are based. The costs for these protective measures are not significant for most projects. The primary methods used to achieve this outcome are to maximize the standoff distance, to construct superstructures resistant to progressive collapse, and to reduce flying debris hazards from glazing.

Maximize Standoff Distance

Maximizing the standoff distance keeps the threat as far away from critical buildings as possible. It is the easiest and least costly method for achieving the appropriate level of protection to a facility. When standoff distance is not available, the structure needs to be hardened to give the same level of protection that it would have with a greater standoff. While sufficient space around a structure is not always available to provide the minimum standoff distances required for conventional construction, maximizing the available standoff distance will always result in the most cost-effective structural solution. Maximizing standoff distance also ensures that there is opportunity in the future to upgrade buildings to meet increased threats or to accommodate higher levels of protection. If minimum standoff distances are achieved, conventional construction should minimize the risk of mass casualties from a terrorist attack, with only a marginal impact on the total project cost.

Progressive Collapse Avoidance

Progressive collapse is a chain reaction of failures following damage to a relatively small portion of a structure. The resulting damage from a progressive collapse failure is out of proportion to the damage of the initial failed area. Consequences of progressive collapse are unnecessary loss of life and the entrapment of survivors in the collapsed structure. The UFC has provisions that minimize the ability of the structure to go into a progressive collapse mode of failure. Designing those provisions into the buildings before construction begins, or during a major renovation project is the most cost effective solution. All inhabited structures of three stories or more, are to have a progressive analysis performed. This analysis assures that the structure will remain stable when key members are removed and is accomplished by providing structural continuity, redundancy, or energy dissipating capacity (ductility) in the remaining members of the structure. There are two approaches to perform a progressive collapse analysis - the direct and the indirect methods.

Direct Design Approach Direct design explicitly considers structural resistance through the alternate path method or through the specific local resistance method. When a local failure occurs, such as the removal of a structural member, the alternate path method seeks to find a load path that will absorb the loads created. The specific local resistance method applies loads to the structure that must be accounted for in the design.

Indirect Design Approach Indirect design implicitly considers a structure’s resistance to progressive collapse by defining a minimum level of strength, continuity, and ductility for structural members. Typical guidance recommends using highly redundant structural systems such as moment resisting frames, continuity across joints so the member can develop the full structural capacity of the connected members, and design members that accommodate large displacements without complete loss of strength. Other design details that minimize the possibility that collapse of one part of the building will affect the stability of the remainder of the building should be incorporated.

Examples include designing floor systems with top and bottom steel to accommodate load reversal, and designing building additions to be structurally independent from the protected portions of the existing building.

Minimize Hazardous Flying Debris

A high number of injuries result from flying glass fragments and debris from walls, ceilings, and fixtures (non-structural features). Flying debris is minimized through the proper design and selection of appropriate building materials. The glazing used in most windows will break at very low blast pressures, creating hazardous, dagger-like shards. The simplest protection from flying debris is to minimize the number and sizes of windows used in the building design. Additional protection can be garnered by using enhanced window units. Blast-resistant window and door units must be purchased as complete, tested assemblies that include the glazing unit, door or window frame, and frame connections to the structure. When installed, these elements become an integrated structural system. The UFC requires that all glazing units use a 1/4-inch laminated glass in all new construction and major renovations.

Observations of Conventional Structures

Review of typical structures often reveals that structural members have different capacities during the positive and negative phases of the blast load. Also, these members can have significant blast load capacity, but the connections may not. Special provisions of the concrete and steel design codes need to be followed to make a structure perform well, even when a reasonable amount of standoff is provided. Conventional design of buildings results in balanced design for normal loads and usually a very unbalanced survivability for blast loads. Most buildings are initially designed for easy access and natural lighting, which results in numerous lightweight doors, and larger windows. Hardening doors and windows for blast and fragment loadings is difficult and very expensive, typically 2 to 10 times that of normal construction. This results in a significant increase in building cost. Typical roof construction is kept lightweight especially in high seismic areas and the lack of mass in these elements makes it difficult to design them for blast loads.

Bruce Walton, PE

Protective Design Center
US Army Corps of Engineers
Omaha, NE

Designing Blast Hardened Structures For Military And Civilian Use - PDF

Also see:

Designing Blast Hardened Structures

DOD Protective Design Manuals Have Wide Application PDF

LNM Network Radio Interview With Brian Camden - 7th November 2012

Brian Camden joins LNM Network Radio to discuss under ground structures and fortified homes, click here to listen to Late Night in the Midlands with Host Michael Vara.

The radio interview begins at 50.30 mins and goes to 72 mins.

Nuclear issues are also discussed by others in the program as it might relate...

An Excellent Hour Long Interview On EMPact Radio With Brian Camden HSUSA + Q&A - 4th April 2012

Brian Camden is Principal of Hardened Structures, a professional construction program management firm specializing in commercial, residential and community hardening, fortified homes, bomb shelters, bunkers, storm shelters and self-sustaining hardened facilities. The multi-hazard design/build engineering methology that Hardened Structures uses encompasses all aspects of blast hardening, blast effective mitigation, protective design technologies, advances security and alternative energy systems. They provide client/project specific designs addressing conventional weapons, forced entry, chemical, biological, radiological and explosive (CBRE) weapons, 2012 mitigations, climate change and any type of apocalypse or world-ending scenario. Hardened Structures' team of engineers, architects, project managers, scientists and security specialists confidentially manages all aspects of protection programming, strategic planning, site assessment, complete designs, clandestine contracting, risk assessments, building systems placement, preparedness/response, alternative/solar energy systems, and full construction. Hardened Structures has confidential designers, suppliers and security specialists to cost effectively design/build discreetly anywhere in the U.S. Canada, Europe, Asia, Australia and New Zealand. A facility or shelter addition can be built in almost any location be it urban, suburban or rural.

Click here to listen to Brian Camden on Blog Talk Radio.

30 Minute PODCAST Audio - Fortified Homes and Hardened Structures with Brian Camden - 15th Feb 2013

Economic tensions, nuclear and EMP threats, and acts of terrorism, both domestic and abroad, have people concerned about their safety and survival. During the Cold War, bomb shelters or fallout shelters became very popular. Today, your own home can provide the protection you need from whatever threats about which you are most concerned. Jason Hartman is joined by Brian Camden, Principal of Hardened Structures Hardened Shelters LLC, to talk about fortified homes, underground bunkers, protection and action plans, and how many shelters are designed. Brian explains the construction designs and the level of security available. These hardened structures can be built as a nice-looking home or second home or as an addition to an existing home, most often with underground shelters, that are fully sustainable off the grid. Brian shares some of the most important reasons that more and more homeowners are requesting fortified homes or shelters. For more details, listen at: www.HolisticSurvival.com.

Hardened Structures Hardened Shelters LLC is a Construction Program Management firm (http://www.hardenedstructures.com/). The Team consists of a core group of independent, specially trained shelter design firms for structural engineering, blast engineering, EMP/HEMP shielding, CBRN, HVAC, electrical and alternative energy designs. There has been a lot of concern about how unprotected our nation is from EMP/HEMP blasts, whether from natural means like solar flares or from warring nations, and the company has been involved in a lot of military projects to protect from these threats.

All construction is performed by a special group of geographically specific licensed general contractors. These independent design firms and general contractors have had specialized shelter design and build training before they can become part of the "Hardened Structures Team". The company provides a "one-stop shop," including arms, alarm systems, training, security threat assessments and more.

Brian Camden Podcast: Download

Full Radio Interview Transcript

An Interesting Hour Radio Interview With Brian Camden From HS USA - 18th Sept 2013

Here's a link to an interesting and informative one hour plus radio interview with Brian Camden from Hardened Structures USA.

The exact same interview as above goes from "28.40 mins to 1 hr 37 mins" in the below full length radio interview You Tube clip which was recorded on the 18th September 2013.

NB: Hardened Structures does not have a stance in regards to the radio show "Late In The Midlands" and or the views expressed other than those of Hardened Structures.

Designing Blast Hardened Structures

How Department Of Defense Research Protects People And Buildings

Designing Blast Hardened Structures For Military & Civilian Use - Free PDF Download Link

Page 53 ( scroll down the eBook for this article )

Centuries ago castles and moats addressed the need to keep a facility safe from an attacker. From those massive stone and wood structures, to the hardened reinforced concrete and sophisticated intrusion detection systems of the present, the principles of hardened structures have fundamentally remained the same: Identify the baseline threat and keep it at a safe distance, or create a structure as impervious as possible to that threat. Bruce Walton provides a broad, overall perspective on the problem of designing a hardened structure, and describes some of the techniques, fundamentals, and resources available.

Bruce A. Walton is a registered structural engineer with the US Army Corps of Engineers' Protective Design Center in Omaha, Nebraska. He is a member of the US Army Corps of Engineers' Urban Search and Rescue Team as a structural specialist. Mr. Walton is a retired Air Force Lieutenant Colonel, who has worked for the Protective Design Center since 1989. He has many years of experience in research and design with both the Air Force and Army. His background consists mainly of research in the areas of weapon effects, rapid repair of wartime facility damage, and the design of facilities to resist the effects of nuclear weapons, conventional weapons, and accidental explosions. He has developed computer programs in the areas of weapon effects prediction and computational dynamics. He was also a major author of UFC 3-340-01, Design & Analysis of Hardened Structures to Conventional Weapons Effects. Mr. Walton was also the primary DOD structural investigator for the World Trade Center, Oklahoma Federal Building, and Khobar Towers – Saudi Arabia bombings.

Blast Retrofit Research and Development: Protection for Walls and Windows - Page 31

Blast Retrofit Research and Development:

David Coltharp and Dr. Robert L. Hall, Geotechnical and Structures Laboratory, US Army Corps of Engineers, Engineer Research and Development Center, Vicksburg, MS

Conventional building components are highly vulnerable to terrorist vehicle bomb attack. Common annealed glass windows break at very low blast pressures and the resulting flying glass fragments are a major cause of injuries in many bombing incidents. Masonry in-fill walls are also weak elements and another source of hazardous debris. Through the combined research and development efforts of multiple DOD agencies and the State Department, significant advances have been made since 1996 in improving methods for protection of conventional military and government facilities. David Coltharp presents some of the unique and innovative methods that have been developed for retrofitting windows and walls, and describes how they increase the blast capacity of these vulnerable components, decrease standoff requirements, and improve protection for personnel.

AMPTIAC Advanced Materials and Processes Technology Information Analysis Center (US DoD)

DOD Protective Design Manuals Have Wide Application PDF

VHSC Very-High-Strength-Concretes For Use In Blast And Penetration-Resistant Structures PDF

Nuts and Bolts of a Fallout Shelter - Fox Business

Reuters

If you are worried about protecting your family from a tornado, hurricane, wildfire or worse -- radioactive particles from a nuclear explosion -- a fallout shelter may be the answer.

Paul Seyfried, co-owner of Utah Shelter Systems, specializes in making fallout shelters and other structures to protect people in such doomsday scenarios. "Most of our clients are simply Americans who want to improve the safety and security of their families in tumultuous times," he says. Installing a fallout shelter is similar to improving any other structure on a homeowner's property, Seyfried says. Depending on the builder, the shelter could be made of corrugated steel, concrete or even fiberglass.

But like any other home improvement, it's important to select a builder who's familiar with the products and knows what it takes to protect your home, he says. Homeowners also should make sure they understand all the costs, follow local building rules and stock the structure properly.

Priced like a well-equipped truck

Seyfried says underground structures at Utah Shelter Systems range in size from about 256 to 500 square feet, and they come with ventilation systems, wood-based flooring, bunk beds and a wiring system with light fixtures.

Lights run off of batteries that last two to three weeks, hopefully long enough to get through the worst of a calamity. If the batteries run out, a home generator could be used to recharge them, and generators cost about $1,000.

The cost starts at about $51,800. "We want the price to be about that of a new, well-equipped truck," Seyfried says. "It sounds like a lot of money, but you sure see a lot of pickup trucks driving around on America's roads."

Other options, such as additional bunk beds, dehydrated food and other items to stock the room can be purchased separately, he says. Consumers generally pay 50% of the shelter's cost upfront to purchase materials, Seyfried says.

It takes about six weeks for a fallout shelter to be built, and at about that point, the client pays the remainder of the money, he says.

At Hardened Structures in Virginia Beach, Va., a typical reinforced underground shelter is made of concrete. "That cost will run anywhere from $300 to $600 per square foot," says Brian Camden, the company's president. The factors influencing the cost are how thick the walls are, the extent of shielding from electromagnetic pulse, and the difficulty of hitting certain underground conditions such as rock or water, he says.

Another issue is privacy. Some clients are willing to pay more to bring in subcontractors from out of state to keep the installation project discreet, he says.

In addition to paying for the design and construction of the shelters off-site, clients also have to hire their own general contractor to transport and install the shelter on their property. That can add thousands of dollars to the total bill, depending on the shelter's requirements, Seyfried says.

Set money aside

Customers arrange their own funding. "We don't do financing, and we don't take credit cards," Seyfried says.

Obviously, the best option to pay for these large projects is to have money set aside just for this purpose, says Rob Seltzer, a CPA in Los Angeles.

But if you don't have the cash on hand and are considering taking out a loan to pay for the shelter, talk to an adviser about your financial situation before signing an agreement with any builder, he says.

Owners who have equity in their homes may be able to refinance their mortgage to pay for the structure, and that can have tax advantages over other loan options. But owners have to make sure they can handle the extra expense, Seltzer says. "Scrutinize your budget first," he says.

Finding a builder

An online search will reveal many niche companies that can build a fallout shelter for your family, but it's important to find a company that knows the industry, Camden says.

"You can't go and hire an engineer who designed the shopping center down the street," he says. "You need special engineers who know Department of Defense requirements, blast requirements and ballistics requirements." In addition, the builders will need to make sure they have the necessary permits from your local jurisdiction to make an improvement on your property, just as with any other home project, Camden says.

Location, location, location

For protection in a true doomsday scenario, you'd want your bomb shelter to be in a place that's easy for you and your family to get to in the event of a catastrophe, Seyfried says. "Most of the shelters go into the backyard," he says.

Shelters are buried underground, with generally at least 8 feet of earth covering the structure to help protect against the threat of any radiation danger, he says.

"You also want to site these shelters where heavy rain will drain away from the shelter site, not toward it," Seyfried says.

Once installed, the fallout shelter should remain with the property. Don't expect to pick it up and bring it with you if you decide to move, he says.

If paying for a separate structure isn't appealing, many builders also will give homeowners the option to reinforce their existing property with ballistic and fire-resistant exteriors, Camden says.

"You try to fit the best shelter for what the client's threat-event scenario is," he says. "We could fortify the entire house."

By Margarette Burnette Published October 22, 2012

Fox Business Article: Nuts and Bolts Fallout Shelter

Best In The Risk Mitigation Business - Background, Design Experience & Projects

Hardened Structures Hardened Shelters, LLC. is a Professional Construction Program Management Company specializing in the confidential planning, design and covert construction of hardened facilities, underground bunkers, survival communities, deep earth bunkers, rural compounds and fortresses. Composed of specially trained architects, engineers, physicists, scientists, ex-military and security experts, the firm has been recognized as one of the world's most experienced team of underground shelter engineers and design / build firms.

Hardened Structures serves as an agent and advocate for their clients. They function solely to protect their client's best interests in the areas of Protection Programming, Design, Construction, Product Procurement, Privacy and Secrecy.

Protection Programming is an analytical activity which seeks to identify and state the client's need which then can be translated into a Statement of Requirements in such a way as to lead to design solutions that responds to the client's needs. These facilities are unparalleled in their Protection Program and technology. Client confidentiality and total project secrecy are paramount on all of the firm's design / build projects.

Hardened Structures offers a full spectrum of services as listed below:

• Full Architectural & Design Services
• Construction Contracting
• Asset Value Assessment
• Threat Hazard Assessment
• Vulnerability Assessment
• Full Risk Assessment
• Site Selection and Layout Design
• Blast Effects and Mitigations
• Chemical, Biological and Radiological Protective Measures
• Red Team Assault Exercises
• Ventilation, Air Filtration and Sorbent Filtering Systems
• Sustainable, Alternative, Geothermal, Climatic and #Solar Energy Designs
• Budgeting and Estimating
• Full Construction Contracting
• Long Term Survivability, Food Storage, Equipment and Shelter Management Plans
• Planning & Design Services – full Architectural and #Engineering Design services. Critical Path scheduling, budgeting, product procurement, plan review, permitting, variance applications, owner representation.
• Construction Services – from complete single point responsibility for all construction activities to off-site advisory roles.

A Hardened Structure Facility can be constructed in most localities, urban, suburban or rural. By its nature, a Hardened Structure is usually designed to perform its primary mission both during and after a war-like or criminal attack, in the event of a major natural disaster or accidental / man made emergency. Thus, making hardening one of its primary requirements and a significant part of the cost.

We address these challenges by employing a Multi-Hazard Engineering methodology that not only recognizes individual hazards / threats sequentially but also address all hazards/threats simultaneously as a problem of optimization under constraints. The facility can be protected against a wide range of threats including forced entry, armed assault; chemical, biological, radiological, explosive (CBRE) agents, air-blast, ground shock, penetration, fragmentation and damage to the structure and equipment due to explosive loading.

Hardened Structures Hardened Shelters, LLC is the US distributor for #TEMET brand products. TEMET is the world leader in Hardened Shelter Technology providing protective solutions for all types of civilian and military protective structures.

TEMET has been active in this technology since the 1950's, conducting research, development, testing and production of all critical components and systems of hardened shelters. The Finnish legislative requirements and long-term shelter building program for the civilian population has laid the foundation for TEMET's strong technological standing in shelter technology.

TEMET's strength is the ability to rapidly develop new protective solution applications to meet with the most demanding protection criteria. Teaming together, Hardened Structures and TEMET will provide peer plan reviews of the shelter layout, functionality, system equipment, egress and ingress of the shelter.

Hardened Structure's ATF Import License # is ( available upon application ) and the firm's registration number with the DDTC is ( available upon application ).

Projects : Design Build Experience

Private Residence Shelters - USA

1. Project name: Private Residence Shelters
2. Description of projects: A 4,300 SF (372 SM) and a 10,000 SF (929 SM) underground shelter complete with EMP protection, designed for full range of catastrophic events including a 3 bar blast overpressure.
3. Description of design work actually performed by the design entity: Hardened Structures provided complete structural, mechanical, electrical and plumbing design including NBC filtration systems, fuel storage systems, EMP protection design and site layout.
4. Location of projects: USA
5. Dollar value of the projects: $3,500,000 and $8,000,000

Projects : Examples 2015 

A. A bunker, 10’x50’ (500SF ) , prefab steel unit, plus underground generator enclosure, tunnel to master bedroom, escape tunnel . . . 

The excavation was for an actual permitted swimming pool, pool deck and cabana. The bunker went under the cabana and pool deck, and a midnight overnight delivery and backfill.

B. A 250SF earth sheltered one bedroom suite with full EMP protection and off grid energy. EMP shielding drove the price higher.

C. A 600SF two bedroom plus loft hardened retreat home. Earth bermed.

D.  A new 3,500 SF hardened home with an additional 800SF hardened bunker.

E. Safe rooms - how long one is going to stay in the safe room makes a huge impact. 12 hours is far different than 72 hours. And beyond 72 hours becomes a full specification bunker project.

F. Survival retreats both within the USA and internationally - ongoing.

Temet Protective Solutions - Oil and Gas . . .

TEMET - Supply Chain Partners

Process Industry

The hazards related to explosions and fires are most eminent in chemical and petrochemical plants that treat increasing volumes of highly flammable agents. The more complicated the process, the higher the risk of accident. Failure to invest in safety can lead to costly outcomes. Temet's cutting edge technology will prevent accidents from turning into major incidents.

Petrochemical Industry

Temet's technology is used world wide in oil refineries, off-shore platforms, control buildings, field auxiliary rooms and laboratories, analyzer and instrument houses and electrical substations. The new blast resistant technology accounting for the combined effect of pressure and fire present in hydrocarbon deflagration allows for optimized protection of ventilation systems and passageways of all hardened industrial facilities.

Other Process Industries

Temet is constantly expanding its industrial product line and finding new applications outside the petrochemical industry; our protective solutions successfully serve the protection needs within other process industry such as other chemical and pulp and paper plants.

Process Industry references and case studies:

• Zubair Oil Field , Iraq, 2013
• Suncor MCB locker Complex, Canada, 2013
• Kazakhstan Caspian Offshore Industries, 2013
• Daewoo Shipbuilding, Matrine Engineering, Korea, 2012
• Borouge U&O, UAE, 2012
• Barzan Project, UAE, 2012
• Shell E&I Shop, USA, 2012
• Harbin Oil Refining Project, China 2011

Temet Protective Solutions - Mining Industry

TEMET - Supply Chain Partners

Mining Industry

Elimination of potential dangers and protection against accidents reach new dimensions when the target lies thousands of feet underground.

The special conditions in mines create a vulnerable environment where both persons and equipment are exposed to various threats such as explosions and toxic gases.

Blast Protection

Analogous to protection in process industry, Temet's blast protection solutions are used to mitigate the damage caused by mining explosions.

Air Filtration

Equally important is to neutralize the hazard caused by release of toxic gases with the special filtration technology tuned to remove the specified spectrum of gaseous agents.

Temet Protective Solutions - Protective Structures and Shelters

1. TEMET - supply chain partners

World Leader in Protective Solutions

www.Temet.com

Temet is the world leader in blast protection, CBRN filtration and special ventilation technology applied in civilian shelters and hardened military facilities.

Shelter Technology Index Page - Google Drive Link

Temet : Global Leader In Blast Protection & Special Ventilation Technology

Hardened Protective Structures

Temet provides the most advanced solutions for blast protection of hardened shelters, securing access ways and ventilation openings as well as wall penetrations for electrical and mechanical services.

Temet's expertise in Civil Defence Shelters is successfully applied in furnishing other types of civilian and military protective structures with blast protection, special filtration and shock protection technology.

Typical end users of Temet solutions are command & control rooms, equipment and material shelters, hardened telecom and server centers as well as power distribution facilities.

Civil Defense Shelters

Temet's Civil Defense Shelters fulfill the demanding requirements of Finnish and other national authorities

The purpose of Civil Defense is to protect the citizens from emergencies and disasters. Public shelters are an important asset in this protection.

Protection for All

Countries that have decided to provide all-inclusive, thoroughly designed Civil Defense for their citizens build modern shelters that impartially offer all citizens a reliable refuge in all crisis situations.

Total Shelter Equipment Offering

Temet offers all special equipment and systems for today's Civil Defense Shelters to guarantee their performance for protection against blast effects, CBRN threat and damage induced by excessive mechanical shock loads.

Civil Defense references and case studies:

• Al Jaber Hospital, Kuwait, 2012
• PUB Authority for Minors AFF, Kuwait, 2012
• KOC Al Ahmadi Hospital, Kuwait, 2012
• Paaet Rasco Stadium, Kuwait, 2012
• Al Zour Power Plant , Kuwait, 2012

2. Environics

Environics is a global provider of industrial gas detection and CBRN (chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear) monitoring solutions. We manufacture a wide range of products including hazardous gas monitors for ambient air, process gas and stack emissions, as well as government early warning CBRN detection systems. Today, Environics is the supplier of choice for industrial, government and military organizations worldwide.

Electric Infrastructure Security Summit ( Including EMP ) Agenda.pdf - Capitol Hill, Washington, USA - May 2013 - PDF

Electric Infrastructure Security Summit (Including EMP) Agenda.pdf - Google Drive Link

A member aligned to the Hardened Structures team was a key note speaker at this event in May 2013.

The electric power grid and other rapidly evolving, interdependent infrastructures have brought our nations unprecedented prosperity and revolutionary change in the way we live, work and play. But the integration of nearly all these systems, and their profound dependence on electricity , has also given rise to new, serious dimensions of societal vulnerability.

The Electric Infrastructure Security Conference (EISS) Series was the primary annual framework for senior national and international government representatives, energy and insurance sector executives and leading scientists to share ideas and information, and explore ways to collaborate on protecting vital utilities and infrastructures.

The fourth annual world summit on infrastructure security, EISS IV WASHINGTON D.C. was built on the international security framework established over the previous three years. ( To preview previous EIS Summits, visit www.eissummit.com )

The theme of EISS IV was Resilience and Synergy. With the primary focus on electromagnetic threats (e-threats including EMP).

CBRNe Chemical Biological Radiation Nuclear explosive Conference - Kuala Lumpar Asia September 2013 - PDF

Kuala Lumpar 24 to 27th September 2013 Conference

CBRNe Chemical Biological Radiation Nuclear explosive Conference - Google Drive Link

www.cbrneasia.com

FORTECO Fortified Eco - Sustainability + A Discussion Document Link Via Google Drive

Forteco

Providing secure underground structures and fully integrated sustainable above ground fortified homes.

Forteco PDF - Google Drive Link

The Mission

Providing a comprehensive design and build service tailored to the needs of the present day.

The Build

Fortified Buildings that can withstand forces beyond a 2500 year event level.

Lifestyle

To live in a completely sustainable and self sufficient environment.

1. Fortified "Hardened" Homes

A fortified home that is safe and secure against a variety of threats is an excellent way to protect your investment and your family.

2. Fortified And Hardened Homes

Fortified "Hardened" Homes

A fortified home that is safe and secure against a variety of threats is an excellent way to protect your investment and your family contact Hardened Structures for confidential pricing and scheduling information Contact Hardened Structures for confidential pricing and scheduling information.

At Hardened Structures our Fortified Homes are custom tailored to our clients particular requirements. We emphasize the family function and quality lifestyles as being the design drivers while all of our Fortified Homes bear an unmistakable architectural signature of safe and secure elegance.

Secure & Elegant Fortified Homes

At Hardened Structures our architects can design to your individual architectural style be it Contemporary, Traditional, Colonial, Mediterranean, Beach Front, Southwestern or any personal preference. We can also work with your own architect to achieve the level of protection and perfection necessary for your personal residence. Our security consultants are internationally recognized experts in the fields of building fortifications, personal security, advanced security systems and offensive/defensive components.

At Hardened Structures we employ a Multi-Hazard Engineering methodology that not only recognizes individual threats sequentially, but also address all hazards/threats as simultaneously occurring, so as to insure there is no "Achilles Heel" within our designs. The Protection Program for a Fortified Home is varied and is usually determined by the Client's Threat, Risk and Asset assessments.

The home can be protected against a wide range of threats including forced entry/assaults, climate change, chemical / biological / radiological / explosive (CBRE) agents, air-blast, ground shock, penetration, fragmentation and damage to the structure and equipment due to explosive loading. Along with the Client's particular living, function and storage requirements, the designs also incorporate active offensive and defensive components, and mechanical responses to reduce the effectiveness of any given threat while providing for individual/family long term living requirements.

Large Shelter Layout Beneath A Private Residence

For most of our clients, one of the most important aspects of designing their Fortified Home is that it not resemble a fortified home and that the outwardly appearance is of a well designed custom home. Only the owners will know the true capabilities and functions of the home which may include:

• Vaults for firearms and ammunition
• Vaults for precious metals, cash and other vaulables
• Remote control Offensive and Defensive systems
• Hidden compartments and sliding bookcases
• Emergency escape ways
• Alternative energy and sustainability syststem
• Vehicle storage and fuel systems
• Ballistic walls, windows and doors
• Fire resistance
• "Off Grid" electrical capabilities
• Independent water and sewage
• Advanced security systems, CCTV, sensors and alarms
• Hidden passages and entrances
• Underground bomb shelter and storage

Contact Hardened Structures for confidential pricing and scheduling information

Ballistic Level 5 Hardened Home

Features protection from: Bullets, Forced Entry, Hurricanes, Flooding, Tornadoes and Armed Assaults.

Fortified Homes are special, and so are the people who choose them. At Hardened Structures confidentiality is paramount. We serve as our Client's agent, representing their best efforts by professionally and stealthily implementing a design/build program to meet any Threat Event.

Fortified Homes can include protection mitigation for:

• Natural disasters covering earthquakes, hurricanes, tornadoes, lightning and flooding.
• Ballistic Levels for most weapons from .22 to .50 caliber
• Forced Entry and Armed Assaults
• Fire in the immediate surroundings
• CBRN (chemical, biological, radiological nuclear) air filtration systems
• EMP/HEMP shielding and mitigation

Virginia Beach Firm Builds Shelters

The Virginian-Pilot
© March 4, 2012
By Josh Brown

Virginia Beach

Almost every day, Brian Camden gets a call from someone full of angst.

The worry might be about nuclear attack. Economic collapse. Widespread anarchy.

Camden is head of a Virginia Beach-based company that builds all sorts of reinforced structures, from underground bunkers to fortified homes.

No matter what clients fear, Camden said, his company, Hardened Structures Hardened Shelters LLC, can build something to help them feel safer. "It doesn't matter whether it's a Nostradamus prediction or the Book of Revelation. A lot of times the protection plan is largely the same."

The 57-year-old civil engineer started building shelters as a side business 20 years ago. For worriers, those two decades have provided plenty of fodder: terrorist attacks, wars in the Middle East and a slew of natural disasters including hurricanes, tsunamis and earthquakes.

As a result, Camden and experts said, a growing number of people these days are preparing for the worst.

"The prepper or survivalist mentality is not a large percentage of the U.S. population, but I think more and more people are waking up and paying more attention," said Janet Liebsch, co-author of a manual on preparedness called "It's a Disaster!"

"The people now who are looking at building shelters, it's because of the saber-rattling going on with Iran and North Korea and fears of terrorists getting access to the smaller nuclear devices," said Liebsch, who is also a member of the American Preppers Network, a survivalist organization.

Survivalists, or "preppers," have garnered more media attention in recent years. Last month, the National Geographic Channel premiered a new reality TV show called "Doomsday Preppers," which profiles people preparing for disasters.

Camden said that sort of attention has also helped stoke the niche industry. But his company doesn't build safe rooms or sell rations or Geiger counters. It caters to well-heeled preppers who can spend tens of thousands of dollars for a greater sense of security.

"A typical U.S. private client is college-educated and somewhat wealthy," Camden said. "Due to a variety of reasons, they generally believe the current economic and societal system cannot be sustained, and they are taking steps to protect their family. In a nutshell, that's what these facilities are: family insurance."

Typically, a fortified home costs between $250 and $350 per square foot to build, Camden said. That cost increases to between $300 and $800 per square foot for reinforced concrete bunkers.

To give an idea what one of the homes might look like, the firm's website depicts a large underground bunker complete with five bedrooms, four bathrooms and large living and storage areas. All of that is set underneath a fairly typical-looking home built on the side of a mountain. Camden said some of his projects have included entrances disguised to look like boulders, and many clients opt for military-grade air-filtration systems.

In recent years, Camden said, his firm has worked on projects ranging from a $14,000 storm shelter to a $60 million survival community in a mountainous area in the western part of the country.

Of course, you have to take Camden at his word. He declined to give the name of any individual who has hired his firm to build a bunker or fortified home. However, he does offer media the chance to tour one of his projects outside of Asheville, N.C. - as long as they agree to be driven there blindfolded and without any sort of GPS tracking device.

"One of the first things you learn in this industry is never to reveal the location of a client's shelter," Camden said.

Long before he ever had to worry about his clients' secret bunkers, the Hampton Roads native spent years in the local construction industry, working jobs ranging from a surveyor to structural inspector.

The idea for the survival-shelter business came in 1991, while he was working for a construction management firm. The economy was bad, and his company had just lost a bid to build a large church.

As Camden recalls, he left work early that day to blow off some steam and reflect.

"The idea came to me while I was jogging on the beach," he said. "If the world's economies got worse and more wars happen, what kind of construction would still be in demand? People would be buying hardened structures."

His firm started advertising that it could build survival shelters, but business was slow initially. A year or two passed before he got his first couple of orders, he said. One was from a woman in Mt. Juliet, Tenn., east of Nashville. She wanted a basic bunker. The other was an order for a new fortified basement addition for a resident in Williamsburg.

As the economy improved, Camden turned his attention back to his primary job with Powell Management Associates, which specializes in construction management for municipal projects.

By 1997, he had incorporated Hardened Structures and launched a website. He said it was around then that his first large project came along - a survival complex in the Adirondack Mountains in New York.

Then things quieted down a bit until the terrorist attacks on 9/11, followed by the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. Those events spurred a resurgence of individuals considering ways to protect themselves from man-made and natural disasters, Camden said.

Over the years, he estimated, the company has worked on about 100 projects for shelters and hardened buildings, including at least a couple in Hampton Roads.

Along the way, the business has spawned several affiliate companies in other states and in Europe. Those companies use the Hardened Structures name and designs but manage the projects themselves, paying Camden's firm a royalty, he said. A businessman and former Navy SEAL operates an affiliate firm in Virginia Beach that handles defense-related and classified projects.

The company also recently began building structures for foreign governments, including fortified aircraft hangars in Kuwait and earth-covered magazines in the United Arab Emirates, Camden said.

These days, he said, his firm works on about eight projects annually. He declined to give sales figures but said 2010 was Hardened Structures' biggest year. He attributes part of that boom to people trying to finish their preparations before any doomsday events that some fear will happen this year.

While his biggest seller is a $40,000 steel bunker that looks somewhat like a boxcar, Camden said his firm has subcontractors that can build just about anything, even a survival ark like the one fictionalized in the 2009 disaster movie "2012." However, Camden declined to comment on whether his firm has ever built such an ark.

In the past year, business for the bunkers has slowed somewhat. That gives his 12-person firm in an unmarked building on Lynnhaven Parkway more time to focus on municipal projects as Powell Management.

Camden hopes the business for shelters continues to grow, but he doesn't want to be known as a fear-monger.

"I'm a family man," he said. "I sincerely hope nothing ever happens."

But if it does, Camden said, he's ready. Someplace out in Western Tidewater is his own safe area - a bunker he calls "the farm."

He's not saying where.
Josh Brown 

Projects Internationally And Program Management

His company, Hardened Structures, calls itself the "world leader in underground shelter systems."

While I can't attest to that, I do know that the company is highly regarded by everyone I've talked to while researching this story.

The construction management firm builds everything from prisons to schools to shopping malls. "We do it all," says Camden. "I work for the Army Corps of Engineers, we did a few hundred person shelter under the hospital in Kuwait last year. We've done work for the Jordanian government. We've done work for the Army Corps of Engineers, we do work for U.S. corporations and private individuals. We do work for the Air Force."

The various 2012 type scenarios that people believed might have seemed fantastic, but for someone like Camden, they are nothing more than a series of calculations.

"Once you determine the threat level, the threat event scenarios the facility has to be designed to mitigate, the occupant load, how many people are going to be in there, the assets that need protected — people, food, guns, gold, precious metals, plants, hydroponics — what are the putting in there? How long? How long are you going to stay in there? That determines your cubic footage for storage. Once we understand all of that, it's straight engineering and physics. [Once] we understand the program that the client needs us to design, it's basically the same concept, the same approach that an architectural design team would use if we were designing a shopping center, let's say."

The important thing, says Camden, is that the client can articulate the "threat event scenario," or the specific dangers they wish to mitigate.

According to Camden, an underground reinforced concrete bunker will have walls between 14 to 24 inches thick, with a a ceiling anywhere from 18 to 36 inches thick.

The level of EMP protection is also a factor. EMP, or electromagnetic pulse, is the electromagnetic radiation that accompanies a nuclear explosion. Effects from EMP vary, but if you get a high enough dose it will damage your electronic equipment. If you have a pacemaker, you'll want to shield the entire shelter with conductive material which, Camden notes, "is very expensive." If you're trying to save a few bucks you can probably get away with just shielding the electrical systems and points of entry.

Aside from nukes, common threat event scenarios include tidal waves or global flooding.

In the event of a massive flood, the bunker engineer has to account for things like the shelter's occupant load and the amount of time the occupants plan on spending there. "[W]e have to put in CO2 scrubbers and oxygen machines. You calculate, with a thousand foot wave going over top, at 500 feet, how long will it take that water to reside. Is it 100 hours, 200 hours, 300 hours? Whatever the case is, and we calculate that, then we double for a safety factor. But even with that you still have to include self-rescue supplies in the shelter. If they believe you're going to be completely underwater, you must assume that the tidal wave may never reside. In other words, you're going to be underwater constantly. If that's the case, how do you get out? And there's design secrets, proprietary stuff that we do, that get the clients out.

"In 2012 type scenario's, those are the big cost-driven factors right there. After that, what determines the cost is geotechnical conditions. What are you going to hit when you go into the ground. Are you going to hit rock? Bedrock? Are you going to hit water? Can we just use a hammer drill and excavate, or [do we have to] blast? Those are cost aspects. Is there an access road? Do we have to put a road in? Are there utilities there? Can we get water up there? Can we drill for a well?

"After doing this for twenty years, it's not rocket science."

Hardened Structures Reminder of 20 Basic Survival Preparation Tips ( Ammoland.com )

Hardened Structures Reminder of 20 Basic Survival Preparation Tips
(www.ammoland.com)

Virgina Beach VA -(Ammoland.com)- Hardened Shelters LLC is a professional construction program management firm specializing in commercial, and residential hardening, fortified homes, bomb shelters, bunkers, storm shelters and self-sustaining hardened facilities. Hardened Structures reminds us all to be prepared and take responsibility for yourself should you encounter a survival event.

Hardening Your Residence

While serious hardening with bullet-resistant materials may not be feasible, ALERT! Time To Update With More Ballistic Threat Levels! 6.5mm Creedmoor Rounds there are things you can do to prepare your house in the event of civil disturbances and many disasters where you should not go outside such as in an atomic fallout situation or volcanic ash.

1. Advanced planning for civil unrest is important. First, all the previous recommendations apply. Have good locks on your house. Make sure any glass windows near your doors will not allow access to internal hand operated dead bolt locks. Have plenty of outdoor lighting. Have good, solid, exterior doors with good locks. Keep high bushes away from windows and doors or cut them down during the emergency. Have a sturdy storm door to your front entrance. Consider applying tinted film to your front windows. It limits visibility into your house in daylight; it acts as both a heat and cold insulator and can resist or stop items thrown at your windows. Set up retreat rooms in your home that can act as basic panic rooms (bathrooms are excellent). Be prepared to defend your house. Be prepared to fight a significant house fire. If you have a swimming pool have a gas-powered pump you could use to fight a fire should your regular water supply be cut off.
2. Residence contamination: Move your disaster supplies into the house with you. Get your supply of water in place. Have duct tape and plastic sheeting that you can apply to the insides of windows, doors, fireplaces, and even use to isolate off a safe room or area. Close off vents and air conditioning. Cover stove and fireplace dampers and clothes dryer vents. From time to time you will need fresh air in a sealed room or carbon dioxide will build up to a deadly point.
3. Learn to recognize signs of danger. Tsunami, fire, floods, etc. Then plan how you will resist or escape from the particular threat(s) in your area.
4. Don't be a hero. It is not heroic to die in your house defending it from a forest fire. Apply this thinking to other threats. It is ok to be a hero to save lives though.
5. Legal stuff. Some day order will be restored (hopefully) and anything you may have done during the emergency situation may be held against you in a court of some kind.
6. Read, learn and live. There are many books and sources for survival. Keep your plans simple and practical for your situation. Then put the plans for you and your family into use. Remember, planning for survival after things go south-is too late.

Evacuating your area (getting out of town quick)

1. Have a bug-out pack or bag for each family member and even pets. Bug-out bags are pre-packaged support bags or backpacks designed for loading into your vehicle and getting away from your present location when minutes really count. Items to consider in a bug-out bag (one stingy adult for 7-10 days and not in a cold winter environment):
   • Three sets of underwear and sox
   • Wool sweater and warm hat
   • Light wind-proof jacket
   • Durable pants
   • Two long sleeve shirts
   • Pair of durable shoes
   • Poncho/rain gear
   • Basic bathroom kit, roll of toilet paper
   • Back-up medications and prescription glasses
   • Four large trash bags (many uses)
   • Stick matches and joke type birthday candles
   • 8-12 MRE (Meals Ready to Eat) and hard candy
   • Light towel, baby powder (for dry showering)
   • Feminine hygiene products if applicable
   • Sheath or utility pocket knife
   • Wool blanket or sleeping bag
   • Gallon or more of water per person (if possible)
   • Water purification tablets or filter system
   • 100 feet of military grade 550 nylon cord
   • Flashlight and extra batteries
   • Cash in $10 bills (gold coins for barter)
   • Portable hand-crank radio
   • Firearm(s) and ammunition
   • Important papers, I.D.s, wills, insurance, birth certificates, passports, etc.
   • Note pad, pencils and pens
   You must prepare for the fact that roads in and out of your area may be blocked by traffic, wrecks or worse, so the best bug-out container is a pre-packed backpack so you can walk out of the area if you must abandon your car. Have a map.
2. Keep your car's fuel tank at least half way full. If possible, safely store 5-10 gallons of auto gasoline at your residence (outdoors, not in the garage) in approved gas containers. Change gasoline every few months and remember, in a crisis the gas stations will be jammed, out of service or $50.00 a gallon.
3. Know several evacuation routes. Have a basic destination a way and a plan how to link up with your family members. Depending on where you are and the situation it may be best to avoid strangers from seeing you.
4. Have an emergency travel bag with you always (this is NOT as comprehensive as your home based bug out bag). This is a smaller supply of items you keep in your car. Consider you are on a vacation trip and an event occurs stranding you miles from home or civilization. Odds are you will have basic clothing and personal items in your luggage. Your emergency travel bag (a back pack is best container) might contain:
   • Flashlight and extra batteries
   • 100 feet of military 550 cord
   • Handgun (where legal) and 100-200 rounds of ammunition (may become barter) for each gun. We recommend the.22 long rifle caliber for overall versatility.
   • Hunting knife
   • 3-6 MREs, hard candy
   • Quart of water per person
   • Small portable radio (extra batteries)
   • Chemicals to purify water
   • One roll toilet paper
   • Four large garbage bags
   Make this kit as comprehensive as you wish but this kit is to supply you and yours with self defense, food and water augmented by the personal items you may already have packed with you.

Basic Residence Survival Tips

1. Know where all of your residence's gas, electric and water shut-off valves are and have the tools to shut them off.
2. Develop a neighborhood watch/protection program. There is safety in numbers to defend your family and your house and prepare your neighborhood in the event of civil unrest. This may mean strategic blocking of your area's streets, armed defense planning and fire-fighting plans, etc. This is especially important in urban environments; however civil unrest will extend far outside of the inner city as time passes.
3. Have firearms (and ammunition) and know how to use them. For most home-defense situations a pump-action shotgun with buckshot will prove effective.
4. Have a 60-day supply of food. The best survival food is the food you usually eat. Most canned foods have a posted 3-5 year "use by" date but may keep longer protected from extreme heat or cold. Basic choices might be:
   • Stews
   • Beans
   • Chili
   • Tuna and sardines
   • Soup
   • Canned pasta
   • Canned chicken
   • Spam
   These are meals in a can. Canned foods are insect and rodent proof and can be eaten cold (they are already cooked). Once opened, you can heat them over a candle in their own can juice which will provide much needed liquid. Juices and canned fruits have a much shorter shelf life. Rotate your food stock throughout the year and as you use it and replenish with new purchases. Any food that might be getting near the expiration date may be donated to food banks for a tax write off. If needed, ration carefully from the beginning of the survival event. You can easily survive on one 303 size can a food per person per day if necessary. Last, don't forget food for children and pets. Freeze dried and dehydrated foods, dried beans, etc. will keep for years but require water to rehydrate them.
5. Maintain a good supply of paper plates, plastic utensils, and disposable aluminum foil pans as you may not have the water for washing. Also have a back-up supply of toilet paper (and shovel for digging a backyard outhouse if water is gone). Garbage bags are very handy too. Other supplies might be candles, matches, an extra can opener or two, batteries, etc.
6. A gas barbecue grill is a real asset. Have an extra tank or more safely stored outside in garbage bags for weather protection. Your bbq grill can cook, heat canned food and boil water, making it an excellent backup for electrical power or gas loss. Always keep it outdoors.
7. Know how to locate water. You can live without food for a couple of weeks (sometimes much longer), but you will die in a very few days without water. To find water, check toilet tanks (not the toilet bowl), water heater, pools, etc. In an emergency while water is still available you can fill sinks and bath tubs (drains will leak). Any of those plastic storage tubs you may have for clothing, etc. make excellent water storage containers. Fresh water goes bad so learn how to maintain and purify water with common household bleach (a valuable item to have as it also works as a powerful sanitizer). If you buy water, the one-gallon jugs in your supermarket have at least a year storage life if kept cool; check the expiration dates.
8. Medical and First Aid supplies for at least 60 days. Many people do not maintain back up medications, pain killers, stimulants and sleeping aids and other legally obtained drugs. In addition a first aid kit that can handle larger injuries is an important item for any family. Get trained in basic First Aid at the least.
9. Keep some cash at home in case the banks shut down. As mentioned for the bug out bags, gold coins may make for excellent barter (not retail purchases) if things get that bad. Have copies or safely stored originals of valuable papers (wills, insurance, etc.) located where you can get them any time and quickly.
10. Have one or more hand crank, battery operated radios. Keep the batteries out until needed. Keep the radios wrapped well in aluminum foil and store in military surplus ammunition can for protection against electronic interference such as the effects of EMP (electronic magnetic pulse). Most batteries hold a charge for only 2 to 3 years.

Read more: Hardened Structures Reminder of 20 Basic Survival Preparation Tips

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The EMP Engineering Team - Hardened Structures

U.S. State Department DDTC Registered. Full I.T.A.R. Compliant
8a, Service Disabled Veteran Owned Small Business (S.D.V.O.S.B.) in HUB ZONE

The EMP Engineering team is dedicated to the analysis, design, fabrication and installation of specialized shielding, components and systems to mitigate the harmful effects of Electromagnetic Pulse and Geomagnetic Storms on buildings, vehicles and structures world-wide. Our Team of highly skilled professional engineers, project managers and fabricators have worked on military, government and private projects world-wide.

Due to varying worldwide conditions, the need now exists for uniform and effective hardening, hardness verification and hardness maintenance of command and control centers, critical communications, data and computer centers, and intelligence systems that require 100% operations during and after an EMP/HEMP or Geo-Magnetic Storm (GMS) event. In critical time-urgent applications where momentary upsets are mission-aborting, the hardening requirements include stringent facility shielding, point-of-entry (POE) protection and special protective measures.

EMP Engineering is a division of Hardened Structures® Hardened Shelters®

Our services include:

Professionally Engineered HEMP/EMP/GMS Mitigation Solutions

Custom HEMP Shielding Fabrication, Installation and Project Management

HEMP Verification Testing, Hardness, Hardness Assurance, Maintenance and Surveillance

Custom designs for Electromagnetic Compatibility (EMC), Electromagnetic Interference (EMI), Nuclear and Lightning Electromagnetic Pulse (EMP) and TEMPEST solutions

Electromagnetic pulse (EMP) Solutions that integrate with Architectural, Structural, Electrical, and Mechanical Engineering services to create a secured and safe shelter / bunker environment

Full Service Professional Architectural, Engineering Solutions and Products for Hardened Facilities including CBRE (chemical, biological, radiological, explosive) Filters, Structural Engineering, Blast Engineering and Electrical/Mechanical Engineering

Engineering Solutions to keep your designed environment effective against evolving threats now and in the future

All designs and projects are HEMP hardened per MIL-STD-188-125-2

Portable, custom designed HEMP Resistant Electrical Generators, Communications Centers and Data Centers fabricated in ISO shipping containers at 10', 20', 30' and 40 foot lengths. These can be ballistic/blast hardened with CRBN Air-Filtration systems. Custom evaluations, installation and commissioning services included.

Custom HEMP Shielded Rooms designed, built and installed

Custom Faraday enclosures built to any size

EMP Engineering can provide comprehensive and effective hardening, hardness verification and hardness surveillance of bomb shelters, buildings, facilities, hardened shelters, command/control centers, data processing centers and business continuity centers against the damaging effects of Electromagnetic Pulse (EMP), HEMP, GMS, or transportable High-Powered Microwave (HPM) weapons. The function of these facilities supporting critical time-urgent applications requiring network interoperability and effective physical protections, electromagnetic shielding, point of entry (POE) protection and related special protective measures. At EMP Engineering we offer cost effective solutions and full manufacturing capabilities for most any type of HEMP/EMP/GMS mitigated facility along with full hardened shelter design/build services. We are dedicated to the design and implementation of robust, hardened CBRN and EMP measures – including specialized shielding / mitigation, components and sub-systems, to prevent the harmful effects of intentional or unintentional Electromagnetic Pulses and Geomagnetic Storms.

To create a protective electromagnetic-threat facility shield requires an electromagnetic barrier with additional special protective measures that incorporate electrically continuous housings that substantially reduce the coupling of EMP electric and magnetic fields into the protected area. The electromagnetic barrier shall consist of the Facility HEMP Shield and protective devices for all POE's. Additionally, reliability, maintainability, safety and human engineering, testability, configuration management and corrosion control all need to be incorporated to the HEMP protection system design.

To accomplish this goal, a Client specific Vulnerability identification/Hardness Program overview and criticality assessment must be conducted that incorporates design, engineering, fabrication, installation and ongoing effectiveness testing activities to achieve the following:

• Provide an electromagnetic threat protected facility or system design based upon verifiable performance specifications against identified threats that ideally suits the requirements of our clients.
• Provides a means of verifying achieved hardness levels through a cost-effective program of testing and analysis.
• Develop a maintenance/surveillance program during the procurement phase that supports the Client's operational and life cycle HEMP hardness requirements.
• Based on the anticipated threat, facility location and Client's protection program establishes the HEMP configuration baseline consisting of documentation of the physical characteristics of the HEMP protection system, subsystem and baseline performance data.

EMP Engineering

• Davidson Scott  :  Electromagnetic Associates  :  EMP : EMI : EMF Consulting Engineers

EMP Risk Mitigation : Fortified Data Centers / Embassies