Here's a computer generated simulation of an luxury underground bunker that is secretly built under a family house. If the structure is destroyed by any threat event , your family will survive in the style, or something like that in this designer bunker buried deep underground for an unspecified period of time.
The words of Brian Camden, an owner of Hardened Structures (HS) of Virginia Beach, a US government regulated construction management firm which builds schools, courthouses, prisons, treatment plants and large public capital projects. Customers include NATO which buys fortified aircraft hangers and earth covered ammunition magazines.
What else they do is covered in secrecy.
HS is one of the largest providers of 'survival shelters" with satellite offices around the globe including New Zealand, Australia, Asia, UAE, UK and Europe. Among its owners, says Brian Camden, are two ex US Navy Seals, one of them, known as the 'Super Seal'. He is US Navy Commander James G. Liddy, son of Watergate figure G. Gordon Liddy. Commander Liddy Layered Security Solutions is one of America's top experts on counter-terrorism and critical infrastructure protection. He was attached to the Chief of Naval Operations and lead Seal Team secret operations. Other owners are not known.
Camden reveals, "The US government is the largest shelter builder in the world. It's been on a shelter building binge for the last 15 years. The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has been buying up all dehydrated food. Last week alone it purchased five million meals. They are gearing up like you wouldn't believe."
Underground bunkers are believed to be everywhere; below the streets of Washington and New York, under Red Square in Moscow. Even Northern Ireland, population 1.7 million has a 223 person nuclear bunker at Ballymena in County Antrim. And the much threatened Wiki-leaks server was located in an old nuclear bunker in Sweden.
Brian Camden says he's received inquiries from South Africa about private bunkers and from the Japanese government following the tsunami disaster and the projected catastrophe facing Japan in the wake of the botched Fukushima clean up operation.
The present bunkers are built under top secrecy with the names of their owners not revealed. There have been rumors that Michael Jackson had a bunker under his Never Land estate and that a bunker exists beneath Buckingham Palace. HS's man in London revealed they are building large and expensive bunkers in Eastern Canada but, like everything else, their owner's identities are secret.
Unlike those of the Second World War and cold war today's bunkers are designed for the long term and do not provide just shelter during air raids. The most famous bunker of all time belonged to Adolph Hitler but it was like a Bin Laden cave compared to bunkers of today.
The biggest mansion can be destroyed quickly. But the expensive bunker beneath it can save the lives of its owner and his family.
Who buys modern shelters? People like the King of Jordan, Senior Politicians, Movie Stars and Billionaires in Capitols around the world. The construction contract keeps their names and locations secret but Camden admits HS has signed technical assistance agreements with the Turks and Saudis.
Some bunkers even contain prison cells or private torture chambers such as were found in Moammar Gadaffi's private shelters.
Camden said, "People can survive in our shelters for as long as five years without coming out. There are all types of structures: fortified homes are designed to withstand attacks from assault weapons. Such above ground houses cost about $250 per square foot," That's about one million dollars for a 4,000 square foot house.
An underground reinforced bunker depends on wall thickness, thickness of the ceiling and its ability to withstand blast overpressure. Designers must know if they will cut through rock or build underwater, if they must make their own concrete or build an access road.
There's also another modern threat. The shelter must withstand attack by the feared EMP (Electro Magnetic Pulse Bomb) which fries everything running on electricity. "It could be just one EMP fortified room or maybe all rooms depending on whether the client wears a pace-maker," explains Camden.
Some clients believe, even if they're on top of a mountain, that the shelter must be designed to function completely under water. "They will need fast acting valves, carbon dioxide scrubbers and oxygen making machines," says Camden.
He believes he could save lives in a tsunami using underwater shelters.
Most bunkers built recently range from 1,800 to 40,000 square feet. But the bunker itself can become a threat to its users. Humidity is a big problem because of moisture that builds up. Camden explains, "We use a water generator. It looks like an office water fountain. It takes water out of the air and turns into pure drinking water.
Another problem, says Camden, "is a prolonged stay. Studies show people go mad eating stores of dehydrated food and doing nothing. To prevent violence we provide exercise equipment and other shelter dynamics such as movies to keep people healthy. They can always keep busy recharging batteries by pedaling stationary bicycles." Perhaps counting their gold bars would make them feel better.
He admitted, "I find shelters claustrophobic. When I'm in them all day long I like to go up on the surface for about an hour."
Camden says US Army experts considers about 25 percent loss of life in a prolonged shelter stay and that his clients fully expect to endure a prolonged stay.
It's not easy to have a survival bunker built,says Camden. "You've got to have money, not be part of a criminal enterprise or in the wrong country. We can't sell to China, Cuba, Iran, Syria, Indonesia, Russia and many other nations."
Clients must pass strict US Government scrutiny. HS have a US license that allows them to work on bunkers and projects overseas. The bunkers are regulated under the International Traffic in Arms Regulation.
No local labor is used in the secret construction. Workers are imported temporarily from other countries and sign serious non disclosure papers.
Hardened Structures is licensed by the ATF (Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives allowing it to import biological, chemical and radiation filters into the United States.
"We have to be certified by the US Government so the material will not be used illegally. The State Department is very serious about this. One US professor was jailed for two years because his Chinese research assistant got access to some new laser technology," he told me.
"Foreign governments want to use American engineers because they are the best. They strictly follow Department of Defense standards when building bunkers," said Camden. "US regulations are like a Bible to customers abroad."
One of the companies bigger sellers are the Genesis Series Pod's which can hold six people ( or more with additional pods ). It is a sealed, prefabricated bunker containing a Nuclear, Biological, and Chemical filtering system.
By M
Brian Camden has worked as a consultant on the Survival Condo project.
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 scenarios that people believe might seem 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.
Although everybody’s fears are different, it seems, there are
some similarities. 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.
Clarry@HardenedStructures.com.au
