(New York) PATH Tunnels Seen as Fragile in Bomb Attack - NYT

PATH Tunnels Seen as Fragile in Bomb Attack

An analysis done for the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey says
that the PATH train tunnels under the Hudson River are more vulnerable
to a bomb attack than previously thought, and that a relatively small
amount of high explosives could cause significant flooding of the rail
system within hours.

The analysis, based on work by Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory
and the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, revises some critical aspects
of an assessment of the system’s vulnerability that was presented to the
agency last spring. It makes clear that the tunnels — four tubes of
varying design and sturdiness that stretch across the Hudson riverbed —
are structurally more fragile than first thought.

A draft summary of the most recent analysis was given to The New York
Times by a government official who was troubled by what the official felt
was a lack of action in response to the analysis, which the official said
the Port Authority got about three weeks ago. The official said the latest
analysis indicates that it would take only six minutes for one of the PATH
tubes to flood if a significant but not necessarily very large bomb were
detonated.

Marc La Vorgna, a spokesman for the Port Authority, would not answer
specific questions about the analysis, or with whom it had been shared.

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