Q: Much has been made this week of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s attempts to implement security measures throughout the transit system. What about the efforts of the other big transit networks, New Jersey Transit and the Port Authority?

A: Transit agencies remain tightlipped about their security plans, though clearly hardening the Lincoln and Holland tunnels against bombs, security experts agree, is much easier than securing the interconnected tunnels of the subway system. With that in mind, preliminary construction has begun to place barricades in front of the Lincoln and Holland tunnels that can stop a 15,000-pound vehicle within 20 feet.

The barricades, made by the Delta Scientific Corporation, operate much like a gate to a parking lot. A steel arm 34 inches off the ground, and attached to a concrete post or bollard, swings down in a matter of seconds. Any truck that attempts to plow through the barricade will be penetrated as much as 5 feet deep with the beam, which is reinforced by a steel cable. The president of Delta Scientific, Harry Dickinson, said the beam, known as a Crash Certified Drop Arm Beam Barrier System, is certified by the State Department. It will take two units to close off the tunnels.

A Port Authority spokesman, Anthony Ciavolella, would not confirm this for The New York Sun. Instead, he read from a prepared statement: “We remain at a heightened state of alert at all of our facilities. We continue to investigate and implement a wide variety of security initiatives, technology, and enhancements in an effort to ensure public safety at our facilities. It would not be appropriate to discuss specifics of our security plan.”

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