Giant plug for sealing off subway tunnels in a hurry

I'm not sure if this has been posted to this forum as of yet. This will be my first post as a contributing member on ATS.

The plug’s circumference is sufficiently larger than that of the tunnel to ensure a tight seal even when dealing with the various pipes, vents, lights, and subway tracks that line transit tunnels. The material used to make the plug needed to be pliable enough to conform to the irregular shape of a tunnel, while still being strong enough to hold back a full tunnel’s worth of water. An initial full scale prototype with a single-layer design failed during pressurized testing, with the team ultimately settling on a plug with three separate layers. The outer layer that gives the plug its shape and strength is made up of a thick webbing of a liquid-crystal polymer called Vectran. A second layer of non-webbed Vectran and final layer of polyurethane seal the inflation medium – be it water or air – inside. The plug's designers say relying on commercially available materials for the plug’s construction helped keep development costs down and make them more affordable for mass transit operators.

Now I'm not saying that there's a conspiracy behind this invention. But the fact that DHS is involved in the development makes you wonder what other uses this might be applied to. The article states that this would be in use for underground floods in subway systems. But if I were in a situation where I knew SHTF hard, my first thought would be to run underground....like a subway. And I'm sure most of you would do the same. This will create an air tight seal around entrances to underground tunnels, trapping everything in the tunnel.

With all the gloom and doom lately, it could be a possibility, but of course that's just my thoughts on it. I would like to read some input into this.


Link to article

I'd like to buy two of those things, one for each ex wife and shove it in there mouths. This could possibly be the only way to shut either one of them up. Great find.

When deflated, the plug is designed to pack into a small storage space in the tunnel where it can be remotely triggered for immediate inflation by the tunnel’s command center.

So some guy is going to decide when to seal the tunnel? It does sound kind of sketchy.

What are they prepping for where is all of this water coming from.... tsunami?

Originally posted by CosmicConsciousness


Now I'm not saying that there's a conspiracy behind this invention. But the fact that DHS is involved in the development makes you wonder what other uses this might be applied to. The article states that this would be in use for underground floods in subway systems. But if I were in a situation where I knew SHTF hard, my first thought would be to run underground....like a subway. And I'm sure most of you would do the same. This will create an air tight seal around entrances to underground tunnels, trapping everything in the tunnel.

With all the gloom and doom lately, it could be a possibility, but of course that's just my thoughts on it. I would like to read some input into this.


Link to article

honestly...i bet it's more to contain the spread of anthrax or any other airborn killer that those darned terrorizers might just kill all of us americans with (at least it sounds good, right?).

reply to post by cavalryscout


Good question. I noticed that the article focused on water scenarios, instead of biological terrorism. However, one has to wonder, do they really want to be trapped in a tunnel during a flooding event? Where is the air going to come from?

I can only see this as positive if there was a dirty bomb attack in a tunnel....and then, who deploys these plugs? If it is not automatic (like the airbag in a car), by the time somebody figures out it is time to deploy, the damage has already been done. I guess the people in the tunnel will have to be sacrificed....

Something isn't exactly right about their reasoning behind creating these plugs. I guess I just don't trust the department of homeland insanity.

So it's like a giant butt plug for the tunnels. Either in case they flood or to trap people in them. Hmmm....