Months before the deadly New Year's Day vehicle attack in New Orleans, the city said the assailant in a crew cab Ford F-150 similar to the one that killed 14 people and injured dozens more. modeled a scenario in which the robot enters various intersections on Bourbon Street. .
Engineers have discovered that such pickup trucks can enter crowded tourist areas at speeds of 12 to 110 miles per hour, but currently, according to an engineering analysis commissioned by the city and released by the city in April, City officials say they are installing new road fencing that can only withstand 16 mph impacts. Tender documents reviewed by Reuters.
These new barriers, known as “bollards,” had not yet been installed on Bourbon Street as of the new year, but are expected to be completed in time for the NFL Super Bowl in New Orleans on February 9th.
Documents reviewed by Reuters, which had not been previously reported, revealed that the system was unable to prevent vehicle attacks at medium to high speeds.
When choosing a new bollard system, the city prioritized the crash safety of the new bollard system because of chronic operational problems with the old bollard system, according to documents and people with direct knowledge of the city's Bourbon Street safety plan. The company prioritized ease of operation.
Unlike some pedestrian-only zones, such as New York City's Times Square, Bourbon Street is open to general vehicle traffic most of the day, and city officials close portions of it each night to surrounding streets. Must be isolated from the road.
Since the New Year's Day attack, New Orleans city officials have faced intense scrutiny over whether crews left residents vulnerable as they removed old bollards and installed new ones.
But neither barrier system would have been able to prevent the deadly attack, according to sources and a review of city documents by Reuters.
There are currently no traffic stops in the city on Canal Street and Bourbon Street, where the suspect entered, but the road was blocked on New Year's Day by an SUV patrol car.
Shamsud Din Jabbar, a retired military officer from Texas, exploited another weakness in the city's security plan. He pushed his 7-foot-wide pickup truck onto the 8-foot-wide sidewalk between the drugstore wall and a police vehicle, and trampled it. Around 3:15 a.m., I hit the gas pedal and pushed through the crowd.
Jabbar died after the attack in a gunfight with police. Federal authorities said he had become radicalized and had pledged allegiance to the Islamic State terrorist group.
In an engineering study conducted to help select the new barrier system, the city's security modeling only considered scenarios where vehicles enter Bourbon Street from the roadway rather than the sidewalk.
Most of Bourbon Street's narrow sidewalks are inaccessible to vehicles because of existing barriers such as fire hydrants, balconies and light poles, officials said.
The official said city officials would face “tough meetings” over the continued vulnerability of new bollards currently in place, but “nothing would have changed” in the new year.
New Orleans city officials did not respond to detailed questions from Reuters about safety plans for Bourbon Street or the decision to choose fencing with a 16 mph crash safety standard.
A person with direct knowledge of city safety planning said protecting against vehicle attacks while maintaining access to everyday vehicular and pedestrian traffic, including accessible sidewalks for people with disabilities, is a challenge all cities face. emphasized the difficulties faced.
Officials said officials selected a bollard system from a company called 1-800-Bollards Inc. that can withstand 16 mph impacts. The city's bid documents issued in August and September sought an installer for the system, calling it an “RCS8040 S10 removable bollard.” ”
The city's April technical analysis describes the same product as having an “S10” crash rating and being able to stop a 5,000-pound vehicle traveling at 16 miles per hour.
“Crash ratings are specified as S10 (10 mph impact), S20 (20 mph impact), and S30 (30 mph impact),” the engineering analysis states.
The official said that even a barrier that can withstand 16 mph impacts could slow down or seriously damage vehicles traveling at higher speeds.
A representative for 1-800-Bollards Inc. declined to comment.
Two of the Bourbon Street attack scenarios modeled by city-contracted engineers involved speeding and then entering the street in a straight line without turning.
The study found that a 2015 F-150 could reach 80 mph by accelerating from a stoplight and across Canal Street, a wide thoroughfare with streetcar tracks in the median.
If the same vehicle were to enter at 110 mph from the opposite end of a section of Bourbon Street that is protected by bollards, a collision could occur.
Jabbar was driving a more powerful weapon than the truck used in the report's scenario: a newer F-150 Lightning, a faster, heavier, and quieter electric vehicle.
During major events such as New Year's and Mardi Gras, the city's security plan calls for large vehicles to be parked at the end of Bourbon Street, where they are most vulnerable to attack by high-speed vehicles, the official said.
However, the official said such measures are not practical on a daily basis in areas with a high concentration of tourists.
“Bourbon Street Juice”
Officials say city officials have been considering the best way to replace New Orleans' crippled street fencing system to protect against vehicle attacks since at least 2020.
The city defended Bourbon Street from federal authorities in 2017 following a series of vehicle attacks around the world, including one in Nice, France, in 2016 that killed 86 people and injured hundreds. After being pressured to do so, they installed their first bollard system.
New Orleans initially chose a system called the Heald HT2 Matador, which allows workers to move fencing into place along street tracks, according to city documents.
The official told Reuters the system was chosen primarily because it had already been bid and priced by the federal government, allowing the city to implement it more quickly.
However, the fencing proved problematic under the rigors of Bourbon Street, and trash such as Mardi Gras beaded necklaces often clogged the tracks, rendering it unusable.
In addition, mechanisms for locking and unlocking the barriers are embedded in the streets and collect what the source calls “Bourbon Street Juice”: street dirt, trash, rainwater, spilled drinks, and sometimes vomit. They were often immersed in a mixture of objects, causing discomfort to tourists. Removes its characteristic odor.
Follow the latest updates on the Bourbon Street terrorist attack in New Orleans.
“You have to dip your hand in Bourbon Street juice to unlock it,” the official said. “It was a disgusting job. I couldn't ask anyone to do it for me.”
Heald, the bollard's maker, said in a statement that the bollard was not installed to block Bourbon Street before the attack and “therefore did not malfunction.”
The company says the system requires only “basic maintenance and cleaning” to operate effectively.
lightweight bollard
Sources and an April 2024 report from engineering firm Mott MacDonald, which was hired by the city to evaluate dozens of bollards, said these issues led the city to consider crash safety when choosing a new system. The company prioritized factors such as ease of operation and maintenance over performance evaluation. option.
Representatives for Mott MacDonald had no comment.
This report outlines three different crash evaluation criteria for bollard systems. The report concluded that the highest crash rating, which can withstand the impact of a 15,000-pound vehicle traveling between 30 and 80 miles per hour, is “not compatible” with the city's needs to move bollards every day.
Moving such bollards daily “requires specialized lifting equipment, including truck-mounted cranes and heavy equipment,” the report said.
The city selected the 1-800-Bollards Inc system, which is rated at 16 mph and has relatively lightweight stainless steel columns that plug into the street foundation. One reason for this is that the bollards can be installed and removed every day by one city worker, officials said. .
Engineering analysis shows that these posts weigh 44 pounds, compared to a similar 20 mph bollard that weighs 86 pounds.
The same report included modeling of attack scenarios. In addition to the scenarios showing potential speeds of 50 mph and 70 mph, all other scenarios show the F-150 speeding between 19 mph and 20 mph without hitting a curb or running onto the sidewalk. It has been shown to be capable of turning at 16 mph and exceeds the 16 mph crash rating. This is the system chosen by the city.
The main concern of city officials and representatives of French Quarter residents and businesses was to protect pedestrians from slow-moving vehicles turning onto Bourbon from side streets, the person said.
In this report, we have scored different systems based on different criteria. The system the city ultimately selected had its “safety rating” score reduced because it “did not meet specified project requirements.”
The bollard received high praise for its low weight and cost.
