DOVER, Del. -- ILC Dover on Tuesday held a demonstration of its Resilient Tunnel Plug technology, which could be used to help protect people and property from danger in the event of terrorist attack or natural disaster.
The balloon-like plug could be deployed in locations like subway tunnels and prevent water from flooding into other tunnels or stations. It was developed with the assistance of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security at the Kent County company, which has also worked on spacesuits used by Nasa during its decades-long existence.
John Fortune with the research branch of DHS said the device inflates to seal off a tunnel and can hold back thousands of pounds of water for days.
"You could end up with a large part of the system flow, flooded, because of an incident in one location, so it's really critical to contain the event as quickly as possible, not only to save lives but property," he said.
When deployed, the plug can inflate to a length of roughly 32 feet and a diameter of more than 16 feet.
