Security Digest

Beware Of Alligators! Adding Perimeter Intrusion Detection To Culverts

FiberPatrol running along a culvert protection gate at a site in Florida

Perimeter intrusion detection isn’t always just about protecting a site from human intruders. Sometimes it’s about protecting humans from a site in order to avoid steep liability charges. At some sites the risks can be pretty obvious. But at others, the risks may be more ambiguous. In the case of a site in Florida, the risk is alligators.

The tricky part to securing this site is that the perimeter includes culverts. Similar to a regular fence, a protection fence across the culvert is a first step, but it isn’t always enough to keep determined intruders away.

A cable-based fence-mounted perimeter intrusion detection system (PIDS) attached to both the main and culvert fences adds another layer of security. The system detects and locates any attempt to enter the site, enabling site operators to take quick and appropriate action to apprehend intruders before an alligator does.

In this case, the site operator was already using a fiber optic PIDS product on the fences at a number of its other sites. But the system couldn’t be properly configured to transition from the main fence to the culvert fence without the addition of numerous extra controllers and a considerable increase in the fiber count back to the control room.

This opened the door for Senstar’s FiberPatrol. The system’s extended coverage distance and ranging capabilities can easily and effectively protect the culverts – no additional controllers required. The same cable protecting the fence can be routed over the culverts, with software-configurable zones being used to demark fence and culvert areas.

FiberPatrol now successfully secures the site’s entire perimeter – fence and culverts, safeguarding the site from intruders and intruders from alligators.

For PDF of case study.