SPIRIT

  • SPIRIT is developing new tools to counteract threats from chemical, biological, radiological and explosive (CBRE) weapons in the built environment.
  • The project runs from 2010-2013, has a budget of €4.9m and involves 11 European organisations.
  • Arup leads the threat assessments and is providing key input on cost/benefit analysis and physical protective measures. 

SPIRIT is part of the European Union’s Seventh Framework Programme for Research and Technological Development. Arup has partnered with ten other European companies and research organisations to undertake this €4.9m research project, which runs from 2010 to 2013.

SPIRIT will deliver:

  • A methodology to quantify the vulnerability of built infrastructure in terms of potential casualties, extent of damage and loss of functionality and services.
  • A guidance tool for built infrastructure designers, owners and managers to assess the vulnerability of a design or existing building and select efficient and cost effective countermeasures (proven solutions) to achieve a required protection level against terrorist attacks.
  • Protection portfolios for new and existing buildings. These will comprise inter alia blast resistant window/facade systems, retrofit system for walls and structural components and detection and filtering systems to counter the chemical, biological, and radiological threat.
  • Recommendations for a draft EU regulatory framework to enable the incorporation of chemical, biological, radiological and explosive protection in building codes. Arup and its partners are developing new methods and tools for use in threat assessment and will also establish new methodologies for cost/benefit analysis in counter-terrorism projects as well as conducting a wide ranging review of existing products for blast protection.

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  • Illustration of the blast effects of the 22 July 2011 bomb at the Government Administration Complex in Oslo, Norway

    Simulation of the 22 July 2011 bomb at the Government Administration Complex in Oslo, Norway provides part of the background methodological development in the SPIRIT project.

  • Image of the Chamber of Shipping at 30 St. Mary Axe in the City of London after the 10 April 1992 bomb attack

    The Chamber of Shipping at 30 St. Mary Axe in the City of London after the 10 April 1992 bomb attack. Arup’s experience with post-incident surveys at this and other blast sites form part of the technical basis for the SPIRIT research project.