Beijing Capital International Airport is building double fences around the complex and installing high-tech devices to thwart terrorists during the Olympic Games.

The fences will add up to 34.8 km, roughly the length of Beijing's Second Ring Road, and will prevent terrorists from breaking onto the runways, taxying area and control towers, the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) said on its website yesterday.

Covert police booths will be built along the fences to look for trespassers, and steel barriers will be put on manholes that lead to sewers running under the flying area, it said.

All windows facing the flying area, except those in the terminal buildings and maintenance garages, will be covered with steel window guards.

The entire project is expected to be completed by the end of this month.

The airport is introducing high-tech devices, too, to monitor the flying area, the website said, without giving much details. One of the devices, however, can identify vehicles passing through the airport and scan their undercarriage to prevent unwanted entries.

These "digital, intelligent devices" will make the capital airport "one of the world leaders in high-tech security measures", it said.

Earlier, Zhang Zhi, deputy director of the airport police department, said his force will be equipped with advanced bomb detecting, moving and disposal devices, X-ray machines and anti-riot robots, and will set up checkpoints on highways leading to the airport to check suspicious people and vehicles.

Railway safety

In a related development, the Ministry of Railways said yesterday that officials must make providing safe and sound transport during the Games their top priority.

Railway transport must be "absolutely safe", the ministry said in a statement on its website, urging officials to learn from the recent train accident in East China.

A high-speed train from Beijing to the coastal city of Qingdao derailed and crashed into another train in Shandong Province on April 29, killing 71 passengers and injuring 416.

The ministry said passenger flow to six Olympic host cities of Beijing, Shanghai, Tianjin, Shenyang, Qinhuangdao and Qingdao, especially on the Beijing-Tianjin and Beijing-Shanghai routes, would rise sharply during the Games.

(China Daily June 17, 2008)