Niagara Falls Bridge Commission
The breathtakingly beautiful journey across the Niagara River between the United States and Ontario, Canada, has been made significantly more secure by a Lenel system that includes fully integrated video surveillance and access control. Nearly eight million passages and $26 billion in trade are expected each year across the three bridges operated by the Niagara Falls Bridge Commission (NFBC). The NFBC is an international public authority controlling three bridges between Ontario in Canada and New York in the United States. The Commission's bridges are the Lewiston-Queenston Bridge, Whirlpool Rapids Bridge and Rainbow Bridge. These bridges are in the Niagara Falls region of New York State and Canada.
The state-of-the-art 24-hour operations center is a critical part of the safe passage of people and commerce across the three bridges and through the six plazas. The security management platform chosen as the central hub was Lenel’s industry leading OnGuard System. 142 video cameras and 92 access control points have been integrated into the infrastructure at the bridges as well as at six U.S./Canadian Customs’ Plazas. This is tied into and administered from the NFBC’s new $6.0 million headquarters in Lewiston, N.Y. where all security functions are housed.
Each of the three bridges have four footings each. Security cameras have been placed at strategic spots along the bridges and at the Customs’ plazas at either end of each span. The Whirlpool Rapids Bridge is a two-lane steel arch bridge that spans 1,069 feet and is nearly 108 years old. This bridge has an upper level for train travel. The 1,450-foot Rainbow Bridge is a 66-yeaer-old steel structure with four lanes. The Lewiston-Queenston Bridge, at 1,600 feet long and 370 feet high, is the world’s longest hinge-less steel arch bridge. It offers spectacular views of the Niagara River and the vineyards and orchards beyond it.
The NFBC has built and maintains the Plazas. In the past several years, the Canadian and American Rainbow Plazas have undergone a $100 million expansion and revitalization – including a theater, gardens, a commemorative monument and a restored 1680 foot carillon tower.
NFBC houses its operations center in a new administration building – a 20,000-square-foot structure located on six acres. The building is one of just a handful of New York State structures constructed according to energy-efficient LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) guidelines set by the U.S. Green Building Council. The guidelines include sustainable site development, water and energy efficiency and indoor environmental quality.
NFBC enlists Lenel OnGuard security management system throughout the administration building and is directly tied to a state-of-the-art eight foot by four-foot Barco video wall upon which camera images are displayed. An Axis Communications network camera system is used for both Axis digital cameras and to convert Pelco analog cameras to digital output. HID Corp. R10 and R40 iClass readers and Bioscrypt V-PROX fingerprint readers are used with the access control software.
The OnGuard system uses Lenel Intelligent System Controllers (LNL 2000) to route the security devices to the NFBC’s network to clusters of Lenel Network Video Recorders (LNVR servers), which store and catalog video. These servers are located at bridge sites and the operations center. The network transports data, voice and video and consists of fiber-optic, microwave, copper and co-axial cable. The copper and fiber-optic cables are both over and underground. Microwave technology is used to transmit some of the video from the bridges to NFBC’s network.
Ten in-house operations center officers view the cameras and coordinate response to alarms around the clock. If there is an event, video is launched showing the event point for the operator. For example, there are 42 pan/tilt/zoom cameras and a user can pre-set one to view nearby doors while another might want to look at people accessing a certain area, such as a server room. Among the highest internal security areas are computer server rooms, telecommunication rooms and bridges. Readers are also located at access points to building.
Once video enters their network, it is routed to the servers. From there, it is transported to any client that requests video anywhere on the network; including, and mainly, at the operations center. The video goes to two security-designated workstations and also directly to the Video Wall. Operators choose which images to view on the wall and can change them at any time.
Axis 2120 and 2420 network cameras and the Axis 2401+ Video Server are used. The network cameras combine camera and computer functions in one intelligent unit. The 2401+ transforms analog video into digital images for video transmission over intranet networks or the Internet.
Cooperation with other agencies is a hallmark of NFBC’s operations. The NFBC has a cooperative relationship with both local police and federal customs officials. In Canada, they work with the Niagara Regional Police Service and Canada Border Services Agency. In the United States, they work with the Niagara Falls, New York Police Department and U.S. Customs and Border Protection.
The Niagara Falls Bridge Commission has developed an integration with the NEXUS system. NEXUS is a program which allows for simplified border crossing between the US and Canada for pre-approved, low risk travelers, in order to promote trade, tourism and travel. Those who are approved to become part of the NEXUS program are issued a NEXUS identification card, may cross the border without routine customs and immigration questioning and are able to travel in NEXUS-dedicated lanes in the US and Canada. The Niagara Falls Bridge Commission has integrated a gate at the entrance of Whirlpool Bridge, which is a NEXUS only bridge, with their Lenel system, to allow access to the Bridge. A single encasement contains two readers, one a NEXUS reader, and the other a Lenel Reader. When the NEXUS card is presented to the box, the cardholder is verified through the NEXUS database, and the Lenel reader allows access through the gate. In the past, the NFBC had to dedicate personnel to manually lock and unlock the gate at Whirlpool. Now, they are able to automate this process, allowing them to use their personnel in other capacities.
Additionally, the Whirlpool Bridge entrances are remotely controlled at the operations center through the OnGuard system. Large wire gates open in the morning and close the bridge at night.
Depending on traffic conditions, the NFBC can, by utilizing video analytics, reverse the direction of traffic in the remaining lanes. This is accomplished remotely at the operations center. Video cameras in each lane will enable operations center officers to view traffic; electronic signs will signal to the public which lanes are open and which are closed.
As tourists, commuters and people transporting goods across the three bridges connecting the U.S. and Canadian sides of the Niagara Frontier (the region from Buffalo-Fort Erie through Niagara Falls to Lewiston-Queenston), their eyes may wander to the majesty of the Niagara River gorge hundreds of feet below. As they do, an ever more sophisticated array of cameras and access control devises will continue to ensure they have a safe and enjoyable passage. Ensuring this safe passage and at the heart of NFBC’s operation is the proven and industry leading OnGuard system by Lenel.
This case study is based partly on information provided in an article published in Government Security, April 2005.