In addition, the system needed to be capable of interfacing with the existing CCTV system and DVR (Digital Video Recorder) plus operate on the various types of fences surrounding the site’s perimeter. The chosen security system, Secure Fence, developed by Future Fibre Technologies and installed by Site Technology - Beirut has overcome these challenges to operate successfully on the seaport site’s perimeter.

One of the major difficulties of the Beirut Seaport perimeter security project was the numerous types of fence construction around the perimeter, says FFT’s Middle East Regional Manager, Adam Wilding-Webb. “The fences around the site are comprised of weldmesh, chainlink and palisade,” Mr Wilding- Webb says, “each of which has a unique set of characteristics and behaves differently in the wind and harsh environmental conditions.”

“Thanks to FFT’s advanced signal processing technology, the system was installed so that these large differences in characteristics do not affect the system’s ability to run without nuisance alarms,” he said, “in spite of the strong winds and heavy rain common in the area.”

The installed system interfaces with the Beirut Seaport’s CCTV system and importantly, requires no power anywhere along the perimeter. Putting power on the perimeter fence would have proven to be extremely costly due to the proximity of major roads close to the fence line and the difficulty of digging under these. The entire 5km perimeter operates with just one Secure Fence system, which is completely immune to the very salty conditions encountered at seaport sites. Unlike traditional perimeter intrusion detection system (PIDS) solutions, which use copper cables, Secure Fence contains 100% fibre optic cabling in the field, and is therefore unaffected by corrosive environments such as salt.