Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, May 27, 1995 TAG: 9505300041
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C5 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: WARRENTON LENGTH: Medium
The caller was discreet, and the questions unusual. How fast could Smith- Midland Co. deliver a few hundred concrete road barriers to an undisclosed location in downtown Washington?
Would there be any problem if the government needed the barriers right away?
The words ``White House'' or ``Pennsylvania Avenue'' were not mentioned.
But the Warrenton company that makes the 12-foot, 5,000-pound concrete security barriers often used in highway construction found out a week ago what the caller meant.
In the wake of several security breaches and the Oklahoma City truck bombing, the White House decided to tighten security by closing off Pennsylvania Avenue in front of the mansion to cars and trucks.
``It was a pretty rewarding type of project,'' owner Rodney Smith said. ``The whole world is sad that Pennsylvania Avenue had to be closed, and we are, too. But if it had to be done, we still got excited'' about being selected to do the job.
The Secret Service proceeded cautiously, in case plans changed.
Ten days ago, a few days after the initial secretive phone call, the Secret Service placed a tentative order for 350 barriers, Smith said.
The company was instructed to bring the $71,400 worth of cargo to a rendezvous on the shoulder of Interstate 66 near the Beltway at 5:30 a.m. last Saturday.
Secret Service officers met the company's caravan of tractor-trailers at dawn and revealed that their destination was the roadway in front of the White House.
By 6 a.m., the barriers were in a staging area south of the White House. At the direction of the Secret Service, a seven-man crew from Smith-Midland placed barriers across Pennsylvania Avenue at 15th and 17th streets, along the perimeter of Lafayette Square and across segments of other nearby roadways.
The work was complete by nightfall, Smith said.
by CNB