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Explosives could easily cut right through it. You can cut cleanly through reinforced concrete bridge pillars with just high yield detonation cord or c4 collar c

Explosives could easily cut right through it. You can cut cleanly through reinforced concrete bridge pillars with just high yield detonation cord or c4 collar charges. The world of infrastructure security is quite terrifying once you start digging into it. I believe at some point in the 1970s, the CIA started doing red team operations on domestic terrorism infrastructure vulnerabilities. They eventually stopped or slowed significantly because they had so many simulated breaches that they couldn't possibly contain them all. They had to significantly refocus their attention on prevention by identifying who/what/where/why instead of how (their traditional cold war methodology that many thought was outdated), because there were practically infinite ways identified that infrastructure could be crippled.

082349872349872 6y ago
No need for explosives even. The technology for quickly cutting through reinforced concrete has been available since the end of the nineteenth century, and has been an industrial thing since at least the middle of the twentieth century.
- DaiPlusPlus 6y ago
  But does that technology work well underwater - and can it be implemented and/or used by an individual non-expert?
  - 082349872349872 6y ago
    Sorry, I'd been thinking bridge pillars. For underwater cables I wouldn't say non-expert: the trade that has the expertise generally pays around USD 60k per annum. Being around 2 kA discharges underwater is probably not a great idea, however. Automation would be one possibility, raising required expertise and lower required headcount. A little searching indicates that if one is willing to acquire a ROV, there are at least two other commercially available cutting technologies, both of which are normally used for much larger cuts than a 20 cm cable bundle. Much modern infrastructure relies on people not being jerks, but then again, modern society also relies on people not running around shooting each other, which seems to work. (except when it doesn't: this is why I am looking into Yugoslavia now. How does one get from socialist brotherhood to shooting each other? I have colleagues, yugo refugees, whose conspiracy theory is that the conflict was externally stoked, but I currently find people being stupid to be a more parsimonious explanation.)

082349872349872 6y ago

No need for explosives even. The technology for quickly cutting through reinforced concrete has been available since the end of the nineteenth century, and has been an industrial thing since at least the middle of the twentieth century.

DaiPlusPlus 6y ago
But does that technology work well underwater - and can it be implemented and/or used by an individual non-expert?
- 082349872349872 6y ago
  Sorry, I'd been thinking bridge pillars. For underwater cables I wouldn't say non-expert: the trade that has the expertise generally pays around USD 60k per annum. Being around 2 kA discharges underwater is probably not a great idea, however. Automation would be one possibility, raising required expertise and lower required headcount. A little searching indicates that if one is willing to acquire a ROV, there are at least two other commercially available cutting technologies, both of which are normally used for much larger cuts than a 20 cm cable bundle. Much modern infrastructure relies on people not being jerks, but then again, modern society also relies on people not running around shooting each other, which seems to work. (except when it doesn't: this is why I am looking into Yugoslavia now. How does one get from socialist brotherhood to shooting each other? I have colleagues, yugo refugees, whose conspiracy theory is that the conflict was externally stoked, but I currently find people being stupid to be a more parsimonious explanation.)