President Walton McCarthy says that business has never been better at the Terrell, Texas-based firm, where the corporate slogan is "The Future Belongs to Those Who Plan." The impact of that demand surge is also registering at Radius Engineering, which specializes in fallout shelters. "What we make are reinforced structures." Still, he allows a little later, "Most of our customers still call them bomb shelters anyway."īy whatever name, the paramount concern for shelter-makers is that a lot of folks right now want to get one of the things, and some of them are forking over tall stacks of Benjamins to make sure that their underground space is built out just the way they want. "We don't do fallout shelters here," Camden emphasizes from his office. Accordingly, he's not at all fond of the term "fallout shelter" and the apocalyptic freight it carries. His focus is centered on client-driven construction and project implementation. Earlier this year, we installed a shelter in the Adirondacks that cost the owner $90 million."Ĭamden looks at shelters through an engineer's eyes. "Our shelter business has handled some pretty big projects lately. We've added some architects and we've expanded our network of global affiliates. "This year so far our shelter business is up about 200 percent over last year. "The shelter segment of our business has grown by 40 percent since 2005," says Brian Camden, a principal at Hardened Structures and a licensed civil engineer. Lately, though, Hardened Structures is building a whole lot of shelters. Based in Virginia Beach, Va., the 20-year-old construction management firm also builds schools, treatment plants, courthouses, prisons and large public-sector capital projects. And that's spurring many shelter-makers to expand their operations and hire new workers to keep pace with demand that's, well, exploding.Ĭase in point: Hardened Structures.
Yes, that musty relic seemingly marooned forever in the 1950s and '60s has roared back to life. The unlikely seed for all that growth is the fallout shelter.
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