Stork Twin City Testing Now Tests for Detention Glazing

Stork Twin City Testing (TCT) in Des Moines, Iowa, has expanded its capabilities to include testing for window glazing in correctional facilities and detention facilities to the standard ASTM F1915-05, "Standard Test Methods for Glazing for Detention Facilities." "

It sounds like there are not a whole lot of people who do the testing, but that's why we took it on," says Brian Escherich, product evaluation department manager. When one large customer requested detention facility testing, the company created designed and built a special fixture to carry out the test methods.

ASTM F1915-05 determines the ability of detention glazing to perform at or above minimum acceptable levels to restrict inmate passage to unauthorized areas, to confine inmates, to delay and frustrate escape attempts and to resist vandalism.

"The detention glazing testing protocol is a simulation of what inmates could do in their environment. What kind of tools would they come upon or things they could use to gain access to the outside," Escherich says.

Escherich explains that the pass/fail criteria for the test is the ability to pass a 5- by 8- by 8-inch rectangle through an opening in the glass. "It's fairly large," he says. "Basically, if an inmate could get his hand and arm through there they would be able to manipulate a lock or something like that."

The test involves impacting the products with an 80-pound impactor that simulates blunt force, as well as a sharp point to simulate a tool such as a fireman's axe.

"The samples are also subjected to extremes of temperature to simulate possible scenarios," Escherich says. The glass products must be able to withstand fires in addition to cold temperatures, which could potentially be lowered by discharging a fire extinguisher.

According to Escherich, "Secure, protective glazing is an important tool for law enforcement and correctional facility operators. With this method, we test samples of glazing with tools that are representative of similar tools or materials that may become available to inmates within the secure perimeter of detention and correctional facilities and which could be used to inflict similar damage to the glazing material."

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