It began a couple of weeks ago with a discreet phone call to a Fauquier County company that makes the 12-foot-long, 5,000-pound concrete security barriers often used in highway projects.

How quickly could the company deliver a few hundred of the barriers if the federal government needed them ASAP, the caller wanted to know.

The caller didn't give details. He certainly didn't mention the White House.

But Smith-Midland Co. is just 40 miles outside the Capital Beltway, and the folks who work at the plant are not unversed in current affairs. Owner Rodney Smith said there was little surprise when Secret Service officers met the company's caravan of tractor-trailers before dawn Saturday and revealed that their destination was Pennsylvania Avenue NW.

"It was a pretty rewarding type of project," said Smith, 56. "The whole world is sad that Pennsylvania Avenue had to be closed, and we were, too. But if it had to be done, we still got excited" about being the people chosen to do the job.

Last Thursday, a few days after its initial inquiry to Smith-Midland, the Secret Service placed a tentative order for 350 barriers, Smith said. The company was told that its trucks were to bring the $71,400 worth of cargo to a rendezvous on the shoulder of Interstate 66 near the Capital Beltway at 5:30 a.m. Saturday.

At 6:20 p.m. Friday, the Secret Service called again. "They used the words, It's a go,' " Smith said.

Workers stayed at the plant until almost midnight, using forklifts to load the barriers onto 20 leased trucks.

By 6 a.m. Saturday, all the trucks were in a staging area south of the White House.

At the direction of the Secret Service, a seven-man crew placed barriers across Pennsylvania Avenue at 15th and 17th streets, along H Street around the perimeter of Lafayette Square, and across segments of E Street, State Place and South Executive Avenue.

Fifteen of the 20 trucks had to return to Smith-Midland to pick up another load. The last barriers were in place by dark.

Project manager Kevin Culbertson, whose day began at 2:15 a.m., returned home to Fauquier County at 9 p.m. Saturday. He said he awoke Sunday with his hat and boots still on.