Why Trump and Clinton's locations are surrounded with dump trucks full of sand

REUTERS/Andrew Kelly

Sanitation trucks filled with sand act as barricades along Fifth Avenue outside Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump's Trump Tower in Manhattan, New York, U.S., November 8, 2016.

As Americans around the country head to the polls to decide on the US's next president, a strange sight unfolded in Manhattan.

Dump trucks filled with sand surround Trump Tower and the Javits Center, the respective locations where Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton will watch the election.

The trucks completely surround both Manhattan addresses in addition to the NYPD, though Trump will spend the evening at the Hilton hotel on 6th avenue. 

The massive trucks filled with sand secure the by providing a dense, protective barrier to both buildings in the event of a bomb. 

While it is an unusual sight, the truck tactic has been used before. The New York Times reported in 1983 that the Reagans ate their Thanksgiving dinner while dump trucks filled with sand surrounded the White House in response to an apparent bomb scare.