Government awards new contracts for border wall prototypes
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has awarded four U.S. companies contracts to build prototypes that could be one day be selected as the U.S.-Mexico border wall President Trump has proposed.
CBP's announcement arrived one week after the agency announced the first wave of companies that will construct the concrete prototypes in the fall. Thursday's additions raised the total of prototypes to eight, and unlike the original four, these prototypes will be built with "other materials" separate from concrete.
The most recent companies listed in Thursday's announcement include Caddell Construction Co. of Montgomery, Alabama; KWR Construction, Inc. of Sierra Vista, Arizona; ELTA North America Inc. of Annapolis Junction, Maryland; and W.G. Yates & Sons Construction Company of Philadelphia, Mississippi.
W.G. Yates and Sons Construction Company and Caddell Construction Co. were also listed in the original list, meaning that Yates & Sons and Caddell together will be responsible for half of the prototypes.
Along with the contracts, CBP released graphics of what it envisioned a finished border structure to look like, which includes a possible layering of two walls and an enforcement zone sandwiched in the middle.
Though the date range hasn't been established, CBP predicts construction will begin in the coming months after it sits down with the companies and devises the construction specifics. According to CBP, each wall will be between 13 to 30 feet tall, 30 feet wide and constructed just outside of San Diego.
Each company will have 30 days to build their respective prototypes after they are granted issuance for construction. The process will be overseen by CBP.
Once built, prototypes will be thoroughly tested by CBP for their effectiveness in "deterring illegal crossings in the area in which they are constructed." This includes gauging penetrability using "small tools and hand tools," but not explosives.
The plan to build the prototypes originated from Mr. Trump's January 25 executive order to strengthen border security. The awarding of contracts signals some sizable traction for the border wall plan relative to its slow summer of delays because of bid protests between competing contractors. Requests for the designs were issued by CBP on March 17, and early estimates by CBP had some prototype constructions beginning by summer.
According to CBP, each prototype will cost an average of $450,000. The final cost, an estimated $4 million, will be covered by already-sanctioned federal appropriations for the 2017 fiscal year.
