U.S.-Mexico Barrier Construction Starts

Initial construction began Wednesday on vehicle barriers that will be part of a mix of border fencing along the Barry M. Goldwater Range in southwestern Arizona.

The first-phase construction, on about nine miles at the western edge of a 37-mile stretch of desert, will consist primarily of vehicular bollards — rebar-reinforced, concrete-filled tubes of varying heights vertically set in the ground to prevent vehicles from entering.

Department of Homeland Security spokesman Russell Knocke said some areas along the initial phase will consist primarily of the bollards, but a small portion will involve a mix of those barriers and traditional fencing.

The construction is part of the Secure Border Initiative that the Bush administration announced last year, intended to provide a a mix of high-tech virtual fencing and a traditional physical barrier.

Power Contracting Inc. of Pittsburgh, a subcontractor of the Boeing Co., is doing the first-phase work, which could cost in the range of $20 million.

On Jan. 12, Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff cleared the way for the work to start by waiving environmental regulations and laws impeding construction along the 2.8 million-acre bombing range, used by Air Force and Marine Corps aviators for training runs.

The full 37-mile fencing will include five miles to the west of the Goldwater range but will not include the Cabeza Prieta National Wildlife Refuge to the east.

Authorities said there were more than 17,000 known attempts to enter the country illegally on the Goldwater Range and 9,600 apprehensions in 2005, with 15,200 entries and nearly 8,600 apprehensions there last year.

Environmentalists have criticized the fencing and barrier plans, saying that won't stop people in search of jobs to feed their hungry families but will be a step toward destroying a fragile portion of southern Arizona's desert.

The initial construction phase could take a few months, though no timetable was announced.