Homeland Security Announces Border Wall Prototype Finalists

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Homeland Security Announces Border Wall Prototype Finalists
DCwire
By Daily Caller
Will Racke on August 31, 2017

The Department of Homeland Security announced Thursday the contractors that will build prototypes for President Donald Trump’s proposed border wall, jump-starting a process that has run into numerous delays over the last four months.

Ron Vitiello, the acting deputy commissioner of Customs and Border Protection (CBP), said construction will begin in San Diego after CBP officials have a chance to meet with the vendors to iron out the next steps.

The four companies selected are: Caddell Construction Co. of Montgomery, Ala., Fisher Sand & Gravel Co. of Tempe, Ariz., Texas Sterling Construction Co. of Houston, Texas, and W. G. Yates & Sons Construction Company of Philadelphia, Miss.

“Today we mark a significant milestone,” Vitiello told reporters at a news conference. “This is the first tangible result of the action planning that has gone on. This is the use of the resources we had available for this year.”

The 30-foot-high, concrete prototypes will allow CBP to test potential wall designs that would complement existing border barriers that have been installed in recent years. CBP officials will evaluate the prototypes as part of a “wide range of tools and technologies” including cameras, sensors and other surveillance technology, according to Vitiello.

“The prototypes and resulting wall infrastructure will complement the various other tools that we employ to secure our borders,” he said.

Thursday’s announcement came after the Government Accountability Office dismissed a protest by some bidders that had postponed a decision on the winners. DHS had originally said it would begin prototype construction in June, but contrasting delays pushed the projected start date back to November.

Congress appropriated $20 million in the Fiscal Year 2017 budget to build the prototypes but has not set aside any other funds for the wall itself. The four contracts are worth between just under $400,000 and $500,000, according to Vitiello

The White House budget proposal for FY18 requests $2.6 billion for “high-priority tactical infrastructure and border security technology” — $1.6 billion is for a physical barrier and $1 billion is for supplemental infrastructure and technology, reports The Washington Post.

Congress is locked in contentious negotiations over an emergency spending deal to keep the government open after Sept. 30, and Senate Democrats have thus far refused to budge on including border wall funds in the bill. At a rally in Arizona earlier in August, Trump threatened to force a shutdown if Congress doesn’t appropriate money for the wall in September.

“Believe me, if we have to close down our government, we’re building that wall,” Trump said.
CBP in March requested proposals for two categories of barriers: a concrete wall design and another called “other than concrete.” Vitiello said the agency expects to award contracts for the non-concrete prototypes next week.


BREAKING: The Contracts Have Been Signed, The Wall Is Coming — Here’s How It Will Loo
Just days after President Donald Trump promised that the wall would be built even if it meant shutting down the government, U.S. Customs and Border Protection made an announcement Thursday that it has given contracts to four companies to build prototypes.
All four companies proposed different types of concrete walls. The government plans to make a decision on a single design, once they are properly evaluated.

NBC News reports:

The prototypes will be 30 feet long and up to 30 feet high. Construction of the prototypes is expected to begin in the coming weeks, and the review process will take between 30 and 60 days.

The image above is a border control rendering of what they see as an “optimum border enforcement area” between the U.S. and Mexico.

The concrete portion of the wall (E) would sit on the U.S.-facing side of an electronically monitored zone and another barrier (B) facing toward the Mexico side would be transparent enough for officials to see through.

The monitoring zone would be about 150 feet wide and alert patrol agents if someone breached the initial border barrier.

According to NBC News, Ronald Vitiello, acting deputy commissioner of the U.S. Customs and Border Protection, stated:
This is the first new initiative that adds to our bigger plans.
Testing will look at things like the aesthetics of it, how penetrable they are, how resistant they are to tampering and then scaling or anti-climbing.

The four companies currently under contract for prototypes are Fisher Industries of Tempe, Arizona; Texas Sterling Construction Co., of Houston; Caddell Construction of Montgomery, Alabama; and W.G. Yates & Sons Construction of Philadelphia.
Each contract was more than $400,000 and included in the 2017 budget.

VIDEO https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=3&v=yox6jHSCVo8

The Trump administration will seek a $1.8 billion budget to begin construction on the wall in 2018, NBC News reported.