US hands out first contracts for border wall prototypes

Four companies have been chosen to build prototypes
for Donald Trump's planned border wall, US Customs
and Border Protection (CBP) said.
The four concrete prototypes will be 30ft (9m) long and
up to 30ft tall, and will be built in the coming months.
Officials will then spend up to two months testing the
walls for tampering and penetration resistance using
small hand tools, CBP said.
The four contracts are worth up to $500,000
(£387,000) each.
A continuous wall across the entire southern US border
was a key promise in President Trump's election
campaign.
The prototypes "will help us refine the design
standards" of the eventual wall, acting CBP deputy
commissioner Ronald Vitiello said.
"Testing will look at things like the aesthetics of it,
how penetrable they are, how resistant they are to
tampering, and scaling or anti-climb features."
But he said the officials would stick to small hand tools
rather than testing "ballistic kind of things".
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The walls will also need to feature cable conduits and
other design features for sensors and cameras.
Once the order to start building is given in the next few
weeks, the prototypes are expected to be finished
within 30 days.
The four companies to which the contracts were
awarded are:
Caddell Construction, in Montgomery, Alabama
Fisher Industries in Tempe, Arizona
Texas Sterling Construction in Houston, Texas
WG Yates & Sons Construction in Philadelphia,
Mississippi
Mr Vitiello said he did not know if any of the firms had
had prior experience in border wall construction.
More than 200 companies are believed to have
submitted designs for the proposed border wall.
Four more contracts for prototypes made from
materials other than concrete will be announced next
week.

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