The U.S.-Mexico border wall proposed by President Donald Trump is one step further to completion, with the Customs and Border Protection agency (CBP) saying they’ve announced contracts to four companies to build different prototypes.
Caddell Construction of Montgomery, Ala.; Fisher Industries of Tempe, Ariz.; Texas Sterling Construction Co. of Houston, Texas; and W.G. Yates & Sons Construction of Philadelphia, Pa., are the four firms that were announced by the CBP this week.
“This is the first new initiative that adds to our bigger plans,” Ronald Vitiello, acting deputy commissioner of the CBP, told NBC News, which obtained images of one of the prototype designs.
The prototypes will be 30 feet long and 30 feet high, and they'll be built in the coming weeks, as NBC reported. The review process can take from 30 to 60 days.
Each of the contracts range from $400,000 to $500,000, and they’re included in the 2017 budget.
“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,” Vitiello added.
Joshua Wilson, spokesman for the San Diego chapter of the National Border Patrol Council, told the Los Angeles Times that contractors will be responsible for their own security. The Border Patrol will be monitoring the area as well.
