$61 million?
Is that like 2.5 miles of wall?
Hmmm... Maybe in the neighborhood of a decent bribe to some local politicians to back off a law suit that is interfering with construction?
No... Not possible...
Maybe they are finally adding some firepower to the top of some sections of the wall...
Who cares... Just keep on building... Like bailing a leaky rowboat... Don't stop... Just use a bigger pail...
“Is that like 2.5 miles of wall?”
In the Rio Grande Valley, that might be the case, but in the flat desert of New Mexico, it is much easier and cheaper to build barrier.
The least expensive of all of the Trump-era wall building projects so far, has been the early 20 mile run around the Santa Teresa Port of Entry (running West from the outskirts of El Paso). Those 20 miles only cost $77 million (under $4 million per mile), but they were 18 footers.
It seems that all the new awards (except for the flood levee walls in Texas) are going with 30 foot bollards, and an enhanced package of supporting roads, lights cameras, alarms and sensors.
I am guessing that it is a 5-10 mile addition, but it might be more.
We will probably find out some details over the next week.
I hope to see these kinds of contract mods drop like rain in the coming weeks - they seem to be an efficient way to get the job done fast, and support getting it done right, by using proven performers.
We have had a lot of competitive bidding, and costs are now very well known. Contracting Officers are not going to risk being very far off from the best market price, by using these approaches to speed things up.