Border Wall Update (25 May 2020)

@USBPChief (twitter) ^ | 25 May 2020 | Chief Rodney Scott

[BeauBo]

194 miles completed, 251 miles under construction, 286 miles under pre-construction.

[BeauBo]

7 miles completed last week - a mile a day.

We will likely crack 200 miles completed, this week. We just completed the 100th mile in January of this year, so the rate has greatly sped up, and is on track to speed up more, as these new contract awards start breaking ground.

Last week we heard about the biggest border wall contract award yet - $1.28 billion to Fisher, for 42 rugged and remote miles in Arizona (heading East from the border of the Tohono O'odham Nation Reservation).

The contract was awarded on 6 May, but not listed on the contracts web page of DoD, or the announced on the Newsroom page of CBP. Reportedly, this new policy (not reporting awards the next day) is driven by a new interpretation, that task orders awarded under a standing contract are not new contracts themselves, and don't require public notice.

The Army Coprs of Engineers has at least three MATOC-style (multiple task orders from among a pre-approved pool of Contractors) for building border wall - each with a $5 billion cap.

So for all we know, billions more may have been awarded, without notice. I guess that provides some cover from obstructionists, so even though I like to know, I can appreciate the greater good of successful execution. We are heading into a Summer of Border Wall construction, beyond anything we have seen before.

[Vendome]

Good enough for me

Promise kept

[EnglishOnly]

Keep up the Good Work!

[Kahuna]

To have a completed wall in a year or two will have a fabulous impact on our Nations economy. We will be hurting for a few months but by controlling illegal immigration our job picture will again lead the world and the drain on the border States budgets quickly become a thing of the past.

[donozark]

Was not expecting an update on Memorial Day. This is indeed pleasant news.

[BeauBo]

A billion dollars would be a stack of hundred dollar bills, taller than the tallest building in the world.

Twelve of those are going on contract for the Border Wall this year.

For comparison, only about six went onto contract in 2017, 2018 and 2019 combined.

We are going to see something happen, the likes of which we have not seen before.

[Cronos]

He needs to move it up. Total border length is 1945 miles

[BeauBo]

“Was not expecting an update on Memorial Day.”

Those performance incentives on the contracts pay for a lot of overtime...

Seriously though, some of the crews out in rural areas will probably put in a lot of overtime, just to kill time, because there is nothing to do in camp.

Just shave your head and save your money.

Even the briefing slide makers at HQ are getting in on the act. Law Enforcement never sleeps.

[Fai Mao]

Just eye-balling it but, Built, building, and approved (Pre-Construction) is about 38% of the border. Much of the US Mexico border is pretty desolate. If they get just through the approved built this year it will be a huge step forward.

[SuperLuminal]

The Ann Coulter Memorial proceeds nicely...

All that will remain, once construction is completed, is the tomb-chamber (for her mummified remains) to be built and occupied under the remotest section of the wall...

[BeauBo]

“The Ann Coulter Memorial proceeds nicely...

All that will remain, once construction is completed, is the tomb-chamber”

I’m for adding cremated remains to the concrete mix, as just a little more aggregate material.

[BeauBo]

“Built, building, and approved (Pre-Construction) is about 38% of the border.”

They did a massive analysis on how to best secure the border. The President directed it on his fifth day in office (Executive Order 13767). OMB and CBO beat the hell out of the plan, until it was bulletproof - it was finally accepted by Congress in December of 2018.

Bottom line recommendations (for full operational control of the Southern Border): $25 billion, five years, 1,100 miles of barrier, thousands more full time positions, and several technology programs.

Barrier is just not needed in very rural areas, that are impassable to 4WD vehicles - technology will cover every mile of border, and can cover a band many miles deep from the border (both sides) as well.

So 1,100 miles of barrier - some of which is probably secondary barrier (double layer), so less than 1,100 miles of border with barrier.

221 miles of pre-existing barrier is assessed as effective, so about 900 more is needed. 731 is in the current program (”Built, building, and approved”), leaving about 150 more miles of barrier needed. The $3.6 billion in FY20 Military Construction funds has not yet been transferred by DoD, and is not yet reflected in the current program - that should be enough to credibly complete the remaining 150 mile requirement ($24 million per mile).

What this means, is that enough money has already been designated by the Trump Administration for the full barrier requirement in the Comprehensive Plan. They are on track to have the full amount of money, for the full requirement of barrier on contract, with the funds obligated, by the end of the year. Contractors will be working feverishly through 2021 to deliver their finished product, but the Government’s main tasks of defining requirements, acquiring land, paying the bill and contracting; will be complete.

Also, a tsunami of technology is rolling out this year and next, that will transform the whole length of the border.

[thinden]

while the country has been locked down, the wall has been going up!

more great news beaubo!

thanx for the update

[9YearLurker]

Remote and rugged it may be, but that’s still almost $6K per foot of fence.

[JayGalt]

It makes me very happy that Fisher’s hard work with “We build the Wall” has paid off. The CEO has really stepped up to the plate.
POTUS is blazing ahead full steam to get this wall done. I think he is making an opportunity out of the media’s preoccupation & distraction with COVID-19 to set add’l segments & contracts in motion.

[FrdmLvr]

Do you know the total number of miles we originally needed to build, or how many miles are left to cover outside of these three phases, which totals 731 miles? Thank you.

This is an impressive job.

[BeauBo]

“how many miles are left to cover outside of these three phases (731)?”

I think about 150, and there is money that has not yet been transferred, that could cover that too. I describe it more in post #12.

Bottom line: The Trump Administration is on track to sink enough funding onto contracts, to pay for the full package of infrastructure (barrier, roads, lights, alarms) and technology, before the end of this year. Contract performance (construction) would continue through 2021, but it would be on contract, and paid for.

[little jeremiah]

And some areas of the border are so remote and difficult that there is little traffic, what I have read. Add the walls, and what traffic there is, gets funneled into smaller areas, which make it much easier for BP to get ‘em. And now with covid and the other measures Trump has put in place. boot ‘em back out straight away.

[BeauBo]

“Remote and rugged it may be, but that’s still almost $6K per foot of fence.”

Besides the towering 30 foot barrier, set in a massive reinforced concrete foundation, they also have to build a new all weather road over those hills/mountains, and lay in electrical and communications utilities, for alarm systems, cameras and grid powered stadium lights.

And they are going to paint it Badass Black, like the President likes.

[SisterK]

Good news. That part of AZ-Mex border is extremely dangerous.
Much drug running.
Used to camp there as a kid. Not now. No way.