Posted on 05/18/2020 5:45:15 PM PDT by BeauBo
Border barrier panels stretch along Arizona farmland at the Yuma 1 project near Yuma, Arizona, May 6. These projects are being executed by USACE, as directed through the U.S. Army by the Secretary of Defense, in response to Department of Homeland Securitys request for assistance to help secure the United States southern border by blocking drug-smuggling corridors through the construction of roads and fences, and the installation of lighting under Section 284 of Title 10, U.S. Code. DoD and USACE are executing these projects in support of U.S. Customs and Border Protection.
(Excerpt) Read more at dvidshub.net ...
Much of this area is getting double layer of thirty foot bollards, with a highly instrumented "enforcement area" between them.
Check out the massive barriers being emplaced - some heavy construction for today's Border Wall enjoyment, brought to you by your Department of Defense.
Remember when over 300 illegals scraped away shallow tunnels under the old fence near Yuma, and entered as a group claiming "asylum", just last year? Well they can forget about that kind of thing there now, with these new mountains of concrete and steel.
Awesome. Thanks for this update. Keep them coming.
I saw miles of this wall between El Paso, TX and Columbus, NM.
185 miles complete. They’ll have to be motivated to climb those barriers.
Sure they can dig tunnels and fly drones, but the barrier makes life way harder for the bad guys.
Very impressive wall section in yuma, beaubo
Do they powder coat the steel?
Hey, don’t those construction workers know you should never ever fly the American flag within sight of a Mexican? It’s so hurtful.
“Do they powder coat the steel?”
Not yet, but coatings are being evaluated. The first segment completed under the Trump Program (2.25 miles West of the Calexico Port of Entry) has been painted black, but I don’t know what kind of coating they used.
The basic design calls for using “weathering” steel (also called CorTen, for its combination of CORrosion resistance and TENsile strength), which rusts on the surface, in such a way as to seal the rest of the material from deeper corrosion.
A few types of paints/coatings are now being evaluated. Powder coating is about the most the expensive of the options, but very durable.
“Sure they can dig tunnels and fly drones, but the barrier makes life way harder for the bad guys.”
By design, it makes it much harder for tunnels and drones as well.
Most of the old barrier required no tunneling (vehicle barriers), or shallow digs that children could do (just a few feet long, about a foot deep). The bollards require going six to eight feet down to get under the foundation, and have cleared areas on both sides, that must be tunneled under to conceal entrances, exits and digging activity. In some areas, 150 feet is cleared on the South side, and on the North side, it is cleared to the Northern shoulder of the patrol road. Such long and deep tunnels are simply far beyond almost all individuals’ ability, and are life-threateningly dangerous to construct.
Seismic (vibration) sensors can detect tunneling activity, and vehicle towed or airborne ground penetrating radar can detect tunnels themselves.
Radars are being deployed to detect drones, and countermeasure systems already exist, that have allowed Border Patrol to take flight control of cartel drones, and land them where they want.
“I saw miles of this wall between El Paso, TX and Columbus, NM.”
The first 20 miles from outside El Paso, were one of the first four projects under President Trump, with the 2017 money.
with later year’s money, they have contracted to extend the wall system well past Columbus Port of Entry, and have gone to the 30 foot bollards as the new norm, rather than the 18 footers in the first 20 miles.
I’d be interested to know if you noticed any concertina on the bollards, lights and cameras on poles; as well as what the condition of the patrol was, along what you saw (and when you saw it).
The basic design calls for using weathering steel (also called CorTen, for its combination of CORrosion resistance and TENsile strength), which rusts on the surface, in such a way as to seal the rest of the material from deeper corrosion.
A few types of paints/coatings are now being evaluated. Powder coating is about the most the expensive of the options, but very durable.
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ok, CorTen is a new process for me. it make sense from a maintenance situation as powder coating & regular painting would be too expensive.
thanks for this information.
I didn’t get that close. I will look or ask the next time I go toward Antelope Wells.
“I will look or ask the next time I go toward Antelope Wells.”
Thanks.
We don’t get to see the actual contracts - only media reports, which are often slanted beyond recognition to the real world.
I’d really like to know the “ground truth” of what we are getting, in terms of the whole package of capabilities. Just barrier alone has limited usefulness (bring a ladder and rope), but married with powerful detection technology and response capability, it becomes effective “Wall System”.
The first 20 miles of that new barrier, from the foot of Mount Cristo Rey, around Anapra (Sunland Park), and through the Santa Teresa Port of Entry, were done the first year, before all the studies and prototype information was incorporated into the design. They are 18 footers (which used to be considered the excessively strong standard) - but now most new barrier is 30 feet high.
The cost of that initial stretch was also much lower (about $4 million per mile) than what we are buying today (around $20 million/mile, or more), so I wonder what other features might have not been included on that stretch (e.g. road paving, lights, cameras). Out by Columbus, they are probably getting a much more robust system of capabilities, thanks to the advancement of the design and specs - definitely 30 footers are going in there now.
The concertina has been being installed by the Military, rather than the construction contractors (using different money, to conserve construction dollars). They have been operating at their own pace and direction, without public reporting, or media interest. So it is hard to know what has gotten done, or even if they are still at it (the mission was reportedly re-extended through the end of the fiscal year, just as it was the year before).
A triple roll mess of concertina makes a huge difference, when you are dangling at the height of a third or fourth storey window.
I sure would appreciate any first hand reports that you might pick up.
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