One factor in the selection that was mentioned, is that the winning vendor has worked on border projects before.
If their past performance was good, and they were in on the Trump Administration Program, they would have little learning curve/lead time required. Not only lower risk, but they might have their costs dialed in to shave better prices. It was a competitive award.
It seems to me that this Program is on a very fast track (especially for Government) - they probably weighted past performance and readiness to meet schedule very highly.. They brief clip I heard of the winning vendor talking to the Government reps, was all about how the vendor was going to get moving quickly - panels up by the end of the year, in two weeks, including Christmas.
The two firms I mentioned likely could handle the timing, PM and resources on the state's schedule. Just shove $$$ at these high end companies and they can make dirt, concrete and steel sprout wings then fly where they need to go. I have worked with both.
What they do miss on AFAIK is the prior boots on the ground on the border during the Trump Wall construction. Personally, I don't believe the boots thing is that critical but that's the prerogative of the one paying the bill.
Cheers….
Turns out that this award was to a company that had been building the very segment that Texas wanted done first, under President Trump. They were standing by, ready to restart.
In fact, they broke ground, and started whipping up border wall panels today!
https://freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/4022188/posts