Engineers study ways to secure U.S. borders

The project is revealing that there is no one-size-fits-all barrier.

SCRIPPS HOWARD

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — The Great Wall of China — approximately 4,163 miles of earth, stone, gravel and brick — was a miracle of engineering and construction for its time.

Maybe for all time.

That doesn’t mean others won’t try to do the Chinese one better.

Engineers at Sandia National Laboratories are studying ways to build massive barriers — a Great Wall of America, perhaps? — that will keep the nation more secure as border encroachment becomes more problematic and fraught with danger and politics.

So far, however, they’re sure of just one thing: there is no one-size-fits-all wall, says Brian Damkroger, a senior manager of the labs’ border security and exploratory systems.

“The idea is to control the borders — that may be through a physical fence, that may be through a virtual fence with sensors and radar,” Damkroger said. “How you approach controlling the border depends on lots of things.”

Sandia’s work is part of the Department of Homeland Security’s Secure Border Initiative, which has a goal of securing both U.S. borders.

Boeing won the contract for the initiative in 2006. Homeland Security funded it for three years, with an option for two more. But the nature and scale of the project could take longer, Damkroger said.

“I personally believe it will take longer,” Damkroger said. “But that’s simply my opinion.”

Various forms

In the labs’ most recent border initiative project, engineers evaluated six commercial designs and three government-recommended designs. They selected several for more consideration.

Through the life of the initiative, labs engineers will continue to look at fence types and other technology proposed by contractors, Damkroger said.

“We test things to see if they perform as advertised and fit into the overall system and goals,” Damkroger said.

Overall, he added, it will require several technologies to make viable barriers on both U.S. borders.

At the Canadian border, that could mean virtual fences that scan areas by aircraft, radar or special sensors to make sure no one is passing through.

At the Mexican border, a barrier could take the form of 350 to 700 miles of fencing, which could cost up to $1 million a mile, Damkroger said.

All of the fences would be tailored to specific areas, with a wide variety of designs and technologies added to each section, said Mark McAllaster, a member of Sandia’s Active Response and Denial Department.

“There are some parts of the border where people don’t want fences going through their towns,” McAllaster said. “There are other areas where there’s nothing out there with sand and arroyos.”

Fences that cross arroyos will have to allow water to pass through, but not people or vehicles. Barriers in rural areas would be a mix of large concrete walls and barbed wire to keep out both people and cars, McAllaster said.