Past projects show border wall building is complex, costly

Associated Press

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M.

President Donald Trump is not giving up on his demand for $5.7 billion to build a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border, saying a physical barrier is central to any strategy for addressing the security and humanitarian crisis at the southern border.

Democrats argue that funding the construction of a steel barrier along 234 miles will not solve the problems. A 2018 government report warns of increased risks that the U.S. wall-building program will cost more than projected, take longer than planned and not perform as expected.

Walls and fencing now cover about one-third of the 1,954-mile-long border.

Between 2007 and 2015, U.S. Customs and Border Protection spent $2.4 billion to add 535 miles of pedestrian and vehicle barriers and other infrastructure along the border.

Trump wants to extend and fortify what’s already in place. But contracting, designing and building new wall systems complete with updated technology could take years, and past experience has shown such work can be complicated and costly.

Here is how much the government has spent on barriers in two states along the Mexican border:

CALIFORNIA

Much of California’s 141 miles of border with Mexico was fenced during the Bush administration through a security measure that won congressional approval and had support from key Democrats.

In 2009, the federal government spent about $16 million a mile on a 3.5-mile stretch in San Diego, using about 2 million tons of dirt to fill in a canyon known as Smuggler’s Gulch. The earthen dam was then topped with layers of fencing.

At the Imperial Sand Dunes, the U.S. built a floating fence of 16-foot-high steel tubes that can be raised or lowered as the sands shift. The $6 million-a-mile barrier cuts through a film location for “Star Wars: Return of the Jedi” that resembles the Sahara.

Both are examples of some of the rugged territory along the border that can result in higher costs.

The Government Accountability Office estimated in 2018 that new border wall construction averages $6.5 million a mile but terrain, building materials and other factors influence costs.

ARIZONA

In 2006, the federal government completed a 30-mile stretch of steel barriers to keep people from illegally crossing into the Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument. The barriers were designed to stop vehicles from driving around a checkpoint in Lukeville or up through the desert wilderness. That three-year project had a price tag of $18 million.

More recently, Barnard Construction Co. Inc. of Montana was awarded $172 million for 14 miles of new fencing in the Border Patrol’s Yuma Sector. Officials say the total value of that contract could reach $324 million for 32 miles.