The Department of Homeland Security and U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) recently awarded five contracts totaling $3.3 billion for the construction of a smart wall along the U.S.-Mexico border in Texas and Arizona.
The contracts will add 97 miles of primary border wall system, 19 miles of secondary border wall and 66 miles of waterborne barrier system. Awardees include Fisher Sand & Gravel Co. and SLSCO LTD.
The smart wall includes a steel bollard wall, roads, detection technology, cameras, lighting and in some cases waterborne barrier or a secondary wall. The contracts include the installation of approximately 149 miles of detection technology and waterborne barrier systems.
“Securing our border is key to protecting our country, keeping our communities safe, and making sure our immigration system works the way it should,” CBP Commissioner Rodney Scott said. “A border wall with the right technology – a Smart Wall – is an important tool to stop illegal activity and to help agents do their job, which is critical in keeping America safe.”
The contracts were awarded in November and December and include:
- The Del Rio 3 Project – Awarded a contract to SLSCO LTD for $372,832,130 to construct approximately 22 miles of primary border wall system and approximately 13 miles of detection technology in areas where there is existing barrier in USBP’s Del Rio Sector in Texas.
- The Laredo 1 Project – Awarded a contract to Fisher Sand & Gravel Co. for $440,440,440 to construct approximately 15 miles of primary border wall system and approximately 16 miles of waterborne barrier system in the U.S. Border Patrol’s Laredo Sector in Texas.
- The Laredo 2 Project – Awarded two contracts for this project: one contract to SLSCO LTD for $664,774,000 to construct approximately 41 miles of primary border wall system, and a second contract to Fisher Sand & Gravel Co. for $300,000,000 to construct approximately 50 miles of waterborne barrier system in the U.S. Border Patrol’s Laredo Sector in Texas.
- The Tucson 2 Wall Project – Awarded to Fisher Sand & Gravel Co. for $1,495,000,000 to construct approximately 19 miles of primary border wall system, approximately 19 miles of secondary border wall and 136 miles of detection technology in areas where there is existing barrier in USBP’s Tucson Sector in Arizona.
Contracts awarded for smart wall construction now total $8 billion.