Contracts awarded for US-Mexico border wall prototypes

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Four companies have been selected to come up with prototypes for President Donald Trump's planned wall on the border with Mexico, US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has said in an online statement.

The companies chosen to construct concrete prototypes are:

Caddell Construction Co., (DE), LLC from Montgomery, Alabama; Fisher Sand & Gravel Co., DBA Fisher Industries from Tempe, Arizona; Texas Sterling Construction Co., from Houston, Texas; and W. G. Yates & Sons Construction Company from Philadelphia, Mississippi.

The announcement on the CBP website /CGTN screenshot

The prototypes will be 9 meters long and up to 9 meters tall.

CBP officials are due to meet the vendors soon to discuss a timeline but expect the prototypes to be constructed by the fall.

“The prototypes will inform future design standards which will likely continue to evolve to meet the U.S. Border Patrol’s requirements,” the statement said, “Through the prototyping process, CBP may identify new designs or influences for new designs that will expand the current border barrier toolkit that CBP could use to construct a border wall system.”

Trump has repeatedly pledged to construct a wall along the US' border with Mexico. /AFP Photo

Each prototype will be worth between 400,000 and 500,000 US dollars, Customs and Border Protection's acting Deputy Commissioner Ronald Vitiello said.

The money comes from the 20 million US dollars Congress authorized the Department of Homeland Security to take from other sources in the budget earlier this year.

Congress has yet to authorize further funding to begin construction on new sections of wall, but Trump has threatened to shut down the government if the plan isn’t approved this year.

Trump has made a series of announcements and online posts about the border wall issue. /CGTN screenshot

A wall across the US’ border with Mexico was one of Trump’s key pledges during last year’s presidential campaign.

Trump has repeatedly said in speeches and interviews that a border wall is necessary to protect the US and that Mexico would pay for its construction.

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