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Why Are We Spending $3000/ ft On A Border Fence

It is a Saturday morning here in western North Carolina, where I am enjoying a long weekend with my wife and kids taking in the breathtaking views from Beech Mountain, North Carolina. As I read news feeds this morning, I can’t help but dig into the reports I am reading on the Border Fence near San Diego which started construction yesterday. It is a 3.5 mile section that the work has begun on, costing taxpayers $16 million.

Since I am the owner of a fence compamy in the Triangle area of North Carolina, I immediately pulled my calculator out to see the CPF (cost per foot) on this fence. My first problem is that my ProjectCalc Plus doesn’t hold enough digits to calculate past 7 figures! I guess I never knew that since my projects never go over 5 figures. Of course, I haven’t ever landed one of those government projects either! So, after using a different calculator, I determined that we are paying over $3000.00 per foot for a border fence. Is this another version of our government paying $300 for staplers? Why does it cost so much to build this fence? It is a 15′ tall steel mesh fence. So, more research was in order.

I found that the bulk of this contract is to fill in a canyon with dirt, 1.9 million tons of dirt! Again, WHY! If there is already a fence in place, then the terrain must allow for it, so why spend millions of our tax dollars to fill in the canyon. Now I am not aware of all the research that must have gone into engineering this fence, nor am I familiar with the area it is being built. In the short amount of time I spent researching the fence, all I found on the specifications is that is a 15′ tall steel mesh fence. I also found that the rest of the over 1900 mile of fence will cost $2-$3 million per mile which is between $400 – $600 per foot.

I am not interested in getting in a debate here on whether or not we should open our borders to immigrants, or if we should built the great wall of China to keep everyone out of our country.

In conclusion, I am concerned this is just another case of rewarding contracts to somebody and not looking to build this fence in a more economical and more environmentally friendly way. What do you think? Do you have other information on the subject I haven’t reported here? Please comment below and put your 2 cents in.

Resources:

Associated Press

Update:

In 2006, Congress authorized the Secure Fence Act – a multi-billion dollar plan to build hundreds of miles of fencing along the southern border of the United States to stem the flow of undocumented immigrants and provide security from potential terrorism. But what was built to fight illegal immigration has turned into a nightmare for many Americans living along the U.S.-Mexico border. The fence, which will cover less than half of the actual border, inexplicably cuts through the middle of some properties, while leaving others untouched. Many question if it can keep people from sneaking in at all.

‘The Wall‘
Arizona residents share what’s wrong with the fence built in their yard.
(From The Border Wall, a film by Wayne Ewing)

This week, NOW senior correspondent Maria Hinojosa travels to Texas to meet border families who fear losing their property, their safety, and their way of life. We also follow an investigative reporter who questions whether certain landowners are getting preferential treatment. Is America’s border fence working, or an utter waste?

Border Fence Wednesday

When I decided to post an article on the Border Fence issues on Saturday 8/16/08, it was just something I was upset about as our country faces $9.5 trillion debt, and we were spending $3000 per foot on a Border Fence. The article got so much attention, I have decided that Wednesdays will be “Border Fence Wednesday” on the Raleigh Fence Contractors Blog.

Yesterday there were two main stories released about the border fence. The first one has to do with the Virtual Fence in Arizona being put on hold:

Virtual fence construction
in Arizona on hold

Associated Press – August 19, 2008 10:54 PM ET

TUCSON, Ariz. (AP) – Officials say construction on “virtual fence” projects scheduled along Arizona’s border with Mexico is on hold indefinitely because the Interior Department hasn’t signed off on use of its lands.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection spokesman Mike Friel says Interior officials have not yet accepted a proposed finding in an environmental assessment produced for the U.S. Border Patrol that putting towers on Interior Department lands would have no significant impact.

Friel says authority to waive environmental laws for border security projects granted under a 2005 congressional act does not extend to virtual fence projects.

Prime contractor Boeing has suspended work on the projects.

Then the next one is related to the Government rejecting a levee/wall proposal in Cameron County Texas:

Government rejects
border fence alternative

08/19/2008

Associated Press

The Department of Homeland Security has denied Cameron County’s proposal to combine its levee improvements with a border wall.

Cameron County Judge Carlos Cascos said Tuesday he received word from U.S. Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Ralph Basham on Monday.

Border fence construction has not started in Cameron County, and officials had hoped to reach a compromise similar to that in neighboring Hidalgo where a combined border wall/levee project is under way

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