[Flick Lives]

$5,000,000,000 / 215 = $23,255,813 Per mile?

I know it’s a government contract, but $23 million for a mile? That seems expensive. How many land mines could one purchase for $23 million?

[shelterguy]

That’s $4,400.00 per foot. I did subcontracting on government projects for many years and that seem like ridiculous to infinity.

[b4me]

I was hoping he would get a better price on it, but I’ll be glad for whatever can be done to reduce illegals from entering USA

[Blue Highway]

a mine field a 1/2 mile thick across the entire border distance would be far cheaper, and a huge deterrent. Figure 20,000,000 landmines even at a cost of $30 each ($600 million total), that would be 10,000 landmines per mile across. You’d have to be really stupid to cross that border.

[slorunner]

I am a professional construction estimator who has done cost estimates on the wall.

I would say that $23 1/4 million / mile is about double what the average cost should be. (less alligators & land mines).

Assuming this first installment includes urban high priority sections call it 50% high.

[going hot]

I think he will take the money first, but he will apply some Trump building guidelines, and get a much longer wall for the money, under budget, and on time.

Just need to secure the funds first.

[BeauBo]

"I know it’s a government contract, but $23 million for a mile? That seems expensive."

The information in this article is probably not complete - they might end up building more. But here are a few considerations on the average cost per mile.

So far under President Trump, wall segments have been contracted for as little as under $4 million per mile, for the 20 miles West of El Paso, to almost $24 million per million in the recent Rio Grande Valley awards.

The Rio Grande Valley is the hardest, most expensive, and most important part of the whole border wall. There the foundation of the wall must be a very deep and massive reinforced concrete levee structure, certified by FEMA for controlling floods during hurricanes, rather than just a simple six foot trench.

Hurricane levee wall foundation (May have to go thirty or more feet deep, and the deepest footing must be exceptionally thick and wide):

Typical bollard foundation (two feet thick and six feet or more deep, heavily reinforced with rebar)

Also, the RGV is the most heavily trafficked part of the border, requiring the most technology - lights, cameras, alarm systems. Finally, the land there is almost all privately owned, requiring extra budget for compensating landowners, legal costs, and adding accommodations, like extra gates, or pumping/piping river water to the other side of the barrier for the landowners use.

Not all of the $5 billion may be going to barrier building. There has been a big push to start a five year technology program to bring all the rural areas of the border under full operational control, while the barrier is built in the urban areas. Some of the $5 billion might be going toward additional technology or people - even possibly to house more detainees, rather than catch and release.

Finally, there may be more segments planned, that they just didn't mention. They did that with both the FY17 and FY18 appropriations as well. Several of the projects were not revealed publicly until contracts were awarded, while others were revealed a year in advance. The four miles in the downtown El Paso neighborhood of Chihuahita was not revealed publicly, until contractors arrived to set up for groundbreaking the very next day.

I think it is quite possible that the remaining 65 miles in the Rio Grande Valley could run around $25 million per mile, but elsewhere $5-10 million per mile will be more common.

$5-10 million per mile is comparable to cost during the Bush-era fence building program, but the barrier going in now is far superior.