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NBC: All Border-Wall Prototypes Vulnerable To Penetration — Including Steel Slats
Hotair ^
| 01/10/2019
| Ed Morrissey
Posted on 01/10/2019 9:17:49 AM PST by SeekAndFind
Donald Trump travels to the border today, perhaps to declare a state of emergency but certainly to repeat the call for an impenetrable barrier along the frontier. A previously redacted report from the Department of Homeland Security suggests that they’re not having much success in finding such a model. According to NBC News, the report included photos of all eight prototype breached by Marines with ordinary household tools — including the “steel slats” fence.
This might be news if anyone thought it was possible to build a wall that couldn’t be breached under any circumstances:
President Donald Trump has repeatedly advocated for a steel slat design for his border wall, which he described as “absolutely critical to border security” in his Oval Office address to the nation Tuesday. But Department of Homeland Security testing of a steel slat prototype proved it could be cut through with a saw, according to a report by DHS.
A photo exclusively obtained by NBC News shows the results of the test after experts from the Marine Corps were instructed to attempt to destroy the barriers with common tools.
The Trump administration directed the construction of eight steel and concrete prototype walls that were built in Otay Mesa, California, just across the border from Tijuana, Mexico. Trump inspected the prototypes in March 2018. He has now settled on a steel slat, or steel bollard, design for the proposed border barrier additions. Steel bollard fencing has been used under previous administrations.
However, testing by DHS in late 2017 showed all eight prototypes, including the steel slats, were vulnerable to breaching, according to an internal February 2018 U.S. Customs and Border Protection report.
Earlier, the White House had bragged about the testing on these prototypes. At the time, the takeaway was that the prototypes were nearly impossible to scale, which is the priority for such barriers. However, it does matter to what extend such barriers can be made “impenetrable,” especially since Trump has made that an explicit promise.
On the other hand, that’s more of a theoretical issue, especially in this case. People crossing the border illegally don’t usually carry tools with them, not even “ordinary” tools. In fact, as ABC’s Matt Gutman reported this morning, they don’t carry anything at all — because the coyotes take it from them:
Gutman also notes that Customs and Border Protection (CBP) wants more of the steel slat fencing erected in the Rio Grande area. Based on this report, it’s not difficult to see why. People are getting dumped along this area because they can cross over easily on foot. Erecting barriers would allow CBP to secure the border more efficiently by narrowing the spaces in which foot traffic can occur, and likely would dry up the efforts to cross far afield of those spaces. The open areas act as a draw for such crossings, and the manpower needed to interdict that traffic is far higher without it — even if technology existed to detect every such intrusion over hundreds of miles.
Frankly, this clip makes the case for more barriers, as Trump is demanding, and rebuts the case that the traffic over the southern border is in any way manageable without them. They aren’t the entire answer, but it at least would make border patrol and humanitarian efforts a lot more efficient. (Front-page photo from DHS report via NBC News at the links above.)
TOPICS: Culture/Society; Foreign Affairs; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: borderwall; chamberofcommerce; gettrump; globalists; nbc; smearcampaign
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To: SeekAndFind
Any wall or fence can be breached or cleared. The barriers will be for slowing down and decreasing the traffic, allowing the Border Patrol to see it and photograph it and allowing for more arrests. The Army, the Trump Administration, the Border Patrol and others did cost and effectiveness analyses. Support them, and let them do their job.
121
posted on
01/10/2019 11:31:15 AM PST
by
familyop
("Welcome to Costco. I love you." - -Costco greeter in the movie, "Idiocracy")
To: Toddsterpatriot
“shooting anyone we see approaching with a saw.”
That is the huge advantage of the see-through bollards - you can see them coming, and have more time to respond. Border Patrol will also know just what they are responding to (a pregnant campesina or a dozen narcos with AKs).
And yes, they can shoot, pepper spray, tase, photograph and verbally warn though the bollards as well.
122
posted on
01/10/2019 11:39:25 AM PST
by
BeauBo
To: itsahoot
"Try to keep up with changing times folks. {:-)" Thanks for reply.
The Makita tool looks like a sander, correction welcome. But I suppose there are possibilities with a battery powered saw with multiple battery packs.
On the other hand, not only will questionably effective battery-powered tools and acetylene torch limit number of undocumented Democrats who have access to such things below border and can transport to border, but consider note from another post.
Given that barrier is patrolled, especially with drones, a good barrier is at least not only going to limit time that undocumented Democrats have to cut through it, but will also leave evidence even if attempted breach is interrupted or fails.
To: itsahoot
The battery-powered grinders probably are still too limited within reasonable costs.
...but with a generator or batteries and inverter in the back of a car or pickup, they can plug in.
124
posted on
01/10/2019 12:05:50 PM PST
by
lepton
("It is useless to attempt to reason a man out of a thing he was never reasoned into"--Jonathan Swift)
To: M. Thatcher
My tagline has been up since 2015
125
posted on
01/10/2019 12:07:24 PM PST
by
Balding_Eagle
( The Great Wall of Trump ---- 100% sealing of the border. Coming soon.)
To: SeekAndFind
No kidding, but in general walls work.
To: SeekAndFind
A locked door is “vulnerable to penetration” also, but that does not mean you just take your locks off your doors.
A deterrent INHIBITS those who seek to wrongly cross a barrier or enter where they are not allowed. Yes, SOME thieves will still go ahead and penetrate defenses, but many others will sill be thwarted, so just that alone makes security measures worth it.
127
posted on
01/10/2019 12:14:12 PM PST
by
Wuli
To: SeekAndFind
Using the left’s logic, gun laws are all vulnerable to being broken so why do we need them?
128
posted on
01/10/2019 12:18:46 PM PST
by
JenB987
To: BeauBo
I’ve done construction my whole life, you might be able to fool other people with all your words, not me.
We need a wall like the one that they show for Israel.
Which, incidentally, it’s more like the big beautiful wall that Trump talked about during the campaign
129
posted on
01/10/2019 12:22:10 PM PST
by
Balding_Eagle
( The Great Wall of Trump ---- 100% sealing of the border. Coming soon.)
To: Jim Robinson
Yes, as Scott Adams says, walls create “friction” that slows down travel and funnels people to places where detection may be greater. I like this idea, and who thought steel could not be sawed through? What about an oxy-acetylene wielder? I used to have a job where we cut steel plate. (Of course hauling the tanks across the desert would be a deterrent.
130
posted on
01/10/2019 12:28:48 PM PST
by
KC_for_Freedom
(retired aerospace engineer who also taught)
To: BeauBo
the saws they used to cut the bollards for that photo were likely huge truck mounted machines (heavy construction equipment).
If thats what the Marines used they cheated.
131
posted on
01/10/2019 12:32:26 PM PST
by
steve86
(Prophecies of Maelmhaedhoc O'Morgair (Latin form: Malachy))
To: itsahoot
“Supposedly the tools they used were limited to common house hold tools.”
I suspect that the fake news lips are moving again.
These bollards have been deployed for going on twenty years.
They have been cut on rare occasions by cartels, but if they were vulnerable to common tools, they would be commonly breached - they are not. They have been virtually maintenance free in practice.
In San Diego, the old double barrier gets breached more than three times a day on average. Guys can hop the old landing mat fence, and cut through the main fence with battery powered tools, in two minutes - often before Border Patrol can respond (they also stage diversions to draw away responders, or just watch for openings, like shift change).
With bollards, Border Patrol would have time for a picnic waiting for folks to cut through. The spark show would light up the night.
Also, since bollards have been in use for some time, specifications have been refined. A different composition of steel can have dramatically different performance than another type of steel. One type of concrete filling can be three times as hard as another. A different type of rebar inside the concrete can further complicate/sabotage the choice of saw blades.
Bollards are tough and proven.
Even when they are breached, they are relatively easier to detect, and relatively quick/simple/cheap to repair.
132
posted on
01/10/2019 12:37:08 PM PST
by
BeauBo
To: steve86
The Marines breaches it with hand tools but it required 2,036 visits to the local Home Depot for Sawzalls, batteries and blades.
133
posted on
01/10/2019 12:37:36 PM PST
by
steve86
(Prophecies of Maelmhaedhoc O'Morgair (Latin form: Malachy))
To: SeekAndFind
You know, a few bugs, birds and mice have gotten in my house over the past 40 years. But most haven’t. That is the point.
134
posted on
01/10/2019 12:40:55 PM PST
by
Albion Wilde
("A wall, not because we hate the people outside of it, but because we love the people inside.")
To: SeekAndFind
The lefties know something about penetration.
135
posted on
01/10/2019 12:42:17 PM PST
by
Leep
(Leftist are neither liberal or democratic. Neither are they pro American.)
To: Balding_Eagle
The Great Wall of Trump —— 100% sealing of the border. Coming soon.
************
That will take care of the southern border. But what
to do about the western / Pacific border?
136
posted on
01/10/2019 12:52:37 PM PST
by
deport
To: Mr. K
“If it takes a half hour to cut through, then the patrol interval must be less than a half hour.”
DHS has made a thorough study of what they call “Border Calculus” - the timeframes involved for border operations.
Those timeframes inform all the design. They can trade off one of the main factors (Infrastructure, Technology and People), against another. With better barrier, roads and technology, the same number of people (or less) can be more effective.
The main formula is: Detection time + Disappearing time = Time to Intercept.
In cities, fence jumpers can disappear quickly, hopping into a car, running into a mall, or jumping through backyards. So they really need to slow them down with barrier, and detect them sooner to give responders a head start.
Barrier that takes a longtime to breach, is running the clock on their disappearing time, as you recommended to balance against patrol time. The functional design specification for President Trump’s prototypes was to delay breachers at least an hour - considered to be exceptionally strong.
Detection time is not solely dependent on patrols. In the urban areas, the border can be constantly monitored by cameras. All the new urban barrier is going in as a system, with lights, cameras, patrol road and sensors (like burglar alarms).
The see through design greatly improves detection time (with solid all it can’t start until their head pops up over the wall), and see-through lets Border Patrol officers know exactly what they are facing on the other side, and photograph every individual who misbehaves.
Mexicans can be (and are) arrested at their homes in Mexico for crimes at the border.
137
posted on
01/10/2019 1:07:37 PM PST
by
BeauBo
To: BeauBo
A different type of rebar inside the concrete can further complicate/sabotage the choice of saw blades. Prison bars have hardened rollers inside the bars which required the crook to use two saw blades, one on each side in order to defeat the roller. (I did a prison tour with my dad back in the early fifties)I suspect some good case hardened rebar would slow them down as well.
138
posted on
01/10/2019 1:27:49 PM PST
by
itsahoot
(Welcome to the New USA where Islam is a religion of peace and Christianity is a mental disorder.)
To: Balding_Eagle
“We need a wall” (not bollards)
Why do you think that the Professionals who work the border and risk their lives prefer bollards?
139
posted on
01/10/2019 1:30:30 PM PST
by
BeauBo
To: SeekAndFind
That’s why they make popup and mines ...
140
posted on
01/10/2019 2:13:49 PM PST
by
PIF
(They came for me and mine ... now it is your turn ...)
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