SLSCO receives $61.4M for border wall construction

UPI.com ^ | 3 April 2020 | Christen McCurdy

[BeauBo]

The U.S. Army awarded SLSCO Ltd. with a $61.4 million contract modification Friday for wall construction along the southern U.S. border.

This deal amends an earlier contract, awarded in April 2019, for work on the wall near Santa Teresa, N.M., or what the new contract announcement describes as the "El Paso sector" of the wall...

The original contract had an estimated completion date of Oct. 1, 2020, but work covered under the modification is expected to wrap by Dec. 31, 2020.

[BeauBo]

This looks like a trend, where the contracts awarded with last year's Military funding, are having more miles added to them with this year's money.

It is quicker to award, and quicker for the contractors to perform, as they already have everything they need already operating in the same area. Very low risk to performance, with this approach.

The miles are less expensive in that neck of the woods, but for $60 million, we are only talking about a few more miles (5 or 10 perhaps). Last week's mod in the Tucson sector was over a half billion dollars - probably more in the 25-50 mile range.

[BeauBo]

Looks like a little more love from Uncle Sam heading your way.

My guess would be that they will just extend the already planned run a few miles further, but they might be plugging a few specific priority miles. I’ll keep my eyes peeled for clues.

[2banana]

$61 million?

Is that like 2.5 miles of wall?

[Honest Nigerian]

Essential jobs being done there.
BTW - what does it matter if it costs a few million dollars per mile? The dividends it pays are priceless. And it took a pandemic for a lot of people to understand border control.

[SuperLuminal]

"$61 million?"

Hmmm... Maybe in the neighborhood of a decent bribe to some local politicians to back off a law suit that is interfering with construction?

No... Not possible...

Maybe they are finally adding some firepower to the top of some sections of the wall...

Who cares... Just keep on building... Like bailing a leaky rowboat... Don't stop... Just use a bigger pail...

[BeauBo]

“Is that like 2.5 miles of wall?”

In the Rio Grande Valley, that might be the case, but in the flat desert of New Mexico, it is much easier and cheaper to build barrier.

The least expensive of all of the Trump-era wall building projects so far, has been the early 20 mile run around the Santa Teresa Port of Entry (running West from the outskirts of El Paso). Those 20 miles only cost $77 million (under $4 million per mile), but they were 18 footers.

It seems that all the new awards (except for the flood levee walls in Texas) are going with 30 foot bollards, and an enhanced package of supporting roads, lights cameras, alarms and sensors.

I am guessing that it is a 5-10 mile addition, but it might be more.

We will probably find out some details over the next week.

I hope to see these kinds of contract mods drop like rain in the coming weeks - they seem to be an efficient way to get the job done fast, and support getting it done right, by using proven performers.

We have had a lot of competitive bidding, and costs are now very well known. Contracting Officers are not going to risk being very far off from the best market price, by using these approaches to speed things up.

[HANG THE EXPENSE]

Agreed.

[BeauBo]

“$61 million?”

My guess is that since the whole border has been meticulously studied, and carefully divided into segments for analysis, this award is simply tacking on one or more planned segments, to the contract that is already working nearby.

It might be as simple as “When you get to the end of this contract, keep going $61 million dollars further”. I’m quite sure they have defined it more precisely, but the main project in that area, has essentially been doing just that.

They started with a 20 mile run, heading West from the foot of Mount Cristo Rey, on the outskirts of El Paso Texas. Since then, there have been contract awards to extend that run of new Trump-style super barrier further and further West, past the Columbus Port of Entry.

I would anticipate that this might extend that run to the corner of the “Boot Heel”, where New Mexico’s Border turns straight South.

They have the data though, and they are running down a priority list that is not public, so these new miles could conceivably be anywhere left on the New Mexico border, and still be close enough to be an efficient add-on to an existing contract.

Over half of New Mexico’s border with Mexico had already been put on contract during the Trump Administration - The gaps that are left are getting more remote from roads and towns. New Mexico might be the first State to get their whole border fortified.

A lot more money is coming onto contract for border wall system this year - more than all the other years combined! Over $12 billion.

[DoughtyOne]

I’m so glad to live to see this.

[Jane Long]

Excellent news.

[BeauBo]

"I’m so glad to live to see this."

Construction work is so plentiful that SLSCO Ltd. is building a mancamp for at least 80 workers in the historic district of Columbus, N.M. - near where Pancho Villa famously raided into the United States, in 1916.

Makes sense to leverage this kind of overhead and lead time), once a contractor is already set up in rural areas.

This year, we are going to see wall building ramp up, as we have never seen before. This effort is on track to become (by far) the biggest, baddest, and most expensive non-military border barrier system in human history.

About $6 billion was put onto contract during the first three years of the Trump Administration - most of which is not yet finished construction. Over $12 billion is identified to put on contract this year alone.

If you like what you are seeing, you are going to see a lot more to like.

April 1st, 2020, near Columbus, N.M.:

[DoughtyOne]

Good...

[LibWhacker]

Any chance they’ll increase those earlier 18-foot sections to 30 feet?

[BeauBo]

Any chance they’ll increase those earlier 18-foot sections to 30 feet?

I doubt it.

- Demolition would be expensive.

- 18 footers give most of the benefits of 30 footers (anti-tunneling, anti-vehicle ram, deter/defeat most free climbers).

- Those 18 footers are mostly in very rural locations, where the added delay to climbers (more likely ladder/rope attacks), is dwarfed by the effects of reliable detection, tracking and response speed.

- A lot of the operational value (real effectiveness in stopping illegal traffic) out there comes from the other components of the wall system - the high detection rate from the cameras, lights and sensors; and the roads for quick response.

- The great likelihood is that after they collect real data on the illegal crossings, there just won’t be anywhere near the justification for the high expense.

- There is room for a secondary barrier, where needed.
The available land in the Roosevelt Reservation (Federal easement) is 60 feet wide. Why tear down the 18 footers, when you can simply reinforce the border with a secondary barrier. The double barriers (like San Diego, and contracted for a big chunk of the Yuma Sector) are particularly effective for several reasons unique to that set up (length of tunnels needed, supporting equipment is restricted from the secondary barrier by the primary, “trapping” effect between barriers, etc.). The use of a secondary barrier is the current go to solution, where upgrades are needed.

[LibWhacker]

Great points, thanks! Thanks for taking the time to write that up. I particularly like the secondary barrier idea.

I was picturing topping off the existing bollards with hefty 18 or 20-foot bollards whose bottom six or eight feet would be an integral sleeve that would fit right over the old bollard, then welded on to the bollard below, not necessarily tearing down what was already built.

Of course, I’m not a very practical person and have few practical skills (I’m sure a picket fence would be a challenge for me in real life!). :-)

[SuperLuminal]

It’s all good!

[BeauBo]

"I was picturing topping off the existing bollards"

It is now common practice, that some time after a segment is completed, accepted by the Government Quality control folks, and the Contractors have cleared the area, that Military units are scheduled to come in and add concertina to the bollards - typically a triple strand, or two triple strands (in high traffic areas, like border cities).

As part of the President's deployment of the Military to the border, in support of DHS, several hundred Combat Engineer troops are working at any given time, hardening Ports of Entry, or emplacing concertina. This deployment has been extended at least through 30 September 2020, and shows every sign of being extended for the next fiscal year, just as it was this last.

They emplace concertina at a rate of several hundred miles per year (100 miles of concertina is about 33 miles of bollards with triple strand). Initially, the Military was outpacing the construction of new bollards, but no longer. The pace of bollard construction is now about 5 miles per week, and expected to hit a mile per day average, by the end of the month.

An unprecedented mountain of money (over $12 billion) has been identified to put on contract this year, and the new awards and mods to previous contracts are already starting to drop. It is unlikely that the Military concertina effort will keep up with the bollard construction this year or next, but they will continue hitting the priority areas first.

The incremental cost of adding concertina is low enough, that local Border Patrol Commands can finance it if push comes to shove, or in the future, after the Trump Program is complete. Potentially, a temporarily increased Military deployment, and/or an additional commercial contract might be added at some point, to catch up with the rapidly accelerating deployment of new Wall System.

A tangle of concertina, 30 feet in the air (about the height of a fourth floor window sill) is a seriously life-threatening obstacle. Even the 18 footers instill a significant fear of heights effect, and will produce serious injuries from falls (30 footers will kill half or more of those who fall).

Concertina very significantly deters/defeats the ladder and rope attacks, which are the main vulnerability of the bollards, for average people. Even without concertina, the complete "wall System" package of bollards, response roads, lights, cameras, sensors and alarms are very effective. They are in fact designed to achieve full operational control of the border where they are installed.

Concertina is a useful, low cost and low maintenance enhancement for topping bollards. After the anti-climb plate (to deter/defeat free climbers without equipment), concertina is the next most import obstacle enhancement (for ladder/rope attacks).

In the past, border barrier has been heightened by welding extra material on top. 18 footers are pretty tall in real life though, when you are looking up at them - much taller than the 8 foot landing mat that got extra sheet metal added on top previously. I think we will find that they are up the job, in all but the very most intense segments of the border.

Even in some of the more intensely challenged segments, like within the Nogales, Arizona City limits, 18 footers have proven effective, with almost 20 years of experience there.

Nogales' pre-existing 18 foot bollard barrier, receiving a concertina upgrade, around January 2019:

[Tammy8]

I heard they are going a bit further down in the Bootheel from monument 40 and also going to replace vehicle barrier East and West of Antelope Wells Port of Entry. Not much but every bit counts. Also bidding now for more near Columbus... I thought all of that was being done already but must be something there that was not covered in other contracts.

I just get mostly local rumors though so not sure.

[Tammy8]

When they get further West in NM it will get more expensive just because it is such a remote area to get things in and out of. Wages will be more too...no where to stay, employees will have to drive as much as 90 miles to motel or camp somewhere. No trailer parks for camp trailers either. People don’t think about those expenses, but a lot of the border is real remote and it costs more.

[BeauBo]

I bet that many more miles are going to get contracted in New Mexico before this year is over ($12 billion dollars to spend). I’m guessing that 75-100% of New Mexico’s border with Mexico will get Trump-style super barrier system, and the whole thing will get layers of new technology for detection and tracking.

On the ground, miles in (and out) from the border, and from the air, even more miles in (and out) from the border; there is a wide band of surveillance and tracking. It is getting increasingly unlikely that intruders can cross these wide areas without being detected.

There is already a big increase in surveillance of areas without barrier, and more is rolling out this year. Pretty much all the new barrier comes with layers of technology as well. Although not everything starts operating at once, in pretty short order, one system after another lights up, until it gets hard for even a snake to wiggle though undetected.

This year is going to be a big year for operational effects - big improvements in security are going to show up in the numbers, and in peoples lives in the area.

The big contractors own their own mobile/portable housing for work camps - they have the capability to do the most remote areas of the Southern Border. Even though there are extra expenses in remote areas, they can manage them pretty efficiently. Guys put in more overtime to kill time, and “make hay while the sun shines” to save up a bundle to take home afterward, like sailors at sea.