Border Wall System Update: 3 Aug 2020

@USBPChief (twitter) ^ | 3 Aug 2020 | Chief Rodney Scott

[BeauBo]

265 miles completed, 316 miles under construction, 157 miles under pre-construction. (738 Total)

[BeauBo]

9 Miles completed last week.

The last three weeks (9, 11, 10) have averaged 10 miles per week, indicating a new sustained rate, at this higher level.

This rate would get us to the President's goal of 450 miles by the end of the year, and around 400 miles by election day.

The operational effects are going to really start mounting, as the flows from longstanding routes get forced to shift. The Wall is becoming a fundamentally disruptive event to the old status quo, beyond just its local effects. It will become apparent this year, and dramatic next year.

MAGA.

[BeauBo]

Ping.

Men at Work (San Diego):

[Tai_Chung]

What is considered pre-construction?

[stars & stripes forever]

RE: Mysterious China seeds being sent throughout country...

Do some seed packets contain illegal narcotics and are being sent to dealers? Is this the new way to bring illegal contraband into our country?

[donozark]

Looks like a Bollard type Wall above the Wall being constructed. Critical area I assume. S. of San Diego.

[Diana in Wisconsin]

“A thing of beauty is a joy forever...” ~ John Keats :)

[Diana in Wisconsin]

No, it’s a PR/on-line review scam.

People selling stuff on-line use real addresses to write fake, positive reviews to sell more Chinese junk.

The ‘seeds’ that people are receiving ARE seeds of various types (light and cheap to mail) but the outside of the envelopes are marked as ‘jewelry’,

We’re received some mailings in my County. People are just turning them over to the police.

[thinden]

wow. what challenging hillside site to build on

these guys are doing an unbelievable job.

thanx for the pix & update

[GnuThere]

A gorgeous sight!

[M Kehoe]

Bttt.

5.56mm

[BeauBo]

“What is considered pre-construction?”

The big categories are land acquisition (mainly a problem only in Texas) and contracting lead time (solicitation, bidding and award; and then the time needed for the winner to get everything in place to start work).

There is a detailed plan for everyone to execute off of, but only those specific segments for which money has been transferred into the account of the Contracting Activity (Corps of Engineers) are reported as part of the Program of Record (currently 738 miles).

There are more segments prioritized and waiting, if more money comes, but they are not going to (not allowed to, under the Anti-Deficiency Act) take preparatory actions that expend resources, until that segment is formally authorized, by payment being placed in the account.

When the money is on hand, they will begin to contract for site surveys, soil samples, detailed engineering design documents for the specific local slope, soil and hydrology, and land acquisition. Stuff like that is Pre-construction phase.

After contract award, the winner is issued a formal notice to proceed. They are then authorized to start spending money under the contract to start buying supplies, shipping equipment, and hiring people. It usually takes months of lead time to get a camp set up in a rural area, and everything on hand to break ground (Enter the Construction Phase).

[angcat]

Lovely

[Irish Eyes]

What is the true story about the section of the border wall at the Rio Grande ? I have heard that the ground underneath the wall is eroding.

[redshawk]

If it’s eroding, pile drive them 50 feet. Problem solved.

[Pollster1]

[Monthly summaries of your posts, dated 14th-20th of each month.]

---

January: 106 miles completed, 128 miles under construction, 342 miles in pre-construction.

February: 121 miles completed, 218 miles under construction, 414 miles in pre-construction.

March: 139 miles completed, 200 miles under construction, 414 miles in pre-construction.

April: 162 miles completed, 188 miles under construction, 381 miles in pre-construction.

May: 187 miles completed, 184 miles under construction, 360 miles under pre-construction.

June: 210 miles completed, 306 miles under construction, 222 miles under pre-construction.

July: 245 miles completed, 332 miles under construction, 161 miles under pre-construction (738 Total).

August: 265 miles completed, 316 miles under construction, 157 miles under pre-construction. (738 Total)

---

I’m enjoying these posts and very happy with the progress.
Step 1 is to build a Wall everywhere that it is needed to prevent all illegal entry but the most fit and motivated.
Step 2 is to track down current illegals and visa overstays - deport all illegals. No exceptions.

[BeauBo]

"I assume. S. of San Diego"

Correct. The picture is a little old - they should be finished with that San Diego Secondary barrier about now. I have been hoping to hear, but have not yet. In any event, they should be well past that point.

A new contract (San Diego 4) is now under construction extending the San Diego barrier over the steep ground, East of Otay Mesa (where no barrier existed previously). A woman fell off of that new segment just Sunday, and is in custody, in the hospital.

LTG Todd Smonite, the recently retired Chief of Engineers, and "Energizer Bunny" who took the Wall Program from zero to ten miles per week, is shown here conquering that previously untamed terrain:

There is also a new run now chewing up the miles, along the Eastern flank of El Paso (El Paso 5). Here is a picture from near Fabens, Texas:

[BeauBo]

“What is the true story about the section of the border wall at the Rio Grande ? I have heard that the ground underneath the wall is eroding.”

Part of it is. The basic design was to gently grade/slope the riverbank and stabilize the soil with grass to prevent erosion. The intent was to make the whole stretch (over 3 miles) suitable for rapid deployment of Border Patrol Maritime Units - they could just run their river boats straight up onto the banks and jump out.

Along one stretch of the bank though, the seed did not take, and the freshly worked soil was susceptible to erosion - when Hurricane Hanna dropped 16 inches of rain, mostly over one night.

What Tommy Fisher said about this in court, was that this kind of thing is normal in construction projects, and that he would patch up spots as needed until the grass took hold, and the soil packed down. In some spots, that just might not work (perhaps unfavorable soil). If that is the case in some spots, he would put rip rap (a heap of big rocks/boulders) as is commonly done at the base of bridges.

[BeauBo]

It is nice to see the numbers climb, at an accelerating rate - a sign of professional management.

We got about 40 miles built the first two years.

Now we are doing better than 40 miles a month.

[Irish Eyes]

Thanks for the reply. I have heard a lot of stories about this. Very few favorable to Fisher .

Surprise , surprise.

[Pollster1]

If we have four more years, we may actually solve this problem.

That would be a good thing considering that the socialists have already moved on to armed insurrection.