It appears President Trump’s vehement resolve of a southern border wall is gaining foot. Despite an impending tough battle with Congress to secure funding for the commencement of the project, the prototype for the wall has been awarded to four notable companies, according to US Customs and Border Protection (CBP).

The four concrete prototypes whose building are scheduled for the coming months will be 30ft (9m) long and up to 30ft tall.

The completion of the prototype will be followed by additional two months of testing the walls for tampering and penetration resistance using small hand tools, CBP said.

The four contracts which are worth up to $500,000 (£387,000) each are necessary for President Trump’s election campaign promise of a continuous wall across the entire southern US border.

Acting CBP deputy commissioner Ronald Vitiello said, “The prototypes will help us refine the design standards of the eventual wall”.

“Testing will look at things like the aesthetics of it, how penetrable they are, how resistant they are to tampering, and scaling or anti-climb features” – he added.

Vitiello, however, insisted the officials would stick to small hand tools rather than testing “ballistic kind of things”.

The walls will posses a staggering feature of cable conduits and other design features for sensors and cameras, and once the order for commencement is given in the next few weeks, the prototypes are expected to be finished within 30 days.

The four recipient companies of the awarded contracts are:
• Caddell Construction, in Montgomery, Alabama
• Fisher Industries in Tempe, Arizona
• Texas Sterling Construction in Houston, Texas
• WG Yates & Sons Construction in Philadelphia, Mississippi

It is, however, amusing to note that, Mr Vitiello said he did not know if any of the firms had had prior experience in border wall construction, despite over 200 companies believed to have submitted designs for the proposed border wall.

Four additional contracts for prototypes made from materials rather than concrete will be announced next week.

Adegbite Adedotun