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Proposed border wall prototypes erected in San Diego
Posted 6:43 am, October 12, 2017, by CBS News Wire
SAN DIEGO — Several of the prototype designs for President Donald Trump's proposed border wall have been erected.
Construction crews broke ground two weeks ago on eight separate prototypes and on Thursday News 8 got a chance to see five of them up close.
"It's very interesting to see all the different types of ideas and wall prototypes," said U.S. Border Patrol Agent Tekae Michael.
Border Patrol agents took News 8's Steve Price to a fenced-off area in Otay Mesa where crews are halfway into the 30 days they have to build their prototype for what will eventually be a 2,000-mile long wall along our southern border promised by President Trump.
One wall has razor wire across the top; another bollard-style fencing that's friendlier to wildlife; all are designed to be tough to climb or penetrate.
"In a wall, what we would want is anything that's going to protect us and protect the United States," said Agent Michael.
Three more wall prototypes are coming and once completed they'll be put to the test.
"There will be a testing and an evaluation process and we're going to look to see if the wall prototypes meet the anti-scaling, anti-climbing, anti-digging and safety of border patrol agents," said Agent Michael.
San Diego's southern border spans 60 miles right now with 46 miles protected by an 8 – 10-foot primary fence that's over 25 years old. A 20-year-old secondary fence overlaps the primary fence for 13 miles in areas more popular with undocumented immigrants.
"What we do have with our primary and secondary fencing has proven to be effective but like anything, in age, everything needs an upgrade," said Agent Michael.
Bids for the prototypes range from $300,000 to $500,000. As of now, the building of an actual wall lacks congressional funding and it is not a given that any of these designs will ever go beyond this point.
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