Trump's border wall prototypes fail design requirements and are riddled with deficiencies

Trump's border wall prototypes fail design requirements and are riddled with deficiencies
Rafael Carranza, Arizona Republic Published 9:56 a.m. MT Aug. 21, 2018 | Updated 6:56 p.m. MT Aug. 21, 2018


A congressional watchdog group revealed new details about the testing and the costs associated with building prototypes of President Donald Trump's wall and the challenges with erecting them along the border with Mexico.

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Results of the testing

The tests revealed many of the prototypes, as built, failed to meet the same design standards that Customs and Border Protection had set out in its calls for submission.

CBP test teams and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers carried out the evaluations. They assessed them by four categories based on the degree of changes they would need in order to meet CBP’s requirements.

For constructability, the six companies were required to build structures between 18 and 30 feet in height, as well as 6 feet below ground. During the test, engineers also looked at “how feasible it would be to construct the prototypes in other environments, based on their observations during the construction of the prototypes,” according to the GAO report.

The evaluations found that all four concrete prototypes had “extensive” construction challenges, the most serious of the four categories, meaning they would need the most work to meet CBP’s requirements. Of the four prototypes made of alternate materials, two had “substantial” challenges, the next category down, and the other two had “moderate” challenges. None presented “minimal” challenges, the fourth category requiring the least amount of work.

The report’s summary of the results said the sloping terrain presented a special challenge for the constructability of the prototypes.

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https://www.azcentral.com/story/news/politics/border-issues/2018/08/21/report-reveals-deficiencies-trump-border-wall-prototypes-san-diego/992770002/