Another Arizona company to build prototype of Trump's border wall

TUCSON – Out of 250 companies that expressed interest in building prototypes of President Donald Trump's promised border wall, only six were selected. Two of them are Arizona companies.

On Thursday, KWR Construction of Sierra Vista became the second Arizona company chosen for the controversial project intended to test wall designs — but not the actual border wall itself.

"If this fence is inevitable, it might as well be built well, and by us," KWR Construction said in a statement. "It should provide jobs to our workers who actually belong to these same border communities and care about the communities and the quality of construction here. All of us can make lemonade out of what some call a lemon."

U.S. Customs and Border Protection made the announcement this week with significantly less fanfare than the week before, when the agency did a livestream of a news conference where it named the four winning concrete-prototype bids, including a Tempe-based company.

Thursday's announcement was for prototypes that incorporate alternate construction materials to concrete. Two companies, from Alabama and Mississippi, received contracts in both categories.

All of the prototypes will be built in the San Diego area.

KWR Construction stands out among the six companies because they're based near the U.S.-Mexico border. The company's main offices in Sierra Vista are about 20 miles north of the international boundary.

Their statement noted their proximity to the border was one reason why they submitted a bid. The company would not comment beyond its statement.

"We live and work in these same affected border communities; we’ve been here doing this same sort of work for nearly two decades," the company said in its statement. "Many of our workers having long-standing relations or roots in MX (sic), so all of us respect our Mexican neighbors and have a good sense of where they’re coming from. We perform our work with integrity so as to demonstrate that we respect all involved."

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The southern Arizona company has extensive experience in federal contracting work, completing dozens of projects in the past decade totaling nearly $52 million, according to a government website that tracks federal contracts. A significant number were for the Department of Defense and involved construction work on military bases.

In its lengthy statement, KWR Construction also laid out the need to secure the border, and said fencing, while not perfect, was economical and provided immediate relief to border communities.

But it expressed some skepticism about whether their design would be used for that purpose.

"This is mostly just a design and engineering contract. It may not even be used to build fencing. The solicitation stated that it would be used to build access and patrol roads, fencing, drainage structures, gates, lighting, fiber optics, communication towers, remote video surveillance systems and ground sensors. We’ll see."

The company declined to release details of its design, saying it now belongs to the federal government.

CBP has said all prototypes will measure 30 feet in length and be between 18 and 30 feet in height.

The agency added that the four designs built with alternate materials must serve two main purposes: "First ... to deter illegal crossings in the area in which they are constructed. Second, they will provide an innovative perspective in the application of new materials which will allow CBP to evaluate the potential for new wall and barrier designs to complement the current wall and barrier used along the Southwest border."

Funding for the prototypes was included in this fiscal year's budget. And CBP said construction is expected to begin sometime in the fall, pending agreements with the six companies.

It's not clear yet if a wall or physical barrier will be built along the entire U.S.-Mexico border. Congress and the Trump administration are negotiating funding.

After repeatedly claiming Mexico would pay for the wall, Trump last month threatened to shut down the government if Congress does not authorize the $1.6 billion he's requesting to begin construction of new or replacement barriers.

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