Ricardo Lopez | Palm Springs Desert Sun

Omar Ornelas/The Desert Sun

Gregory Bull, AP

The U.S. Customs and Border Protection agency on Friday announced it had awarded a $287 million contract for the construction of up to 14 miles of secondary wall along the California-Mexico border.

The contract, awarded to Galveston, Texas-based SLSCO Ltd., also includes funding for up to 15 miles of a primary pedestrian replacement wall. Construction on the secondary wall is expected to begin in February, while construction on the primary pedestrian replacement wall will begin in July.

The announcement of the contract came Friday, as President Donald Trump was locked in a stalemate with Congress over funding for his signature campaign proposal of a border wall all along the U.S.-Mexico border. The contract is the result of an executive order issued and signed by Trump in January 2017.

The contract calls for the replacement of outdated pedestrian wall designs with a 30-foot-tall steel bollard wall, according to a news release. The roughly 15 miles to be constructed will run 11 miles in Calexico, 3 miles in Tecata and 1 mile in Andrade. The agency said these locations are top priorities for replacement for the U.S. Border Patrol.

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The secondary wall project is expected to replace an existing barrier with a similar 30-foot-tall steel bollard wall near San Diego.

Omar Ornelas,The Desert Sun-USA TODAY NETWORK

"Given the high-density population in San Diego-Tijuana urban area, the stronger infrastructure is critically important," the release said.