Story highlights The deadline for wall bids closed Tuesday at 4 p.m.

Firms are worried about future business losses if they compete

(CNN) President Donald Trump's proposed border wall has drawn the interest of hundreds of companies, but the larger, more experienced firms might not be on board.

The deadline to submit proposals for the wall was Tuesday at 4 p.m. ET, and many of the biggest construction and engineering companies are steering clear of bidding for the project altogether.

Several companies who otherwise possess the resources and experience to manage and deliver such a large and complex project are staying away from it largely due to concerns about political backlash, according to Dave Raymond, President and CEO of the American Council on Engineering Companies. He told CNN, "in my lifetime, I can't think of a similar experience."

One senior official from a construction firm told CNN via email that "there are many hurdles associated with the wall, ranging from political ones to financing to the very real human aspect. There are also concerns about how working on the wall would affect a construction company's ability to work in other countries, given that the Trump plan has received a great deal of international criticism."

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As of Tuesday afternoon, the three largest recipients of federal government contracts, as ranked by the Engineering News-Record's most recent Top 400 Contractors list -- Bechtel, Fluor Corp., and Turner Corp. (no relation to CNN parent company Turner Broadcasting) -- are not listed as interested vendors for the US Customs and Border Protection's two requests for proposals (RFPs) that closed Tuesday at 4 p.m.

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