Four U.S. Companies Have Been Contracted to Build Prototype Border Walls

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security has contracted four American companies to build prototypes of a southern border wall with Mexico, in a major step toward realizing one of President Trump’s core campaign promises.

Caddell Construction, Fisher Industries, Texas Sterling Construction, and W.G. Yates & Sons Construction, have each been charged with building a concrete wall that’s 30-feet long and up to 30-feet high, NBC News reports. The DHS is also expected to commission four non-concrete wall prototypes.

On completion, the government will evaluate the designs to determine which is the most suitable to implement on a massive scale along the U.S.-Mexico border. The four contacts are each worth between $400,000 and $500,000.

Read more: This Graphic Shows Why President Trump’s Border Wall Won’t Stop Immigrants From Crossing

“This is the first new initiative that adds to our bigger plans,” Ronald Vitiello, acting deputy commissioner of the U.S. Customs and Border Protection told NBC News. “Testing will look at things like the aesthetics of it, how penetrable they are, how resistant they are to tampering and then scaling or anti-climbing,” he added.

According to Vitiello, construction will begin in the coming weeks with the review process expected to take between one and two months.

[NBC News]