The current border fence is shown near San Diego in 2012.

The current border fence is shown near San Diego in 2012. Josh Denmark/ Customs and Border Protection file photo

Here's What Global Building Companies Say About Designing Trump's Wall

So far, few of the firms that have expressed interest in the border wall project have the resources to pull it off.

On Febuary 24, the U.S. Customs and Border Protection agency announced a solicitation for the design and construction of the U.S. border wall with Mexico. That offer, which drew the interest of scores of companies, gave a deadline for wall prototype concepts of Friday, March 10. But the agency has since extended the deadline to March 20 and changed the overall scope of the project—details of which will be made available on March 8.

The list of interested vendors now runs more than 350 in number. Project-management companies, concrete suppliers, and fence-builders have thrown their hats in the ring. There are also a few trickster artists and some companies totally unrelated to the task (among them: National Public Radio). Missing from its ranks, however, are a number of the nation’s largest defense contractors and global engineering firms—the kinds of companies that might be expected to bid on an infrastructure project of this magnitude.

For example, Raytheon, a major defense contractor, appeared on the roll call of interested vendors a few days after it was originally posted. But as of last last week, the company’s information no longer appeared on the list. Raytheon did not reply to a request for comment.

Bechtel, which claims to be the largest construction and civil engineering company in the nation, is also sitting this one out. “There’s a lot of companies out there who’ve registered their interest, and as you saw from that list, we’re not on that list,” says Adi Raval, global corporate head of media affairs.

Lorrie Paul Crum, vice president for corporate communications for CH2M, a global engineering company, said she was not aware of any intent at the company to bid to build the wall. Boeing, a firm with vast experience working as a contractor for the Department of Homeland Security, has also not signaled its interest in the project. A $1 billion contract between DHS and Boeing for the “virtual fence” dubbed SBInet was canceled in 2010 after the project was deemed a failure. (Boeing did not respond to an inquiry.)

One company that is highlighting its lack of interest in the project is AECOM, a multinational engineering firm that posted $17 billion in revenue for fiscal year 2016; Engineering News Record has named it #1 among its top 500 design firms for the last 7 years running. Chris Bauer, an executive vice president for AECOM, made a point of calling CityLab to note that the firm’s name was nowhere to be found on the list of interested companies.

An official at another international building company echoed that sentiment. “We have no interest in the border wall,” said the official, who was not authorized to speak for the entire firm. “As most builders know, it’s suicide."

Corporate concerns with the wall range from a lack of clear information about the scope of the procurement to concerns about the risks of signing onto such a notorious project, according to conversations with several global companies. “No ban, no wall” remains a powerful rallying cry for opponents of President Donald Trump’s divisive strategies for shoring up the nation’s borders.

Leo A Daly, an international design firm, initially signaled its interest in the project by joining the list of vendors. In an internal memo, though, the company clarified that it would not be pursuing the project. Like many companies in the architecture, engineering, and construction space, Leo A Daly attaches its name to any federal pre-solicitation that fits its capabilities. Its reasons for doing so are varied, the memo explained—“to gather more information, to help in planning, or simply to stay posted on important developments in the marketplace.” But the memo spelled out in no uncertain terms its position: “LEO A DALY did not and will not bid on this project.”

Caddell Construction, a global building firm whose name still appears on the list of interested vendors, may not take any further steps toward submitting a prototype design. Caddell marketing director Terry Willis says that he could not explain why the company was listed as an interested vendor in the first place. “Of course, in a general way, we’re interested bidders,” Willis says. “We do federal work for almost all the agencies. We would certainly examine any opportunity like that thoroughly.” While Caddell works as a contractor for a wide variety of federal agencies, especially the State Department, Willis says that no one at Caddell has had any conversations about the border wall yet. “We know nothing about the specifications,” he says. “We know little more than anybody else does. We’ll evaluate it when it comes out to see if it’s something we are competitive for.”

In the end, the competition to design a prototype for the wall may not ever lead beyond the design stages. DHS updated its presolicitation late last week, extending the timeline on the initial phase. Finalists, who will be asked to answer the full request for proposals (RFP), will be named on May 3. The process may end there: The post now reads much more like a design competition than a notice of a federal procurement.

“The intent of this procurement is to acquire and evaluate available wall prototypes and provide some initial construction of some wall segments, but is not intended as the vehicle for the procurement of the total wall solution for the border with Mexico,” reads the updated presolicitation. (DHS did not return a request for comment.)

Dozens and dozens of companies, from small mom-and-pop construction outfits to national contractors, will no doubt pursue the formal bid when it opens on Wednesday. Virtually any of these companies could erect a fence or build a steel-reinforced concrete wall, barring certain challenges in the environment.

But the true challenge in building Trump’s border wall, however it is construed, will almost certainly come in the complex logistics of staging a vast interstate construction project—plus the litigation that is bound to follow it. Of the firms likely to possess the reach and resources to do this work, none has affirmatively identified itself as an interested bidder.

So far, no major firm reached by CityLab has confirmed a positive interest in the DHS bid. That may change as details emerge.

Amanda Kolson Hurley contributed reporting to this story.

X
This website uses cookies to enhance user experience and to analyze performance and traffic on our website. We also share information about your use of our site with our social media, advertising and analytics partners. Learn More / Do Not Sell My Personal Information
Accept Cookies
X
Cookie Preferences Cookie List

Do Not Sell My Personal Information

When you visit our website, we store cookies on your browser to collect information. The information collected might relate to you, your preferences or your device, and is mostly used to make the site work as you expect it to and to provide a more personalized web experience. However, you can choose not to allow certain types of cookies, which may impact your experience of the site and the services we are able to offer. Click on the different category headings to find out more and change our default settings according to your preference. You cannot opt-out of our First Party Strictly Necessary Cookies as they are deployed in order to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting the cookie banner and remembering your settings, to log into your account, to redirect you when you log out, etc.). For more information about the First and Third Party Cookies used please follow this link.

Allow All Cookies

Manage Consent Preferences

Strictly Necessary Cookies - Always Active

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Sale of Personal Data, Targeting & Social Media Cookies

Under the California Consumer Privacy Act, you have the right to opt-out of the sale of your personal information to third parties. These cookies collect information for analytics and to personalize your experience with targeted ads. You may exercise your right to opt out of the sale of personal information by using this toggle switch. If you opt out we will not be able to offer you personalised ads and will not hand over your personal information to any third parties. Additionally, you may contact our legal department for further clarification about your rights as a California consumer by using this Exercise My Rights link

If you have enabled privacy controls on your browser (such as a plugin), we have to take that as a valid request to opt-out. Therefore we would not be able to track your activity through the web. This may affect our ability to personalize ads according to your preferences.

Targeting cookies may be set through our site by our advertising partners. They may be used by those companies to build a profile of your interests and show you relevant adverts on other sites. They do not store directly personal information, but are based on uniquely identifying your browser and internet device. If you do not allow these cookies, you will experience less targeted advertising.

Social media cookies are set by a range of social media services that we have added to the site to enable you to share our content with your friends and networks. They are capable of tracking your browser across other sites and building up a profile of your interests. This may impact the content and messages you see on other websites you visit. If you do not allow these cookies you may not be able to use or see these sharing tools.

If you want to opt out of all of our lead reports and lists, please submit a privacy request at our Do Not Sell page.

Save Settings
Cookie Preferences Cookie List

Cookie List

A cookie is a small piece of data (text file) that a website – when visited by a user – asks your browser to store on your device in order to remember information about you, such as your language preference or login information. Those cookies are set by us and called first-party cookies. We also use third-party cookies – which are cookies from a domain different than the domain of the website you are visiting – for our advertising and marketing efforts. More specifically, we use cookies and other tracking technologies for the following purposes:

Strictly Necessary Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Functional Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Performance Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Sale of Personal Data

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.

Social Media Cookies

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.

Targeting Cookies

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.