Archinect - News

Trump administration to waive environmental rules and other laws to expedite border wall construction

2017-08-02T18:04:00-04:00

The Trump administration said Tuesday that it will waive environmental reviews and other laws to replace a stretch of border wall in San Diego, moving to make good on one of the president’s signature campaign pledges. Critics including the Center for Biological Diversity criticized the move as overreach and a threat to the environment.

"Last week, the House of Representatives approved the administration’s request for $1.6 billion to start building Trump’s border wall," PBS NewsHour reports, "which would include replacing 14 miles (22 kilometers) in San Diego covered by the latest waiver and building 60 miles (96 kilometers) of new barriers in Texas’ Rio Grande Valley."

And the Rio Grande stretch, as we all know, will require some (costly) construction magic.

A solar-paneled US/Mexico border wall?

2017-06-07T12:56:00-04:00

President Donald Trump floated putting solar panels on his planned Mexican border wall in a meeting with legislative leaders Tuesday afternoon, according to White House and Capitol Hill officials. It was unclear why Trump brought up the topic, but he presented the panels as a way to fund the wall, which is expected to cost billions of dollars, according to three people familiar with the conversation.

Of course, this comes on the heels of intense criticism of the President's decision to withdraw from the Paris Agreement.

How much would Trump's wall actually cost? This calculator can help you find out

2017-05-18T12:21:00-04:00

For those not already opposed to President Trump’s proposed border wall for ethical reasons, a big hurdle is its (likely) staggering cost. The sheer length of the thing makes it pricey, and the irregular terrain and harsh climate of some of the regions bisected by the US/Mexico border would raise the price tag even higher.

To get a better feel for the realities of the wall, a team at the The Warsaw University of Technology led by Tadeusz Zwolinski and Mateusz Mucha spent six weeks putting together a calculator.

“Each user can set main parameters like length, height or placement of guards,” the explain. “People interested in greater details could click on ‘advanced mode’ and build ‘own wall’ by setting a size of panels, crane operator's wage or cost of reinforced concrete.”

Some might argue that since the calculator assists in the possibility of constructing the wall, it is itself problematic. But others might just find it interesting to play around with. Check it out here.

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This Arizona-based company claims they've been selected to deliver prototypes for Trump's border wall

2017-05-15T13:27:00-04:00

Some 20 businesses rose to the top of a pool of around 460 companies that submitted initial proposals for the US/Mexico border wall so desired by President Trump and his supporters. But, due to federal procurement rules, the names of these businesses are still under wrap.

Even the exact number of selected bidders hasn’t been released, although all who were selected are expected to be notified this week. They will then submit more detailed proposals. From there, the list will be further whittled down, and companies will submit four to eight prototypes that will be built in the Otay Mesa neighborhood of San Diego in July.

The procurement laws haven’t stopped DarkPulse Technologies, an Arizona-based company, from announcing that they’ve been selected to work on prototypes. Their design comprises a ballistic concrete wall capable of withstanding up to 12 hours of tampering. It includes sensors that can alert Border Control of any tunneling.

Due to the extreme opposition to the proposed wa...

The Department of Homeland Security issues presolicitation for the border wall

2017-02-27T18:52:00-05:00

The Department of Homeland Security, Customs and Border Protection has announced that it will solicit proposals for President Trump’s proposed “border wall” beginning on March 6. According to the announcement, published on FedBizOpps.gov, the solicitation will be for several design-build prototype wall structures “in the vicinity of the United States border with Mexico”. The procurement will play out in two stages. First, concepts must be submitted by March 10, 2017. Then, following a selection process, a full request for proposals (RFP) will be put out to selected vendors. Included in the RFP will be the full price of the wall segment. Contracts are expected to be issued in mid-April.

As Archinect contributor Julia Ingalls recently pointed out, there are many logistical issues to building the wall, in addition to ethical problems. Read more here.

US/Mexico border wall competition provokes controversy

2016-03-16T17:08:00-04:00

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump dominated another round of primaries last night...further securing his position as the party’s frontrunner. His polemical campaign continues to provoke criticism from both his own party and from Democrats, as concern over his inflammatory, xenophobic and sexist rhetoric transforms into panic. The debate breached into architecture after a competition was announced last week for design responses to Trump’s call for a wall along the US/Mexico border.

Bustler, Archinect's sister site, declined the opportunity to post a competition calling for design responses to Donald Trump's calls for a border wall, which has since generated a good deal of controversy. Read about why – then join the debate on Bustler.

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