California Fence Plan Moves Ahead

Border fence across deep canyon will begin to be built next month

More than two years after a precedent-setting move by the federal government cleared a path around environmental laws and legal challenges, the construction of a stretch of http://www.wvwnews.net/story.php?id=2031 is set to begin next month.

According to the latest plans from the U.S. Customs and Border Protection, the project will consist of constructing an earthen berm across the canyon to support a 15-foot secondary steel-mesh fence and all-weather patrol and access roads.

The agency said a $48.6 million contract was awarded this year to the Keiwit Corp., a construction and mining firm based in Omaha, Neb.

Elsewhere along the U.S.-Mexico border, fence construction has ranged from about $2 million to a little more than $3 million per mile, he said.“Certainly in some areas, it is easier to construct than it is in others,” said Barry Morrissey, a spokesman with U.S. Customs and Border Protection in Washington, D.C. “Just based on the geography there, this particular segment posed some unusual challenges.”  

http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/mexico/tijuana/20080507-9999-1n7gulch.html

2008-05-07