Eroding Private Border Wall To Get an Engineering Inspection Just Months After Completion

[douglas9]

The builder of a privately funded border wall along the shores of the Rio Grande agreed to an engineering inspection of his controversial structure, which experts say is showing signs of erosion that threatens its stability just months after the $42 million project was finished.

Tommy Fisher, president of North Dakota-based Fisher Industries, had bragged he could build faster and smarter than the federal government, calling his wall design method a “Lamborghini,” compared with the government’s “horse and buggy.”

On Wednesday, U.S. District Judge Randy Crane instructed attorneys to work out details of the inspection and to come to an agreement about fixes for a part of the 3-mile fence that violates a treaty with Mexico by deflecting too much water during floods. Crane is overseeing a lawsuit brought by the federal government and the neighboring National Butterfly Center over the construction of the fence and its potential threat to the Rio Grande.


https://www.propublica.org/article/eroding-private-border-wall-to-get-an-engineering-inspection-just-months-after-completion

[douglas9]

1. Trump Rips Private Texas Border Wall Built by his Supporters

HOUSTON - President Donald Trump on Sunday criticized a privately built border wall in South Texas that's showing signs of erosion months after going up, saying it was "only done to make me look bad," even though the wall was built after a months-long campaign by his supporters.

The group that raised money online for the wall promoted itself as supporting Trump during a government shutdown that started in December 2018 because Congress wouldn't fund Trump's demands for a border wall. Called "We Build the Wall," the group has raised more than $25 million promoting itself as supporting the president.

Former Trump chief strategist Steve Bannon joined the group's board and Trump ally Kris Kobach became its general counsel. Kobach is now seeking the Republican nomination for U.S. Senate in Kansas.

The company that built the private section in January, North Dakota-based Fisher Industries, has since won a $1.3 billion border wall contract from the federal government, the largest award to date.

The section in question is a roughly 3-mile (5-kilometer) fence of steel posts just 35 feet (10 meters) from the Rio Grande, the river that forms the U.S.-Mexico border in Texas. That's much closer to the river than the government ordinarily builds border barriers in South Texas because of concerns about erosion and flooding that could violate U.S. treaty obligations with Mexico.

https://www.voanews.com/usa/trump-rips-private-texas-border-wall-built-his-supporters

[RussBLib]

2. let me guess

We will be discovering, eventually, that hundreds of millions of dollars seemed to have vanished in connection with the border wall.

And, of course, it would not be Trump's fault.

[yellowcanine]

3. Donald "Three Miles" Trump strikes again!

Three Miles of wall in 3 1/2 years! And it is falling down! Heckuva job, Donnie!