Contractors, Read This Before You Design the Wall

On March 17 the Trump administration released its invitation for contractors to build the president’s “big, beautiful” border wall. Bidders were instructed to adhere to a few basic if relatively vague requirements (below) and had less than two weeks to submit their ideas. In April finalists will be asked to build full-scale 30-foot-long prototypes of their design, along with smaller mock-ups “to allow the Government to test and evaluate the anti-destruct characteristics of the bidder’s wall design.”

Size
“The wall design shall be physically imposing in height. The Government’s nominal concept is for a 30-foot-high wall. Offerors should consider this height, but designs with heights of at least 18 feet may be acceptable. Designs with heights of less than 18 feet are not acceptable.”