U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Task Force Barrier, in partnership with U.S. Customs and Border Protection, awarded two contracts totaling nearly $1 billion April 9 for the removal and replacement of vehicle fencing with pedestrian fencing along the southwest border.

A $789 million contract was awarded to SLS Company, Ltd., of Galveston, Texas, for approximately 46 miles of 30-foot bollard-style barrier near the Columbus, New Mexico, Port of Entry in the El Paso, Texas, U.S. Border Patrol sector.

A $187 million contract was awarded to Barnard Construction Company, Inc., of Bozeman, Montana, for approximately 11 miles of bollard-style barrier, at varying heights of 18- and 30-feet, in the Yuma, Arizona, USBP sector.

These locations represent top operational priorities for replacement and will improve each sector’s ability to impede and deny illegal border crossings and the drug- and human-smuggling activities of transnational criminal organizations.

The Department of Defense has the authority under Section 284 of Title 10, U.S. Code, to construct roads and fences and to install lighting to block drug-smuggling corridors across international boundaries of the United States in support of counter-narcotic activities of federal law enforcement agencies.

For additional information about Corps projects, visit https://www.usace.army.mil. For information on U.S. Customs and Border Protection, visit https://www.cbp.gov. For more information on federal government contracts, visit the Federal Business Opportunities website at https://www.fbo.gov.