Donald Trump border 'wall' to cost $21.6 billion, take 3.5 years to build: DHS internal report - Polidicks

[quote]President Donald Trump’s “wall” along the U.S.-Mexico border would be a series of fences and walls that would cost as much as $21.6 billion, and take more than three years to construct, based on a U.S. Department of Homeland Security internal report seen by Reuters on Thursday. The report’s estimated price-tag is much higher than a $12-billion figure cited by Donald Trump in his campaign and estimates as high as $15 billion from Republican House Speaker Paul Ryan and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell. The report is expected to be presented to Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary John Kelly in coming days, although the administration will not necessarily take actions it recommends.[/quote] [url]http://in.reuters.com/article/usa-trump-immigration-wall-idINKBN15O2ZZ[/url]

Might want to turn off your renaming plugin before copy-pasting article content :v:

Haha, right. I already had to edit a quote out of the title but didn't think to check the article. [QUOTE=DogGunn;51803991]What did it previously say?[/QUOTE] The plugin just adds Trump quotes to his name.

What did it previously say?

At what moment could construction potentially start? When does it go from words to action?

-snip- Damn you Chrille :v:

[QUOTE=Smoot;51803994]At what moment could construction potentially start? When does it go from words to action?[/QUOTE] We don't need things like 'deadlines' or 'timetables'.

and how long would planning and allocation of land and resources take

and how much of this cost is just the skim?

3½ years? So if they start now it would be completed at the height of the next Presidential election cycle.

How long before Trump realizes this will cost more, and take much more time than originally planned, if there was a fleshed out plan in the beginning? Also, how long before Trump realizes you don't just say "bing, bang, boom, the wall is good and ready!" to build a wall?

Hey, it's faster than about 3/4 of the estimates most people thought it would take to build the wall.

That's just the start, you have to maintain and man it. Absolute disaster in terms of cost-benefit even if it would stop all the illegal immigrants that go by foot and it won't. And I wonder what the cartels are going to about the construction crews. Not to mention attempting to make the Mexico pay for the wall, which will probably break NAFTA. [editline]10th February 2017[/editline] [QUOTE=Steel & Iron;51804299]3½ years? So if they start now it would be completed at the height of the next Presidential election cycle.[/QUOTE] That's building time only. Assuming it goes according to plan, you still have to buy the land for it. Which means it's not going to be finished before the election cycle.

3.5 years is a rather generous estimate

Quick someone buy a good chunk of border land and strong arm negotiate for as long as possible with counter-offers for the sale to the fed. You'll be A. rich or B. have your land stolen and become a massive news story!

Although it's a shitty idea from all sorts of angles, is it a shitty idea if your looking at it from the viewpoint of 'how can I subsidize construction companies in southwestern states'?

[QUOTE=Xakoro;51805099]Although it's a shitty idea from all sorts of angles, is it a shitty idea if your looking at it from the viewpoint of 'how can I subsidize construction companies in southwestern states'?[/QUOTE] yes if you want to give money to construction companies, pay them to construct something that's fucking useful.

[QUOTE=F.X Clampazzo;51804993]Quick someone buy a good chunk of border land and strong arm negotiate for as long as possible with counter-offers for the sale to the fed. You'll be A. rich or B. have your land stolen and become a massive news story![/QUOTE] em·i·nent do·main noun (LAW) noun: eminent domain the right of a government or its agent to expropriate private property for public use, with payment of compensation

[QUOTE=Xakoro;51805099]Although it's a shitty idea from all sorts of angles, is it a shitty idea if your looking at it from the viewpoint of 'how can I subsidize construction companies in southwestern states'?[/QUOTE] Easily. Infrastructure recovery in those states would do greatly to boost existing companies and improve the low-education job market of those areas.

Can't wait to see all the legal battles that get in the way.

Three and a half years and $21.6 billion sounds incredibly optimistic, particularly when you look back at other US border barrier projects The secure fence act, for example, set out to construct some seven hundred miles of border fence way back in 2006 and it was still nearly a hundred miles short of its goal by the time of the expansion freeze in 2010 and wound up costing nearly triple its initial $1.2 billion budget And that's just [I]fence[/I]. Compared to full concrete construction, fence is cheap and easy to build

Is that assuming there are no setbacks/surprises?

[QUOTE=Lambeth;51805992]Is that assuming there are no setbacks/surprises?[/QUOTE] I'm sure nothing will go wrong, its only a major building project spanning the entire Mexican border. I'm sure everything will go according to budget and deadlines. And hey, just think of all the jobs that'll be created to build this monument to Trumps ego.

Absolutely no way 20 billion is covering anything more than raw materials.

[QUOTE=RenegadeCop;51806045]Protestors and vandalism will no doubt inflate any estimated price.[/QUOTE] Paying for the security and personnel needed to ensure the safety of the construction crews, the logistical issues of moving a shitload of concrete and rebar across an entire border and the constant vandalism of the structure is something I don't see people take into account often. The raw material cost is fucking stupid high anyway, add in the man hour cost and those mentioned above and you're on a one way ticket to massively inflating the national debt for a fucking vanity project.

I wonder if we could get the ACE to build it? It's a bit out of their usual realm, but wouldn't take much more than 1% of the annual military budget.

[QUOTE=hexpunK;51806071]Paying for the security and personnel needed to ensure the safety of the construction crews, the logistical issues of moving a shitload of concrete and rebar across an entire border and the constant vandalism of the structure is something I don't see people take into account often. The raw material cost is fucking stupid high anyway, add in the man hour cost and those mentioned above and you're on a one way ticket to massively inflating the national debt for a fucking vanity project.[/QUOTE] Not to mention that the border isn't just a straight line of flatland the whole way, the border itself follows an extremely windy river that has changed course over time. I assume they would go the "easy" way and instead build the wall a few dozen meters away from the border in a straight line, to cut out hundreds of miles of 'squiggles'. But even then, the terrain ranges from desert, forest, mountain, farmland, and urban. So you'd need service roads that go into the desert, and you'll need logging to clear it out, and you'll need to cave out parts of the mountain, and eminent domain + court cases seize farmland, and demolitions equipment for buildings.

[QUOTE=RenegadeCop;51806045]Protestors and vandalism will no doubt inflate any estimated price.[/QUOTE] cartels will be the biggest problem, and as a result it'll inflate the 'see why we need this wall' talking point shit

Isn't the general rule of thumb for time/budget constraints on a government construction project something along the lines of "take the proposed time/budget, them double it"?