San Diego

Our First Look at Proposals for President Donald Trump's Border Wall

About 20 local companies are hoping to get a piece of the multi-billion dollar pie

Tuesday was the deadline for companies to propose designs for President Donald Trump's border wall with Mexico.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection will ask several of the bidders to build prototypes in San Diego.

About 20 local companies are hoping to get a piece of the multi-billion dollar pie.

Rod Hadrian of Carlsbad-based Tridipanel gave NBC 7 a tour of a property he's working on Wednesday. He's using the same material for the project that he would use for the border wall, if his bid is accepted.

The wall is made with TRIDI-panel foam. Along the border, the foam would be covered in cement. Hadrian said it’s durable, cheap and impenetrable.

Another local company, Concrete Contractors Interstate (CCI) based in Poway, shared their proposal with NBC 7 earlier this week.

Russel Baumgartner, president and owner of CCI said his company hopes to enhance the current wall and the urban areas around it.

Baumgartner said he consulted with his employees about submitting a bid on the work and they supported the decision.

Clayton Industries, Inc. of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania developed a proposal that incorporate a chain link fence, RF tomography sensors and an option for storage of nuclear waste.

The company’s proposal claims tunneling will be thwarted by “mousetraps” and “hybrid RF tomography.” The design would also incorporate robotic platforms in sections along the border where wall construction is not possible.

In order to afford the project, the company suggests using funding from the Department of Energy’s nuclear waste storage program. In exchange, nuclear waste would be stored in a trench between U.S. and Mexico that’s at least 100 feet deep, according to the proposal.

San Diego State Professor, Seth Kaplowtiz, said even though the bidding process happened rather quickly, actually getting started with the construction, will take much longer.

“There's all of these competing issues, political, administrative and legal, Kaplowtiz told NBC 7. “In the best of times, eminent domain proceedings can take years. They are going to have to file for all the permits, including permits here in San Diego County.”

The government won't identify companies until contracts are awarded around June 1 -- and even then, only the winners -- but some bidders released plans on their own.

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