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Test of steel prototype for border wall showed it could be sawed through

Rogue Valley

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Test of steel prototype for border wall showed it could be sawed through

Screen%20Shot%202019-01-10%20at%2010.24.02%20AM.png

Prototype of Trumps steel-slat/steel-bollard border wall.

1/10/19
President Donald Trump has repeatedly advocated for a steel slat design for his border wall, which he described as "absolutely critical to border security" in his Oval Office address to the nation Tuesday. But Department of Homeland Security testing of a steel slat prototype proved it could be cut through with a saw, according to a report by DHS. A photo exclusively obtained by NBC News shows the results of the test after military and Border Patrol personnel were instructed to attempt to destroy the barriers with common tools. The Trump administration directed the construction of eight steel and concrete prototype walls that were built in Otay Mesa, California, just across the border from Tijuana, Mexico. Trump inspected the prototypes in March 2018. He has now settled on a steel slat, or steel bollard, design for the proposed border barrier additions. Steel bollard fencing has been used under previous administrations. However, testing by DHS in late 2017 showed all eight prototypes, including the steel slats, were vulnerable to breaching, according to an internal February 2018 U.S. Customs and Border Protection report. Photos of the breaches were not included in a redacted version of the CBP report, which was first obtained in a Freedom of Information Act Request by San Diego public broadcaster KPBS.

Responding to the picture from the South Lawn of the White House on Thursday morning, Trump claimed "that’s a wall designed by previous administrations." While it is true that previous administrations used this design, the prototype was built during his administration. In a statement, DHS Spokeswoman Katie Waldman said, "The steel bollard construction is based on the operational requirements of the United States Border Patrol and is a design that has been honed over more than a decade of use. It is an important part of Border Patrol's impedance and denial capability." In response to KPBS, CBP spokesman Ralph DeSio said the prototypes "were not and cannot be designed to be indestructible," but were designed to "impede or deny efforts to scale, breach, or dig under such a barrier, giving agents time to respond." In his address to the nation Tuesday, Trump said the steel fence design is "what our professionals at the border want and need. This is just common sense." House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Rep. Bennie Thompson, D.-Miss., said there is "nothing special" about Trump's wall design. "President Trump likes to pretend a wall will solve all our problems, but it's been clear for some time that it is little more than a very expensive vanity project," said Thompson. "Whether steel or concrete, there is nothing special about his wall and it will not secure our borders.

$5 billion for this? I could cut through those slats in minutes with a power hacksaw/pipe-saw and be long gone by the time CBP either knew about the breach or arrived at the scene.

Not only that, but the concrete prototype walls were also breached in DHS tests.
 
This is Trump's bestest choice after changing his mind about the concrete he wanted before he didn't want it and said he never said he did? (only he did say it.)
 
This is Trump's bestest choice after changing his mind about the concrete he wanted before he didn't want it and said he never said he did? (only he did say it.)

Makeup some more nonsense. Trump never said this is the design we will build.

This is the EXISTING DESIGN.
 
Minutes is less than hours or days. Steel wall/fences allow the "invaders" to be miles away before anyone notices.

Yes. It oftentimes takes CBP over an hour to get to different places on the border.

Bada-bing, bada-boom. Slats are cut and the kiddies are gone.
 
How many "minutes"?

How long it would take to cut it depends on lots of things but if it took an Ironworker more than15 or 20 seconds to climb that he should change trades.
 
Test of steel prototype for border wall showed it could be sawed through

Screen%20Shot%202019-01-10%20at%2010.24.02%20AM.png

Prototype of Trumps steel-slat/steel-bollard border wall.



$5 billion for this? I could cut through those slats in minutes with a power hacksaw/pipe-saw and be long gone by the time CBP either knew about the breach or arrived at the scene.

Not only that, but the concrete prototype walls were also breached in DHS tests.

Do you never rad your own links?


This is an EXISTING DESIGN, from PREVIOUS ADMINISTRATIONS.


Der...
 
How many "minutes"?

These in the picture have been cut by a torch.

You can't see the zig zagged crap cutting from a poorly skilled torch user? I surely can.

I doubt you would know a cutting torch from a power hack saw to begin with.
 
Do you never rad your own links?


This is an EXISTING DESIGN, from PREVIOUS ADMINISTRATIONS.


Der...

It was tested as a prototype for THIS administration. Trump inspected 8 different prototypes in March 2018.

All 8 prototypes - steel and concrete - were breached in DHS tests.
 
These in the picture have been cut by a torch.

You can't see the zig zagged crap cutting from a poorly skilled torch user? I surely can.

I doubt you would know a cutting torch from a power hack saw to begin with.
The OP said he could cut right through in "minutes" with his power hacksaw. I want to know how many.
 
It was tested as a prototype for THIS administration. Trump inspected 8 different prototypes in March 2018.

All 8 prototypes - steel and concrete - were breached in DHS tests.
Does "breached" mean damaged to the point where someone can pass through, or that someone can climb over it, or both?
 
The OP said he could cut right through in "minutes" with his power hacksaw. I want to know how many.
I can't speak for the OP, but a sawzall could cut through a 1/4" steel post in less than a minute. I'd guess a sawzall could cut a single post like in the OP's photo in... 2 minutes? Maybe 4?

It could take longer, but it's not going to take hours to make a gap like that. Heck, they could probably cut it, go through, and put it back so BP is less likely to notice that the wall was compromised.

It's kind of academic though, since most undocumented immigrants are just flying into the US and overstaying their visas. Reminder: Planes can fly over walls.

 
They will make it out of the moonbeams and candy canes bouncing around inside Trump's head.
 
Is the point that unless something is 100%effective it shouldn't be tried and is a waste of resources
 
Smugglers pull up to the steel-slat wall in Sonora in a pickup truck with acetylene torch tanks in the bed. A nondescript panel truck is waiting on the US side.

They've practiced this breaching operation. They're as fast as a pit crew at Talladega. You get the idea. They spend $1,000 to make a quick $1 million.

That's ignoring the fact that most drugs enter the US at the Ports of Entry. And the Coast Guard has the funding to interdict only 25% of the drug smuggling intelligence it receives.
 
I can't speak for the OP, but a sawzall could cut through a 1/4" steel post in less than a minute. I'd guess a sawzall could cut a single post like in the OP's photo in... 2 minutes? Maybe 4?
Not a chance.
 
It was tested as a prototype for THIS administration. Trump inspected 8 different prototypes in March 2018.

All 8 prototypes - steel and concrete - were breached in DHS tests.

What are the odds Trump chose Chinese steel?
 
Not a chance.


It is possible if you had a soft steel with a bunch of junk filler metals thrown in and wasn't heat treated or hardened.
 
JFC.

This is one of myriad ways a wall can be defeated. It will do nothing without massive staffing and massive infrastructure, nevermind all the eminent domain court cases that will drag on forever. Even if it worked perfectly - it cannot - it would only address 25% of current illegals. Those illegals would find other ways, but again if they could not, you still have 75%.

This is so ****ing stupid. To the extent I speak for anyone, WE DO NOT WANT OPEN BORDERS. This wall complete southern border all is ****ing stupid. That's it. Period.






Say, anyone want to look up how much Israel spends on policing the effectiveness of its wall?
 
Do you never rad your own links?


This is an EXISTING DESIGN, from PREVIOUS ADMINISTRATIONS.


Der...

You mean this from the link?

While it is true that previous administrations used this design, the prototype was built during his administration.
 
Not a chance.
Meaning what, they're using Unobtanium for the border fence? Please.

These guys cut through the post for a steel hitch ball in 20 seconds with a reciprocating blade:

 
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