Is 80 Billion Too Much for a Border Wall?

Started by Solar, December 11, 2018, 01:29:52 PM

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Solar

Personally, I don't care if it were a trillion, it's decades over due, and the sooner we get started the better.
The article is written by a statistician who doesn't like the idea of a wall, but admits we need some form of border defense.
What do you think, is 80 billion too much? I mean, it's not as if there isn't places in the budget we couldn't cut just a little on social spending, is there? :rolleyes: :biggrin:

The Trump administration wants to enforce border security with a combination of a physical wall and natural barriers that would protect the estimated 1,933 miles-long border between the United States and Mexico. Many different cost estimates have been thrown around, from as little as $8 billion to as much as $70 billion, with anywhere from $150 million per year to $750 million per year in maintenance.

As a statistician, I want to take a look at how much the wall is actually going to cost. Now, as with anything, there are unintended costs and benefits, and it is impossible to account for everything that could possibly be affected (trying to do so leads to cherry-picking what you will and won't use). So, in order to give my estimated cost, I'm going to be transparent with every piece of information I give.

Let's get started.

In 1993, President Bill Clinton mandated the construction of a 14 miles-long wall between San Diego, California and Tijuana, Mexico to stem the flow of illegal immigrants and drugs across our border. Then, in 2006, the Secure Fence Act under President George W. Bush authorized the construction of physical barriers (a wall and fences) along another 654 miles. About 130 miles of the border without a physical barrier has natural barriers.

So really we are talking about roughly 1,150 miles. If you drive at 60 miles per hour, that would take you about 19 hours as the eagle flies.

Alright, now let's get out our calculators.

Construction

Size of the wall: 1,150 miles long; 40 feet high; 10 feet deep into the ground; 1 foot wide

Total volume of material: 11.2 million cubic yards

Materials: Approximately $8.7 billion in concrete (97 percent of the materials); approximately $3.6 billion in steel (3 percent of the materials)

Labor: Approximately $12.3 billion (given the labor costs on the original 654 miles of barriers we can assume a conservative 1:1 ratio of materials to labor)

https://www.foxnews.com/opinion/trumps-border-wall-how-much-it-will-actually-cost-according-to-a-statistician
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redbeard

How much if the Army builds it with their manpower and equipment?

Solar

Quote from: redbeard on December 11, 2018, 04:54:00 PM
How much if the Army builds it with their manpower and equipment?
Nothing, we already paid for it. :biggrin:

Trump pulled a fast one on the RINO by signing their Bill.  I remember I was soooo disappointed when he did it and said he'd never do it again, but now? I'm tickled he pulled a fast one over on their Marxist asses. :thumbsup:
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redbeard

He needs his new AG in office first because they can't stop him with legislation since we have the senate and he has veto power. That only leaves the court where they can't win but they might slow things down. I hope he really puts his ducks in a row before attempting to order the military to construct the wall.
This will be really fun to watch!! :popcorn: :popcorn: :popcorn: :popcorn: