an engineer on Quora re:the wall

[TalenaGor]

I thought this was absolutely awesome so I wanted to share it with you all....

It outlines the absolute monumental task it would be to build this wall..... I think people sometimes think that you can just throw some cement in the ground lol

Answer to Why are engineers not voicing their opinions on Trump's Border Wall proposal? We are only seeing politicians talking about it. by Kelly Schweighsr

https://www.quora.com/Why-are-engineers-not-voicing-their-opinions-on-Trumps-Border-Wall-proposal-We-are-only-seeing-politicians-talking-about-it/answer/Kelly-Schweighsr?ch=99&share=5cddb408&srid=h825G

You want an engineer’s opinion on “The Wall”? Okay then.

1 - the environmental study will take 3 to 5 years to complete, but only if the project is divided into manageable chunks of 1/2 mile to 2 miles in length. That give us about 1,000 different design sections. And if you think that this phase can be skipped, the lawsuits over that decision will take 10 to 20 years to resolve and the court would probably order the environmental study done anyway.

2 - once you have the environmental clearance, the actual design can begin. Don’t think you need to design something as basic as a wall? The first step is to perform soils testing to see what kind of foundation is needed; skip that and your wall has a good chance of falling down or falling over. While, technically, you could probably design a 1/2 mile section of wall in 3 or 4 working days, you also need to account for the approval process and review times. Chances are that the design stage will take a minimum of 18 months.

3 - acquiring the land/ right-of-way will take from 4 to 6 months, *provided* that the landowner is willing and you don't have to go to court. That gives you time to get an estimate, get the estimate reviewed and approved, contact the land-owner, make the offer, accept a counter-offer (if they make one) and get the documents signed and sealed. If the land-owner does NOT want to sell, expect a protracted court fight of 3 to 7 years (longer if the land-owner has lots of money). If you can't get the land, go back to step 1 and start over.

4 - add on another 4 to 6 months to advertise for bids, accept the bids, make certain that the bidding contractor has done all the proper paperwork and insurance (and isn’t just going to run off with the first payment or produce shoddy work) and generally get the project out the door.

5 - building the stupid thing probably takes the least amount of time, but you will still need to allot 2 months for the contractor to mobilize and order the raw materials, plus another 2 to 6 months for construction.

Now multiply that by 1,000 different sections of wall.

(More at like above)

[walkingman]

1. That is is the GOP follows the law - that is not a given.

[smirkymonkey]

2. K&R

Bookmarked. However I am sure they aren't going to advertise for bids. They most likely already have some crooked Russian contractor already waiting in the wings, so that will save some time.

[bdamomma]

3. This wall

do you think they will just pocket all the money??? and the wall was just a lie??


We are dealing with criminals how do we know if they even do this wall.

[brush]

4. It's a vanity project that will be his downfall as it...

flounders in court for years.

Go for it, dotard.

[keithbvadu2]

5. Ordering/paying for the steel from Trump's Russian steel pals is the primary goal.

Ordering/paying for the steel from Trump's Russian steel pals is the primary goal.

All that other prep stuff is secondary.