Work starts on border barrier in southwestern Az

ARTHUR H. ROTSTEIN
The Associated Press

Initial construction began Wednesday on vehicle barriers that will be part of a mix of border fencing along the Barry M. Goldwater Range in southwestern Arizona.

The first-phase construction, on about nine miles at the western edge of a 37-mile stretch of desert, will consist primarily of vehicular bollards - rebar-reinforced, concrete-filled tubes of varying heights vertically set in the ground to prevent vehicles from entering.

Department of Homeland Security spokesman Russell Knocke said some areas in the initial phase will consist primarily of the bollards, but a small portion will involve a mix of those barriers and traditional fencing.

The construction is part of the Secure Border Initiative that the Bush administration announced last year, intended to provide a a mix of high-tech virtual fencing and a traditional physical barrier.

Power Contracting Inc. of Pittsburgh, a subcontractor of the Boeing Co., is doing the first-phase work, which could cost in the range of $20 million.