President Donald Trump has ordered a wall between the U.S. and Mexico. Now, Riverdale Mills in Northbridge, Massachusetts wants to build it.
Actually, it just wants to provide the material, and it said it’s solution is better than conventional walls. It’s a sturdy wire mesh, with holes so small fingers can’t fit in.
“It’s very difficult to climb, because you can’t get your fingers in it. It’s very difficult to cut because you can’t get a cutter into it. It’s also used as an anti-ram put it on a curved post so if a truck runs into it, it will collapse on it. So it’s used in embassies as an anti-ram product,” says company President James Knott.
Knott said it’s already in use on the Mexican border, dating back to a 2008 project that installed 23 miles of his wire barrier.
Around the world, he said hundreds of miles of this product are in use.
“Nuclear power plant walls, utility protection, mental institutions, prisons, a number of uses,” he said, including along the Kuwaiti border, and a recent installation in Panama.
Knott hasn’t been in touch with Trump, but hopes his product will be considered.
He went on to note that it’s cheaper to install than a concrete barrier. It is less subject to wind shear because air passes through it. And the wall that has been in place for the last nine years is 20 feet tall, and buried five feet into the ground. He added that he can make it in any size required.
The Army has tested the material, and reported that Special Forces took 45 minutes to cut through his barrier, versus about six seconds to get through a chain link fence.
Knott also said the plant can ramp up the work without adding any equipment, though he might have to add a dozen jobs or so to his workforce of nearly 200. He said his only competition is from China and Europe, so if the President wants to buy American, Knott’s company stands ready to do the job.