Texas to award border wall contract as early as this week

AUSTIN, Texas — Texas may award a massive contract to begin building a barrier that stretches along more than 700 miles of the state’s border with Mexico as early as this week, according to the office overseeing the project.

The Texas Facilities Commission, which oversees state contracts, said in a statement it anticipates awarding the border wall project with more than $1 billion in available funding by mid-September.

The commission selected engineering firm Michael Baker International of Pennsylvania and design firm Huitt-Zollars of Dallas to team up on the project. The commissioners must vote on the decision before the contract for a program manager can be awarded, and the final monetary amount has not yet been determined. The program manager will handle the budget and determine where to build.

Four total companies expressed interest in the contract.