Life Safety Border Beacon
When solar energy is coupled with water collection, it also offers a key component for the establishment of life safety beacons along the border. The principal cause of death among migrants attempting to cross the border illegally is dehydration. Solar generated electricity could power beacons that inform border patrol of both immigrants or American citizens [...]
Wildlife Wall
The Border Wall, existing and proposed, cuts through countless wildlife and nature reserves. The borderland between the U.S. and Mexico includes grasslands, mountains and desert habitats that support a diverse range of wildlife. The Lower Rio Grande Valley alone hosts 17 endangered or threatened species. Ensuring the free movement of critically endangered species between Mexico [...]
Burrito Wall
Casual exchange is common across the border wall ranging fro small talk, long visits with friends and family, and commercial exchanges of items ranging from food and bracelets to illegal merchandise. The Burrito Wall accommodates for a food cart to be inserted into the wall. The proximity to the wall and the security overhang create [...]
WPA 2.0 Presentation Videos
Presentation delivered by Ronald Rael at the National Building Museum in Washington D.C. at the WPA 2.0 Symposium. “There exists far more potential in a construction project that is estimated to cost up to $1,325.75 per linear foot.” Recognizing the high cost, limited effectiveness and unintended natural consequences of the new, multi-layered US/Mexico border wall [...]
Border Wall as Infrastructure
By some measures, the U.S. Secure Fence Act of 2006 funded the single largest and most expensive building project in the United States of the 21st Century. It finances 700 miles of fortification dividing the U.S. from Mexico at the average cost of $4 million dollars per mile. In many locations it is fabricated of [...]