It’s a point of contention between Republicans and Democrats and the main reason why the government shutdown has dragged on, but if President Donald Trump’s $5.7 billion border wall actually becomes a reality, one American business is already in line to construct it.
According to the Post and Courier , the family-owned Michigan-based W International has expressed interest in being the builder behind the border wall. The welding and fabrication business has been working in Charleston, South Carolina, at its brand-new manufacturing facility with a project that would be of benefit to the border wall concept.
The Charleston project is the company’s fourth manufacturing facility, but the company’s first one to be located outside of southeastern Michigan.
Company CEO Ed Walker told the Post and Courier that the business is “just working on getting involved with building the wall.”
“The original design was of concrete and now it appears it could be of steel,” Walker said. “If the wall is constructed of steel, we would have the ideal facility and experience to manufacture it. We are working hard to bring the project to South Carolina, but it is in its early stages.”
W International has been busy renovating buildings in the Charleston area, including a 225-foot-tall cube-shaped structure located at one of South Carolina’s largest industrial sites. It would be perfect for fabricating oversized metal parts like those that would be required to build a 1,000-mile barrier between Mexico and the United States, reported The Post and Courier .
Charleston-area plant wants to help Trump build the wall https://t.co/1EyHru7t6D
— The Post and Courier (@postandcourier) January 21, 2019
That particular building sits adjacent to the Cooper River, so as sections were torn apart, they could be loaded onto a barge for easy transportation.
So while the plausibility of a border wall remains uncertain with its funding being the biggest issue, this particular project actually fits W International’s efforts to beef up the country’s national defense.
According to The Post and Courier , W International is hiring 600 welders and other skilled staff to help build large tanks, deck structures and other pieces of equipment for the Navy’s $90 billion Columbia class submarine project, as well as the new Gerald Ford class of aircraft carriers. The aircraft carriers cost between $10 billion and $13 billion each.
The company’s website explains that W International provides manufacturing, custom fabrication, project management, tooling, and engineering services to clients in the aerospace, defense, automotive, energy and commercial business industries. At its Berkeley County, South Carolina, facility, W International will support U.S. Defense shipbuilding, as well as the aerospace, automotive and other commercial business industries.
