Walls Can Be Cut!!!

A widespread story today is that the prototype walls were tested for vulnerabilities and one with steel slats can be cut. Here's the picture:

So, the implication is that the wall is useless. Is that true?

The material obtained through FOIA request had a lot of redactions. Supposedly the bars were cut with "commonly available tools" and the news reports all implied that means a trip to the local hardware store. It's hard to tell the scale from this picture. I'm going to make a wild guess that these bars are made from 1/4" mild steel and filled with concrete. I've cut mild steel by hand before and it's not difficult but it takes a long time. These bars are several inches in diameter which would make them very difficult to cut. In fact, I'll go out on a limb and say that it would be nearly impossible to cut these with a standard hack saw.

Then there's that center. Let's assume it's concrete. I haven't tried cutting concrete by hand with a hack saw but I know that  it's very hard and abrasive. It would ruin a hack saw blade pretty fast.

So, whatever they used, I doubt it was a hand hack saw. There are a couple of other possibilities. They might have used a saber saw with an extra-long hack saw blade. That would also require a generator and a supply of replacement blades because of the concrete. That could certainly do it but it would take a while. You can get these saws with batteries but you'd have to carry a bunch of spares and a generator would probably be lighter and easier to carry. The saw and generator will probably set you back $500 or so.

There's also the emergency saw. That's gas powered and made to cut through nearly anything. Those cost more but they are easier to transport. They run $700 to $3000.

You'd better carry a sledge hammer, too. It appears that those pieces were knocked out with a hammer after cutting.

Does this count as easily available tools? Yes, I can get them at Lowes. Are these tools that would-be immigrants will want happen to be carrying? Not a chance. Could they carry them for dozens or hundreds of miles? Possibly. Could they surreptitiously cut through the wall with these before being discovered? Probably not. I'm guessing it would take fifteen minutes per cut, minimum and four cuts would be needed. So they'd be cutting for an hour or more and raising a racket.

And that's assuming they can afford the proper tools in the first place. Yes, the coyotes can afford them but they will pass the costs on to the would-be-immigrants.

Also, keep in mind that this prototype does not match the picture that President Trump tweeted out. These were prototypes and the whole purpose was to see what the strengths and weaknesses are of each design and to try to correct them.

A few other silly suggestions about getting past the wall:

Ladders. You'll need at least two 30' ladders, one for each side. Those run around $300 and an extension ladder will be more than 15' long when retracted. That's going to be a lot of fun carrying long distances. You can probably get away with a flexible ladder for the other side. These ladders can only hold one person (two if they are light) so it's going to take a while to get a group over the wall.

Grappling hooks. The schematic the President tweeted didn't show anything for a grappling hook to catch on to. Assuming there is a cross-bar near the top, you'd still have to throw the hook 30' up which is difficult then bat-walk up a smooth wall and rappel down the other side. How many people can do this? Seriously? I doubt if I could. I had enough trouble with a nice thick rope in gym class.

Tunnels. How deep will the steel slats go? Let's assume ten feet. That means you have to dig at least 12 feet deep to get under it. In soft soil that will be tough. In hard, dry dirt it will be very difficult. Remember, once you get under the wall you have to dig back up and someone has to haul out the dirt. And you can't use pick axes or shovels on the other side because you will be digging up so there will be no room. That's an all-day job. Longer tunnels that are harder to find will take a lot longer. We're talking weeks for that. And you have to have a contact on the American side. Tunnels like that already exist but they are used for the drug trade. They are too valuable for smuggling immigrants.

The point here is that, while walls won't stop people who are very determined and have unlimited resources, they will stop people with limited resources and slow incursions enough to detect them before they make it through the wall. That means that the wall would be effective.