Texas awards $307 million in contracts for 14 miles of new border wall

Border wall construction resumes near the Eli Jackson Cemetery in Pharr on March 21. Texas has continued border wall construction with state money after President Joe Biden halted federal construction last year. (Credit: Michael Gonzalez for The Texas Tribune)

State officials awarded two contracts on Thursday worth $307 million to build nearly 14 miles of new barriers along the Texas-Mexico border.

The Texas Facilities Commission voted to approve a $167 million contract for New Mexico-based Southwest Valley Constructors Co. to build nearly 6.7 miles of border wall near Del Rio and a second contract worth $140 million to Montana-based BFBC of Texas, which plans to build 6.95 miles of wall in the Rio Grande Valley.