Heavy equipment for a $1.7 billion federal border security project has arrived in Big Bend National Park, with a bulldozer brought into the park and video showing the machine in use clearing ground alongside an existing road.
The bulldozer bears markings for Southwest Valley Constructors, the federal contractor selected for the project. The company has been awarded $1.7 billion to install vehicle barriers, surveillance technology and about 200 miles of new patrol roads across the West Texas park as part of the Trump administration’s broader “Smart Wall” initiative.
Marfa Public Radio reported Tuesday that it also observed a Southwest Valley Constructors bulldozer and multiple trucks inside the park near Cottonwood Campground along the Rio Grande.
Video reviewed by the Big Bend Reporter shows a bulldozer operating in the park and clearing a path adjacent to an existing road.
The activity comes despite U.S. Customs and Border Protection saying the larger border infrastructure project has not officially entered construction.
CBP told Marfa Public Radio that crews are “onsite re-grading roads that were damaged by recent storms” and said the work is necessary to provide access for project surveys. The agency described the overall project as still being in the initial planning and design stages.
The arrival and operation of heavy equipment comes as members of Texas’ Democratic congressional delegation call on the Trump administration to pause the project over concerns about its potential impact on Big Bend’s landscape and the Rio Grande.
