LGC Global Corp., a multi-faceted, minority-owned contracting company in Detroit, has been awarded a $51.9-million contract by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to build a four-mile section of the border wall between the United States and Mexico.
The work will begin in the next two weeks and is expected to be completed by the end of the year. The federal government is working with several contractors to build the border wall from south of San Diego to the eastern shoreline of Texas, near Brownsville, at the Gulf of Mexico.
The LGC Global project consists of building the 30-foot-tall wall in two different areas of Texas — Del Rio and Eagle Pass — some of which is considered rough terrain. In addition to the wall, which consists of steel panels and concrete, the company will construct access roads, drainage infrastructure, and security features like cameras and gates to accommodate the U.S. Border Patrol.
It is the first wall contract the company has been awarded. “We are fortunate to be one of the awardees of this work, and we appreciate the federal government’s trust in our ability to perform and complete this fast-track job,” says Avinash Rachmale, president and CEO of LGC Global. Working with Rachmale to oversee the project is Shashi Shastri, executive vice president — administration federal programs, and Gino DiBattista, executive vice president — operations federal programs.
For more than 15 years, LGC Global has been an approved military contractor both in the U.S. and across the globe. Overseas, the company has built military facilities in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Currently, across 10 states, including Michigan, the company is constructing or has built military housing, levees, water and wastewater infrastructure, military critical infrastructure, airport runways and aprons, office buildings, operational facilities, dormitories, and fitness centers. Other states include Ohio, New York, New Jersey, Kansas, Nebraska, New Mexico, Texas, Florida, and Missouri.
Closer to home, the company works on an array of infrastructure projects for the city of Detroit, Great Lakes Water Authority, and Wayne County Airport Authority, and has completed work for the Michigan Department of Transportation. The works includes repairing broken water mains, replacing water transmission lines, and installing combined sewer overflow infrastructure.
After founding the company in 1994 — Rachmale had come to Detroit from India in the late 1980s to earn a master’s degree in civil engineering at Wayne State University in Detroit — his one-man operation initially assessed, cleaned, and replaced underground fuel storage tanks at some 200 service stations. Today, the company has around 300 employees.
