Sandia was tapped for the evaluation effort by the Fence Lab, an initiative within the Department of Homeland Security's ambitious virtual border barrier project known as SBInet, part of the Secure Borders Initiative.

The lab's borders and maritime security program tested nine kinds of fencing by crashing vehicles into them, according to a statement Thursday from its principal investigator, Mark McAllaster.

Three of the fences tested onsite in Texas were designed and recommended by Homeland Security. The other six, designed by contractors from around the country, were selected from a large group of proposals submitted in response to a solicitation from the department and Boeing, which is managing the SBInet effort.

"Sandia has more than 50 years of experience developing and testing physical security systems for the nation’s nuclear stockpile and facilities, including the execution and documentation of many tests of both commercial and custom vehicle barrier designs," the lab said in a statement. Its researchers also conduct physical security tests for facilities at the departments of Energy and Defense.

The lab said it could not comment on the results of the testing.