An imposing fence nearly completed at the Orlando International Airport owes its existence to security needs and its appearance to the airport’s core decorative theme.

At 8 feet tall, visible to thousands of travelers daily and costing millions of dollars, the fence is meant to be acceptable in appearance, convey a message of seriousness and withstand the impact of a vehicle.

“It’s beefed up, a fortified fence,” said Tom Draper, senior director of airport operations. “We’ve had one person hit it with a car already. The fence fared a lot better than the vehicle did.”

A 2016 report by a congressional watchdog agency, the Government Accountability Office, found that the Transportation Security Administration was not ensuring sufficient perimeter protection at the nation’s more than 400 commercial airports.

A new security fence topped with razor wire goes up around the perimeter of the Orlando International Airport, on Thursday, January 7, 2021. (Ricardo Ramirez Buxeda/Orlando Sentinel)

“TSA has taken various actions to oversee and facilitate airport security; however, it has not updated its national strategy for airport security,” the accountability office stated.

The GAO recommended that the Transportation Security Administration update its risk and vulnerability assessments and its national strategy for perimeter security, and do a better job of helping airports make their airfields more secure.

“We met with the TSA about the report, but we’ve always had a fence project, working with the FAA and TSA,” Draper said.

The airport is one of the nation’s largest in land area, requiring more than 6 miles of perimeter fencing at least 8 feet tall and topped with razor wire.

A new security fence topped with razor wire goes up around the perimeter of the Orlando International Airport, on Thursday, January 7, 2021. (Ricardo Ramirez Buxeda/Orlando Sentinel)

The exterior of the main terminal provides for public access, while the hubs across the boulevard are restricted areas.

With the release of 2016 GAO report, airport officials began to actively consider beefing up the perimeter security along Fuqua Boulevard

Airport officials decided against a standard fence 8 feet tall, and opted for one more according to the “Orlando Experience.”

“The ‘Orlando Experience’ is a design theme conveyed throughout the airport,” said airport director Phil Brown in the industry publication International Airport Review.

“When you arrive at MCO, you know you’re in Florida,” Brown said, referring to the airport’s code. “That feeling is reinforced through the use of unique architecture, aesthetics and convenience amenities.”

“It couldn’t be chain-link,” Draper said.

Inspiration for the new fence came from fencing at Camping World Stadium in Orlando.

“It’s actually called an invisible fence because when you are driving by and you look, it is fence but it doesn’t catch your eye and you can actually see through it,” Draper said.

Contractors put up a new security fence topped with razor wire around the perimeter of the Orlando International Airport, on Thursday, January 7, 2021. (Ricardo Ramirez Buxeda/Orlando Sentinel)

The razor wire says “we are serious and you shouldn’t be around the fence,” Draper said.

The new fence is 1.2 miles long, with the last sections now being installed. The pandemic caused six months of delay in production and delivery of materials.

The steel posts are embedded in a foundation. The main body of the fence is constructed with horizontal wire coated in a black finish. Depending on the vantage point, that wire is difficult to see. The freshly installed razor wire still sparkles in sunlight.

A new security fence topped with razor wire goes up around the perimeter of the Orlando International Airport, on Thursday, January 7, 2021. (Ricardo Ramirez Buxeda/Orlando Sentinel)

Draper said that shininess will dull with time.

A significant amount of landscaping was redone to accommodate the fence.

Including all elements of construction, the fence cost $382 per foot, or nearly $2.4 million. The Florida Department of Transportation covered $1.2 million of that amount.