HOULTON – The Bureau of Customs and Border Protection is planning to build three new border patrol stations in Maine at Calais, Jackman and Van Buren.

Each station would provide office and work space for 25 agents. The total cost of the project has been estimated at $9.9 million, according to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which is overseeing the projects.

The projects are intended to replace outdated or nonexistent facilities at the three locations, according to Monte Bennett, assistant chief patrol agent at the bureau’s sector headquarters in Houlton.

“We’ve outgrown them,” Bennett said of the border patrol stations at Jackman and Van Buren, which were built in the 1960s with work space for four agents at each site.

In Calais, the border patrol shares office space with U.S. Customs Service agents. The exact location of the structures wasn’t available Thursday from officials.

With increased border security since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, more agents are working at the stations, which has caused overcrowding.

In addition, the two older stations are difficult to rewire for modern technology systems, including computers.

According to a recent bulletin from the Corps of Engineers, plans call for the new buildings to be available for occupancy by Jan. 1, 2005.

Site selection for each building already has been completed and work is under way to acquire land at those sites. Environmental impact studies and design work are expected to be completed by this fall, with construction to begin by spring 2004.