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Action Code: Sources Sought Notice

Subject: Architectural-Engineering (A-E) Services for Bridge and Hydraulic Steel Structure

Inspection and Incidental Remedial Design Various Locations within the Corps of Engineers

North Atlantic Division Boundaries (but primarily in the New England District (NAE) mission

boundaries (ME, NH, VT, MA, CT, and RI))

Sources Sought Number: W912WJ23X0031

NAICS Code: 541330

Posted Date: April 12, 2023

Response date: May 10, 2023

Classification Code: C – Architect and Engineering Services

Place of Performance:

U.S. Army Engineer District, New England

696 Virginia Road

Concord, MA

01742-2751 US

Description:

This is a Sources Sought announcement to determine the interest, availability, and capability of potential Architect-Engineer (A-E) contractors that are Small Business concerns for an intended small business set-aside procurement based on information described below and to solicit feedback from all of industry on the proposed approach. It is for informational purposes only. THIS IS NOT A REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS, QUOTATIONS OR BIDS. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, New England District is issuing a Sources Sought Announcement for an Indefinite Delivery/Indefinite Quantity Architect-Engineer contract for Bridge and Hydraulic Steel Structure Inspection and Incidental Remedial Design to determine the interest, availability, and capability of HUBZone, Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned, Women-Owned and Small Business concerns. The NAICS code for the work described below is 541330 with a size standard of $25,500,000. The current intent is to initially solicit one single award task order contract (SATOC) later this year with a capacity of between $5-10M. Work will begin in February 2024 and extend over a 5-year period. Solicitation would be in accordance with the Selection of Architects and Engineers statute formerly known as the Brooks Act as implemented in FAR Subpart 36.6.

The location of services to be performed under this contract shall be primarily the six New England States (ME, NH, VT, MA , CT, and RI) but will also include all other states and districts currently covered by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, North Atlantic Division's (NAD's) mission areas (NY, PA, NJ, DE, MD, VA, WV and the District of Columbia). Responses to this sources sought announcement will be used by the Government to make appropriate acquisition decisions. After review of the responses to this announcement, and if the Government still plans to proceed with the acquisition, a solicitation announcement will be published on the SAM.gov website for the respective project. NO SOLICITATION/SYNOPSIS IS CURRENTLY AVAILABLE. All interested offerors will have the opportunity to respond to the solicitation announcement at a later time.

Scope Information:

This work involves the inspection of complex bridges and hydraulic steel structures (HSS), incidental remedial design, diagnostics, analysis, and various data gathering activities (e.g., development of site-specific wind, seismic, and/or geotechnical parameters), to be used for the design of either existing bridge and HSS repairs or replacement.

The A-E will be required to perform inspections to determine the physical condition of selected bridges. The primary bridges to be inspected are the Bourne and Sagamore Highway Bridges spanning the Cape Cod Canal at Bourne, MA, and the Vertical Lift Railroad Bridge spanning the Cape Cod Canal at Buzzards Bay, MA, but other bridges in the Corps of Engineers inventory may also be part of this contract. The Bourne and Sagamore Bridges are seven-span and threespan respectively, continuous truss bridges; both with a considerable portion of the 616 -footcenter span over 100 feet above deck level and with a 135-foot vertical clearance over the canal. Use of aerial lifts, technical rope access techniques, rigging, or combination thereof, will be required to access most areas of the structures involved. Inspection of the above-deck arch portions of both the Bourne and Sagamore Bridges will require a method of access that does not require any traffic control, specifically technical rope access techniques. The Vertical Lift Railroad Bridge has a 544-foot lift span flanked by tower spans at each end. With the lift span in the raised position, there is a 135-foot vertical clearance over the canal. Use of aerial lifts, technical rope access, rigging, or a combination thereof, will be required to inspect the structure. Inspection of the mechanical and electrical components of the Vertical Lift Railroad Bridge's operating system will also be required. Other bridges and complex HSSs in the inventory are located at various Corps projects. Bridges range from larger (> 100 feet) built-up steel girder bridges over spillways and connecting dam crests to control towers, to smaller concrete or steel bridges within project reservoir areas. HSSs range from larger (>100 feet) steel sector gates and tainter (radial) gates, to smaller stop log structures.

Underwater inspections and using remote control or automated inspection techniques such as the use of UAV's (Unmanned Aerial Vehicles) may be required for this contract. Data gathering activities may include but not be limited to such tasks as developing site-specific wind and/or seismic data, scour analyses, material testing, and the installation of bridge and HSS diagnostic instrumentation, and monitoring associated with those diagnostics.

This work will also include the optional provision of inspection vehicles, an operator and equipment, and Level III rope access technician, to the New England District for inspection of our District bridges and HSSs.

In most instances, a "Routine Inspection," as described in the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Official's (AASHTO) Manual for Condition Evaluation of Bridges, will be the level of inspection required for vehicular bridges. In general, a "Periodic Inspection" as described in the American Railway Engineering and Maintenance-of-Way (AREMA) Manual for Railway Engineering will be the level of inspection required for railroad bridges.

Personnel must be registered professional engineers and meet all the required qualifications set forth in the "National Bridge Inspection Standards" as published in the Code of Federal Regulations (23 CFR Part 650), the required qualifications as set forth in the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Regulation, ER 1110-2-111, "USACE Bridge Safety Program" and have completed a comprehensive training course based on the "Bridge Inspector's Reference Manual" from the Federal Highway Administration. Due to the need to have all inspection reports independently reviewed and to allow for different inspectors over the life of the contract, the A-E will need to have two complete review teams, each comprised of a team leader, three structural engineers who are bridge technical specialist, one structural engineer HSS technical specialists, a mechanical engineer familiar with moveable bridges, and an electrical engineer familiar with industrial or civil works infrastructure electrical features.

Responses:

In order to assess your capability to perform this contract adequately, interested firms should submit a capabilities package to include, at a minimum, the following:

1) Firm’s name, address, point-of-contact, phone number, email address, CAGE and EUI number.

2) Business classification (e.g., 8(a), HUBZone, woman-owned small business (WOSB), veteran-owned small business (VOSB), service-disabled veteran-owned small business (SDVOSB), small business, or none of these).

3) Name of any subcontractors that would be proposed to team with the prime firm and their expected role. Clearly indicate relationships between firms to include if any Joint-Ventures and/or Mentor-Protégé arrangements are intended.

4) Size of firm and those firms on the team to include number of personnel by technical discipline. Providing a recent SF330 Part II for each firm (but not for each of the firm’s offices) would be sufficient to satisfy this requirement. This would not count against page limit.

5) Information on the general experience and capabilities of your firm and team.

6) Short but specific descriptions of your team’s experience and capabilities related to:

a) Inspection of complex high-level steel bridges comparable to the Bourne and Sagamore bridges using the same methodology specified above

b) Inspection of moveable bridges using the same methodology specified above for the Vertical Lift Railroad Bridge

c) Inspection of HSS at dams, locks and levees using underwater inspection methodologies and the same methodology specified above .

d) Underwater inspections of bridges

e) Use of remote control or automated inspection techniques such as unmanned aerial vehicles

f) Remedial bridge and HSS design

g) Non-destructive testing methods, diagnostics, analysis and data gathering used for the design of repair and/or replacement of bridges and HSSs

h) Load ratings of bridges and Level 2 scour evaluations, and

i) Other services to consider include emergency response, inspection of coastal resiliency structures and under bridge inspection methods.

7) As supporting documentation, submit project overviews of up to three (3) projects representative of the capabilities listed immediately above that were conducted within the past seven (7) years. The project overviews shall include a synopsis of the project including project name, client, photos, month/year the firm’s design work started and completed; total contract value of the firm’s design work specifically; physical size of the structure, contract value; and customer point-of-contact. Note – provide information most relevant to the intended use of the contract (items a-g listed in paragraph 6 above) and is typical of the work performed by your firm; it is not expected that any firm or team will have capabilities or projects in each of the elements in paragraph 6.

8) Small businesses shall clearly address their in-house capabilities to accomplish the above stated work requirements. In accordance with requirements of FAR 19.508(e) and 52.219-14, "at least 50% of the cost of contract performance incurred for personnel" must be expended for employees of the prime firm along with "similarly situated" subcontractors over the life of the contract. "Similarly situated" subcontractor means a first-tier subcontractor, including an independent contractor that has the same small business program status as that which qualified the prime contractor for the award and that is considered small for the specified NAICS code.

Respondents are to indicate and demonstrate their ability to perform at least 50% of the work required under this proposed contract, based on the work described above for work in the six New England states.

Responses should be limited to a pdf file that shall not exceed twenty 8.5x11 pages (not including cover sheet); 11x17 pages (count as two pages) can be used where appropriate. Responses are due by May 10, 2023. Responses should be emailed to Contract Specialist Brian Mannion at Brian.T.Mannion@usace.army.mil. NO APPOINTMENTS OR TELEPHONE CALLS WILL BE ACCEPTED. This sources sought announcement is not to be construed as a commitment by the Government. The Government will not pay for any material provided in response to this market survey nor return the data provided. This is not a request to be placed on a solicitation mailing list nor is it a Request for Proposal (RFP) or an announcement of a solicitation. The results of this survey will be considered to be in effect for a period of one year from the date of this notice.

Government Agency URL: www.nae.usace.army.mil

Government Agency URL Description: New England District, Corps of Engineers

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