Collaborative Design-Build Services for the Merced to Madera Civil Works Project

The California High-Speed Rail Authority is soliciting collaborative design-build services for the construction of approximately 30.3 miles of new high-speed rail guideway extending from Merced to Madera County, with the primary place of performance located in Atwater, California. This project involves extensive civil works including embankments, major bridge structures over waterways and roadways, drainage systems, animal crossings, irrigation facility upgrades, and roadway reconstructions, organized into North, Wye, and South segments with both single-track and double-track configurations. The contractor is responsible for technical and programmatic integration with other interface contractors, though the scope explicitly excludes trackwork, station construction, geotechnical investigations, utility relocations, right-of-way acquisition, and systems design. The procurement follows a Progressive Design-Build delivery model with a Pre-Proposal Collaboration Agreement (PPCA) phase, during which shortlisted offerors will be compensated for collaborative planning efforts. The estimated project value is $2.4 billion, and the contract is not structured under a Lowest Price Technically Acceptable approach, but rather on a best-value trade-off basis, evaluating technical merit alongside cost. Offerors must submit three volumes of proposals—General, Financial, and Technical—in both hard copy and digital PDF formats, adhering to strict packaging, labeling, and formatting standards, including a 5-page executive summary limit in the Technical Volume and 3-page resumes per Key Personnel, which are exempt from page count restrictions. Mandatory components include full disclosure of Organizational Conflicts of Interest, submission of Key Personnel qualifications with verified references, and commitments to Small Business, Disadvantaged Business Enterprise, and DVBE participation goals. The contractor must assign experienced, California-licensed Professional Engineers as Key Personnel, with strict protocols for any personnel changes requiring prior approval. Bonding requirements anticipate a 50% performance bond and 100% payment bond, and all proposal materials become the property of the Authority and subject to public records laws. The solicitation emphasizes collaboration, risk management, constructability improvements, and adherence to community benefits agreements and federal workforce development requirements, including OSHA compliance and Equal Employment Opportunity mandates. Proposals are due by September 29, 2026, and must be submitted via a secure, Authority-issued cloud portal following prior coordination with the Designated Point of Contact.