Intent to Specify Brand Name - Boston Mills

USACE is preparing a solicitation for a construction contract that requires excavation of new river channels and creation of channel plugs across the existing Cuyahoga River channel in the Cuyahoga Valley National Park. The channel plugs are designed to act as a stable streambank for the new lengthened river alignment and act as a barrier to a channel cutoff. A cutoff would result in the river returning to its original alignment, in turn losing the additional length and failure of the project. Therefore, the channel plug must be designed to withstand erosional forces associated with high flow events, as well as internal erosional forces within the plug. Additionally, the National Park Service has required use of natural materials, limiting the use of stone where possible and requiring a substitute for synthetic geotextile materials traditionally used. To mitigate the risk of cutoff, the plug construction requires streambank restoration measures along the upstream slope, including the use of coir rolled erosion control products, or RECP's. Detailed hydraulic and geotechnical analyses has been performed to determine the design specifications for coir RECP's that are acceptable for the channel plug. Based on these analyses, the coir RECP's, particularly Nedia KoirFence 1250, KoirWrap 1000 and KoirMat 900, or approved equivalents have been specifically chosen for the channel plug design and deemed appropriate to mitigate erosional concerns, as well as accepted as a sufficient substitute for geotextile materials. Attached is a brochure of the products USACE plans to include in the specifications. The purpose of this special notice is to provide prospective contractors or suppliers with the Government's intent to specify these brand name products (or approved equivalents) in the contract specifications. Any questions or comments on the Government's intent are due by 10 Jan 2022 at 12pm EST.