Iowa River Basin, Coralville Lake Reservoir, Control Tower Bulkhead and Service Gates and Sill Repair

Sources Sought/Request for Information Coralville Control Tower Sill Repair Purpose and Objectives: The purpose of this notice is to obtain information regarding: (1) the availability and capability of qualified small business sources; (2) whether they are small businesses; HUBZone small businesses; service-disabled, veteran- owned small businesses; 8(a) small businesses; veteran-owned small businesses; woman-owned small businesses; or small disadvantaged businesses; and (3) their understanding, capabilities and experience relative to the proposed acquisition to assist the Government in determining the expectation of receiving bids from responsible small business contractors at fair market prices. Your responses to the information requested will assist the Government in determining the appropriate acquisition method, including whether a set- aside is possible. An organization that is not considered a small business under the applicable NAICS code can submit a response to this notice, however their capabilities may/may not be assessed for the purposes of this notice. A determination by the Government not to compete this requirement as a set-aside based upon responses to this Notice is solely within the discretion of the Government. The Corps of Engineers (COE), Rock Island District does not intend to award a contract on the basis of responses received, however as a result of this Sources Sought Notice, the COE may issue a Request for Proposal (RFP). Interested parties are expected to review this Notice and the Project Requirements to familiarize themselves with the requirements of this project. Background: At Coralville Dam, there is heavy leakage (150cfs) present at the three service gates at the control structure. The leakage persists even when emergency control gate is lowered. Full inspections are not possible because of the inability to perform underwater inspection due to the leakage. Exterior bulkhead slots exist, which can block flow upstream of the emergency control gate, but no bulkheads currently exist for this location. Fabrication and installation of the exterior bulkhead will allow for repairs at both the emergency and service control gate sealing surfaces. Project Requirements: Coralville Control Tower Concrete and Sill Plate Repairs. The project includes fabrication, delivery and installation of bulkheads to dewater three intake bays for the water control gates. Following bulkhead installation and sealing, and construction of a temporary dewatering structure on the downstream end of the intake bay, the control gate sills will be inspected, with options to repair any damage. The repairs are anticipated to include removal and replacement of brass seal plates, removal and replacement of the steel conduit liner (which includes fabrication of steel plating), and removal and replacement of concrete around the conduit liner (which includes reinforcement bars and/or anchor bar placement). Access to the bulkhead placement location is by a minimally maintained road, which winds thru significant tree growth and has limited width. There are no provisions on site to place/remove the bulkheads. The sill repair area is 97 feet below the main working level, and is under approximately 4 feet of water even when bulkheads are placed in the bay, requiring dewatering of the area. Access to the sill repair area for personnel, material delivery, such as dewatering structures and repair components, is limited by control gate bay dimensions, unless delivered by boat from the outlet structure approximately 450 feet downstream of the work area. The sill is located in a confined space and all criteria for working in a confined space will be required. Bulkhead placement and dewatering, including sill repairs, will primarily be constructed in the fall - winter months of 2019 and 2020, due to water regulation requirements at the site. Construction will need to be staged/sequenced such that flood risk management is maintained during construction, and may require short notice by the government to remove bulkheads and put the control gate back in service. NAICS Code and Size Standard: In the event an RFP is issued, North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) code 237990 with a size standard of $36.5M is being considered. Solicitation Type: The Government is considering using a Best Value Trade Off Method for solicitation of this project. Potential evaluation factors could be Technical; to include, Material Delivery, High Water Contingency, Dewatering Experience and Planning, and Confined Space experience/capabilities; Price; Past Performance and Small Business Participation. Please provide any feedback on the potential solicitation and evaluation method, as well as appropriate provisions and considerations for these types of solicitations and evaluations, from an industry perspective. Capability Statement/Information Sought: All parties interested in this project must demonstrate that they would have the potential to be a responsive and responsible contractor for the following project technical criteria. Tailored Capability Statements shall demonstrate a clear understanding of all tasks specified in the draft Project Requirements. Tailored Capability Statements for this requirement shall address the following areas: 1. Company Name, DUNS/CAGE (If your company does not have at the time of this sources sought, please be aware that you will be required to register your company in the System of Award Management (SAM) system to be eligible for any future Federal contracts), POC information including an email, and your current small business status. 2. Demonstrate the ability to meet the mandatory criteria as noted below: - Experience performing work in a confined space. - Experience performing under restricted schedules and tight timeframes. - Experience with restricted material delivery access, and means to overcome these obstacles. - Experience with concrete delivery, placement, and curing in ambient subzero temperatures, with the ability to maintain temperatures for concrete work above 50?F. - Cofferdam design, installation, sealing, and dewatering capability. - Experience with high-water remediation which may impact work activities. - Experience managing AISC certified fabrication subcontractors for the fabrication of bulkheads. 3. Project examples with similar complexity and scope (and ideally including all of the mandatory criteria above). Examples should include all pertinent information regarding the requirements to clearly demonstrate the understanding and abilities of your company. If you performed previous work as a part of a team, with subcontractors (or other arrangements) please provide information on that relationship, tasks performed by team members etc. to be able to provide the Government with a sense of prime contract management as well as team member/subcontractor management. 4. Description of how, as a small business, you would be capable of performing the work, either by 100% self-performance or through teaming. Specifically, if you would not be self-performing 100% of the work, please provide: - An estimate of your self-performance and a proposed team approach (for example: are you part of an approved mentor prot'g team through the SBA 8(a) or All Small Mentor Prot'g Program? - Will you be teaming with other small businesses to meet the self-performance requirements? - Will your subcontractors be primarily small businesses? - What type of work would likely be subcontracted? - Have you performed this type of work previously with similar teaming arrangements? If so, what were issues with contract performance? - NOTE: Small businesses may submit a capability statement that includes the expertise of large business partner companies under a teaming arrangement. If a teaming arrangement is contemplated, then the response to this sources sought must clearly discuss the areas of the Draft Performance Work Statement that the small business firm intends to perform and the specific areas that the large business teaming partner intends to perform. Please note that at least 15% of the total cost of the contract value must be incurred by or for personnel of the small business firm (or similarly situated entities) pursuant to the FAR clause at 52.219-14 entitled "Limitations on Subcontracting (NOV 2011)". In order for the Government to make a Small Business (SB) set-aside (or other socioeconomic sub-category) determination, it is emphasized that SB concerns provide sufficient written information to clearly demonstrate their capacity, capability, and responsibility (in accordance with FAR 9.1 and the requirements at FAR 19.502(b)(1) to successfully perform and manage all the requirements of this effort. Information Submission Instructions: 1. Page Limitations: Interested qualified small business organizations should submit a tailored capability statement for this requirement not to exceed twenty (20) single sided pages including all information that clearly details the firm's ability to perform the aspects of the notice described above and in the Project Requirements. 2. Number of Copies: All capability Statement sent in response to this SOURCES SOUGHT/Request for Information notice must be submitted via e-mail to the contract specialist, Jake Toft at contact@example.gov and Deputy, Small Business Programs Beth White at contact@example.gov . The e-mail subject line must specify Response to Sources Sought: Coralville Control Tower Sill Repair. 3. Due Date/Time Electronically submitted tailored capability statements are due no later than 22 February 2018, however this does not restrict the Government from accepting responses after this time, if it is in the best interests of the Government for market research purposes, and also does not prohibit the Government from seeking potential capable, and responsible sources from information available from other resources (for instance: small business databases, known sources, previous contractors) to determine a final procurement strategy.