McCOOK RESERVOIR PROJECT

By way of this Market Survey/Sources Sought Notice, the USACE-Chicago District intends to determine the extent of capable Firms that are engaged in providing the services described hereunder. The responses to this Notice will be used for planning purposes for an upcoming procurement. Therefore, this Notice does not constitute a Request for Proposal (RFP); it does not guarantee the future issue of a RFP; nor does it commit the government to contract for any supply or service whatsoever. Further, this Agency will not accept unsolicited proposals. Respondents are advised that this Agency will not pay for any information or administrative cost incurred in response to this Notice; all costs associated with responding to this Notice will be solely at the responding party's expense. At this time, proprietary information is not being requested, and respondents shall refrain from providing proprietary information in response to this Notice. Responses to this Notice will not be returned. Please be advised that all submissions become Government property and will not be returned. Not responding to this Notice does not preclude participation in any future RFP, if any is issued. In accordance with FAR 15.201(e), responses to this notice are not offers and cannot be accepted by the U.S Government to form a binding contract. It is the responsibility of the interested parties to monitor this site for additional information pertaining to this Notice. GOVERNMENT REQUIREMENTS: The Chicagoland Underflow Plan (CUP) McCook Reservoir project is being implemented to reduce combined sewer overflows (CSOs) and flooding in the Mainstream and Des Plaines Tunnel systems served by the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago's (MWRDGC) Tunnel and Reservoir Plan (TARP). The McCook Reservoir is currently being constructed out of bedrock being mined from a limestone quarry at the MWRDGC Lawndale Avenue Solids Management Area (LASMA) site. A Distribution Tunnel System to empty the reservoir has been completed with the exception of a final connection to McCook reservoir. Originally authorized in the Water Resources Development Act of 1999, the McCook Reservoir is a key component of Chicago's ongoing TARP, providing approximately 10 billion gallons of additional CSO storage to the MWRDGC network. In order to minimize flood damages (during periods of peak flow) to the City of Chicago and 36 surrounding suburban communities, the reservoir will store excess CSO water from TARP's Mainstream and Des Plaines Deep Tunnel systems until the floodwaters levels recede. This stored CSO will then be pumped to the Stickney Water Treatment Plant for treatment and appropriate discharge to the TARP network. The McCook Reservoir is located in a dolomitic limestone quarry between the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal and the Des Plaines River at the MWRDGC's LASMA facility south of the intersection of Interstate 55 and 1st Avenue in southwest Cook County, Illinois. Mining operations will be concurrent with the work performed under the Rock Wall Stage 1B Stabilization Contract. The quarry operator (Vulcan Materials) will have ultimate control over site access and overall site safety; however operations under this contract will be overseen by the USACE Contracting Officer's Representative on site and shall be performed in accordance with both Vulcan Materials' safety requirements and those of the USACE Safety and Health Requirements Manual, EM 385-1-1. The walls are near vertical unfinished limestone, and the final reservoir walls will be mined using pre-split methods. Quarry high walls will be up to 240-feet high during the course of this contract life, but will be excavated in benches of 60-80-feet. The Contract will be awarded as an Indefinite Delivery, Indefinite Quantity Contract with a base year and four option years. The work under this contract will include: A. Scaling - removing of partially or completely detached rock from the quarry faces from suspended ropes, work baskets, platforms, and/or elevated work platforms or other means of access using high pressure water, compressed air and mechanical means; B. Drilling, installing and grouting rock dowels, rock bolts and rock cables and other reinforcement elements of varying lengths and diameters both tensioned and non-tensioned into vertical and non-vertical rock faces at locations and to depths and at orientations specified in task orders, in pattern arrays or at spot locations determined based upon rock conditions; C. Installation of Structural Rock Support/Rock Retaining Mesh (such as Tecco Mesh or similar material) on vertical and near-vertical faces at locations and areas specified; D. Application of fiber reinforced shotcrete on rock faces at locations specified; E. Drilling of drain holes of diameter and at locations and orientations and to depths specified; F. Drilling and installation of geotechnical instrumentation elements at locations as specified; At a minimum, the construction will require coordination with the MWRD's ongoing operations and maintenance of the LASMA facilities and TARP system, as well as the concurrent mining operations of the McCook Reservoir. Should this Agency issue a formal solicitation for these requirements, prospective offerors will be required to submit enough technical information to allow an in-depth technical analysis of their proposed systems. SCOPE OF CAPABILITIES: The USACE-Chicago District is searching for contractors that are capable of executing the work described above (sub-paragraph A through F). REQUESTED INFORMATION: Since this notice is being used to assess the extent of Firms capable of fulfilling the government's requirements, this Agency requests that interested contractors complete the following questions to assist the government in its efforts. 1. Is your company currently registered with the Central Contractor's Registration (CCR) Database? If not, has it been registered or does it plan to register? 2. In consideration of NAICS code 237990, with a small business size standard in dollars of $33.5 Million, which of the following small business categories is your business classified under, if any? Small Business, Veteran Owned Small Business, Service Disabled Veteran Owned Small Business, Small Disadvantaged Business, Woman-Owned Small Business, HUBZone Small Business, or 8(a) Business. 3. Is your company currently prohibited from doing business with the Federal Government? Yes / No (If yes, explain.) Is the potential offeror capable of obtaining performance and payment bonds for a project valued at $40,000,000? - 1. Is the potential offeror a small-business interested in performing as a subcontractor to one of the items of work described in items A through F. - 2. Is the potential offeror capable of adhering to a Small Business Subcontracting Plan where at least 50% of the work will be requested to be performed by a small business? - 3. Does the potential offeror have experience in constructing/installing rock support and performing rock stabilization in bedrock excavations or quarries or open rock faces constructed using drill-and-blast and/(or) sequential excavation techniques: - a. 100 feet (100') or higher, or; - b. Two hundred feet (>= 200') to less than 100 feet (< 200') or; - c. Thirty foot (>= 30') to less than forty foot (< 40') in diameter, or; - d. Greater than Two-hundred feet (>200') ? - 4. Does the potential offeror have experience in installing the following sizes, and types of rock support: - a. 1-3/8inch (#11) Dywidag-type rock bolts and rock dowels with resin and portland cement type grouts; - i. Was the length greater than or less than thirty (30) feet in length? - b. Rock support or rock reinforcement cable bolts of lengths twenty foot (20') or greater than (a) but less than or equal to fifty feet (50'), or; - i. Was the length greater than or less than fifty (50) feet? - c. Performing scaling, installation of rock support mesh and other related activities on high wall rock faces : (i) greater than 100-feet but less than 200 feet, or (ii) greater than 200 feet? - d. Does the potential offeror have experience installing geotechnical instrumentation including: (i) Inclinometer casings? (ii) Extensometers? (iii) Vibrating wire piezometers? (iv) Monitoring Wells? SUBMISSION OF RESPONSES: Respondents interested in providing a response to this Notice shall provide their submittals to Regina Blair prior to 4:30 p.m. (CDT) on 31 October, 2011, via email to: regina.g.blair@usace.army.mil (ensure that the number of the Sources Sought Notice of "W912P6-12-S-0001" is included in the subject line of the email). Or, Respondents are welcome to mail their submittals to: Regina G. Blair, Chief, Contracting Branch, via FAX to: 312-886-5475 (please mark the transmittal form with the sources sought announcement number W912P6-12-S-0001). POINT OF CONTACT for this action is Regina Blair; telephone: (312) 846-5371.