Region 1 GeoTechnical Engineering Services IDIQ

1. The US Forest Service, Region 1 - Northern Region has a requirement for Architect/Engineering services, indefinite quantity indefinite delivery contracts for Materials Testing and Geotechnical Services for the National Grasslands and Forests in North Dakota, South Dakota, Montana, and North Idaho. Architect/Engineering firms which meet the requirements described in this announcement are invited to submit: (1) a SF 330 Part II, General Qualifications, (2) a SF 330 Part 1, Contract Specific Qualifications and (3) any requested supplemental data to the procurement office shown below. The North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) Code is 541330 with a size standard of $15 million. Following an initial evaluation of the qualifications and performance data submitted, one or more firms considered to be the most highly qualified to provide the type of services required, will be chosen for negotiation. Multiple firms may be selected from this announcement. Selection of firms for negotiation shall be through an order of preference based on demonstrated competence and qualifications necessary for the satisfactory performance of the type of professional services required that include (1) Professional qualifications; (2) Specialized experience and technical competence in the type of work required; (3) Location in the general geographical area; (4) Capacity; (5) Past performance. The projects performed under this contract will primarily focus on professional services to provide Geotechnical, Pavement and Materials engineering and associated Materials Testing services predominately to the Northern Region (Region One). The work involves engineering services related to low-volume roads, tunnels, dams, and facility design and construction in Region One of the US Forest Service. Required services are primarily in the areas of asphalt, chip seals, concrete, aggregate surface, and aggregate stabilized pavements; construction materials testing and inspections on all types of roads and facilities; inspections, investigation, analysis and design for pavements, small (earthen) dams, hydraulic structures, landslides, retaining structures, foundations, and rock sources. Only firms with Registered Professional Engineers licensed in one of the States of Idaho, Montana, North Dakota, and South Dakota with eligibility for reciprocity in one or more of the other states will be considered for award of the contract. The Contractor's associated laboratory must be nationally accredited by AASHTO or equivalent in Asphalt, Concrete and Aggregate Testing. The Government may elect to award a single or multiple Indefinite Delivery Indefinite Quantity Contracts for the same or similar services to one or more sources for professional road (pavement) Construction Materials Testing, construction monitoring, and geotechnical services for the Region. The contracts will be issued as a one-year base contract with four one-year options (potential of five years). However, the Government reserves the right to award only one contract for the combined areas. Task orders will be issued as needed to accomplish the work. Contract time will vary with each individual task order. The Architect-Engineering firm must demonstrate its, and each key subcontractor's, qualifications with respect to the published evaluation factors for all services. Contractor qualifications will be assessed using the criteria outlined below. Evaluation factors are listed in order of importance to the Government. Specific evaluation factors include: 1. Professional qualifications necessary for satisfactory performance of required services: Offeror will address criteria in SF 330. Professional qualifications of great importance to the Government include licensing of skills applicable to this work in the state(s) services will be performed and experience in the type of services required. Specifically small dams, secondary/low traffic roads, and aggregate surfaced roads is more valuable than experience provided on interstate highways or large water barriers (dikes, levees, or dams). Of less value is an offeror with minimum number of qualified personnel on the team; or team that does not have a history of working together. 2. Specialized experienced and technical competence in the type of work required: Offeror will address in SF 330. Specialized knowledge, skills, and abilities of great importance to the Government include experience and expertise in low-volume asphalt and chipseal pavements; small dams; hydraulic structures; landslides; retaining structures; foundations; rock sources; aggregate and stabilized aggregate surfaced roads; and secondary roads such as parks, camp grounds, small developments, etc. Offerors demonstrating experience only in major highways, large bridges, major water barriers, on flat terrain will not have the same understanding of the required design considerations and associated problems typical of the small/lower volume facilities on steep Forest lands and therefore will be rated lower. 3. Location in the general geographical area of the project and knowledge of the locality of the project. Offeror is required to demonstrate an understanding of hazards when traveling on Forest roads to project sites; an understanding of the types of remote areas project sites may be located; unique and varied geological features found in the Northern Region. The variety of unique and complex geological features common to the North West and Northern Mid-West areas of Region 1, include all types of bedrock structure, with random and frequent structural discontinuities, overlain frequently with glacial deposits. The more familiar a team is with these unique geologic features and the associated common design and construction problems, the more effective and efficient they will be designing solutions and solving problems. As a result, teams with project experience in this or similar geologic regimes will be given a higher rating; offerors less familiar will be rated lower; offerors that have no experience working in such geology will be rated unsatisfactory. Offerors familiar with working in remote areas subject to limited communication, changing weather conditions, exposure to dangerous or aggressive wildlife will be rated higher than those that have worked in urban environments and mild climates. Offerors will also frequently be required to deliver and pick up samples and conduct specialized tests at the Regional Forest Service Materials Laboratory in Missoula, Montana. 4. Capacity to accomplish the work in the required time: Offeror is to provide information regarding team ability and capacity to perform multiple tasks over a broad area in a short construction season. Offerors demonstrating the ability to efficiently mobilize and respond to a broad variety of services located on multiple Forests will be rated higher than those having to travel considerable distances or have limited resources for field investigation and inspection portion of these services. Offerors may be required to provide services in a very short turnaround to meet construction acquisition deadlines. 5. Past performance on contracts with Government agencies and private industry in terms of cost control, quality of work, and compliance with performance schedules. Offerors record of satisfactory performance in providing similar services to Federal and State land management agencies in the North Western part of the US during the past 3 years. Offerors are required to provide a list of references that will be randomly checked by the Government. Firms demonstrating a track record of customer satisfaction for similar work in similar conditions will be rated higher than firms that have not performed to customer satisfactory, or have not performed similar work under similar conditions. In addition to the technical evaluation criteria, the Forest Service may administratively elect to consider the volume of work previously awarded to the A&E firm 1) to determine which of the most highly qualified A&E firms should be awarded a particular project and/or 2) as a method to permit qualified A&E firms to gain experience so that they can compete as a most highly qualified firm on future A&E contracts. Type of contract is a Firm Fixed Price Indefinite Delivery Indefinite Quantity. The duration of this contract will be for 1 year from the date of initial award with 4 - one year option periods. The cumulative total amount available for all awards made (including one or more contracts, all option years and all task orders issued under all awards) is $5,000,000.00. The minimum guarantee for each contract awarded (including option years) will be $1,500 or the value of the first task order if it exceeds $1,500. The options may be exercised within the time frame specified in the resultant contracts at the sole discretion of the Government subject to workload and/or satisfaction of the A&E performance under the contract. The proposed contract is being solicited as a total small business set-aside. All contractors are advised that registration in the System for Award Management (SAM) is required prior to award of a contract. Failure to register initially in the SAM Database may render your firm ineligible for award and failure to update your registration yearly may render your firm ineligible for option year renewals. For more information, check the SAM Website at: http://www.sam.gov. Solicitation packages are not available. This is not a Request for Proposal. Responses are to be sent to the following address: US Forest Service, Northern Region, ATTN: Lori Austad, 24 Fort Missoula Rd., Missoula, MT 59804. Responses are due no later than 3:00 p.m. MST, September 25, 2018. Late responses will be handled in accordance with FAR 52.215-1. Electronic (e-mail, facsimile, etc.) submissions are not authorized. Firms responding to this advertisement are required to submit 2 copies of the qualification statement. Technical questions regarding this announcement can be directed in writing (e-mail is acceptable) to Lori Austad, Ph. 406-329-3858 or e-mail laustad@fs.fed.us