Z--Maintenance Dredging, 12-Foot Project, Cut V-36 through Cut V-40, Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway, Jacksonville to Miami, Florida, Volusia County, Florida

NA THIS IS A SOURCES SOUGHT ANNOUNCEMENT. THERE IS NO SOLICITATION AVAILABLE AT THIS TIME. REQUESTS FOR A SOLICITATION WILL NOT BE RETURNED OR RECEIVE A RESPONSE. A market research is being conducted to determine interest and capability of potential small business sources to perform as the prime contractor for the project described below. This is NOT a formal Invitation for Bid and response to this announcement is on a voluntary basis and failure to respond will not impact any future action. Responses wil l, however, assist the government in determining whether to set-aside/restrict competition or to solicit offers from all responsible sources. Interested small business sources are asked to submit the information requested below not later than 20 October 2 003. The project description is: The Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway, Volusia County, Florida, dredging project, including all optional work, will consist of dredging material from the Cut V-23 through V-40 and placing in a nearshore disposal area and an upland disposal area V-26. The base bid for maintenance dredging will consist of removing approximately 518,000 cubic yards of material from Cut V-23, Sta. 0+00 through Cut V-36, Sta. 8+00 and placing in the nearshore disposal area. Option Bid Item A is for maintenance dredging an additional 89,000 cubic yards of material from Cut V-36, Sta. 17+00 through Cut V-38, Sta. 111+09, and placing in Upland Disposal Area V-26. Option Bid Item B is for maintenance dredging of 125,000 cubic yards of material from Cut V-39, Sta. 0+00 through Cut V-40, Sta. 31+88 and placing in the upland disposal area V-26. Option Bid Item C is for the construction of a stockpile area and dune system along New Smyrna Beach in areas designated by the Contracting Officer. Method of dredging is restricted to hopper or cutter suction dredges. Project depth for Base Bid and Options A and B is 12 feet with an allowable overdepth of 1-foot (except for Cut V-23 which has a 2-foot allowable overdepth). Base bid and Option bid work will al so include turbidity monitoring and endangered species observer/monitoring. The government anticipates making award in March 2004. The Contractor is advised that work conducted during the winter season (December through March) may encounter wave conditio ns of three feet or higher. The Contractor shall furnish plant and equipment that can accomplish work within the time specified under the expected wave conditions. Material shall be placed uniformly in the nearshore disposal area and shall not be mounded above the -12-foot (MLLW) contour. Material placed in the nearshore disposal area shall use Sapphire Road pipeline corridor. Contract requires installation of a 500-foot underground permanent steel pipeline sleeve to be installed along Sapphire Road. Co ntractor's pipeline equipment shall have the ability to diffuse the dredge material sufficiently to achieve an even cross sectional distribution throughout the nearshore disposal area. Magnitude of construction is between $10,000,000.00 and $25,000,000.00 . Estimated construction time is 280 calendar days for the Base work, 43 calendar days for Option A, 86 calendar days for Option B, and 86 calendar days for Option C. NAICS Code is 237990, size standard $17 million. Small business concerns that believe they have the capability to perform this work and intend to submit a bid in response to the solicitation shall subject the following information not later than close of business on Monday, 20 October 2003: (1) What past experience has your firm had in ope rating equipment in an open ocean environment with waves of 3 to 5 feet? (2) What type of equipment and procedures would you use to place, manage, and control a direct pipeline placement of dredge material into a nearshore wave climate between bottom cont ours of –12 to –32 feet mlw? (3) How would you propose to evenly distribute sand throughout the site? (4) What safety measure would you implement to ensure the safety of crew members working on floating plant at the point of discharge into the nearshore disposal area? (5) Do you own or are you able to obtain equipment (pipeline, boosters, etc.) necessary to transport sandy material up to 7 statute mi les to the nearshore area? (6) What is your bonding capacity per contract? In addition, if this dredging project were to be set-aside for small business concerns, FAR 52.219-14, Limitations on Subcontracting would apply, which requires that the small busin ess concern perform at least 15 percent of the cost of the contract, not including the cost of materials, with its own employees. Also, the small business firm must comply with the requirement that 40% of the volume dredged must be dredged using a dredge o wned by a small business concern. Provide affirmation that your firm can comply with these minimum requirements. Requested information shall be limited to no more than 6 pages and may be submitted via e-mail to contact@example.gov or by fax at +1 (555) 000-0000. Any information submitted is voluntary. The Government will not pay for any information that is submitted in response to this sources sought announcement.