AIWW Facility USACE Norfolk Virginia

W9123624B5000: Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway Service Contract for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) Civil Works Program, Virginia.

THIS IS A REVISED PRE-SOLICITATION NOTICE.

ORIGINAL PRE-SOLICITATION NOTICE WAS POSTED 19 SEPT 2024.

THIS IS NOT A SOLICITATION. DO NOT SUBMIT BIDS OR QUESTIONS IN RESPONSE TO THIS NOTICE.

The IFB and accompanying documents will be issued electronically and will be uploaded to the Procurement Integrated Enterprise Environment (PIEE) suite at https://piee.eb.mil/ on or about March 2024. The solicitation is anticipated to be posted for more than 30 calendar days.

THIS ACQUISITION IS AN UNRESTRICTED SOLICITATION

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Norfolk District intends to issue an Invitation for Bids (IFB) for the acquisition of Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway Service Contract, located in Hampton Roads, Virginia. This procurement will be conducted in accordance with FAR Part 14, Sealed Bidding Procedures.

DESCRIPTION OF WORK

The Norfolk District, United States Army Corps of Engineers is seeking eligible businesses capable of performing all services, and providing all materials, supplies, plant, labor, equipment, utilities and supervision (except those specified as government furnished) required to operate, maintain all facilities, all real property facilities, and approximately 3,100 acres of land owned by the U. S. Army Corps of Engineers, Norfolk District, which is known as the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway (AIWW).

The northern boundary of the project for this contract is the Interstate 64 bascule bridge at approximately mile 7.1 on the AIWW. The southern boundary of the AIWW on the Albemarle and Chesapeake Canal (ACC) is the North Carolina state line, approximately mile 34. The southern boundary of AIWW on the Dismal Swamp Canal (DSC) is the mouth of the Pasquotank River where it joins the Albemarle Sound, approximately mile 68, in North Carolina.

The ACC project includes the North Landing Swing Bridge that borders Virginia Beach, Virginia and Chesapeake, Virginia located near Mount Pleasant Road. The bridge is operated 24 hours a day and opens on the hour and a half between 6am - 7pm daily. The Great Bridge lock is a 72 feet wide by 600 feet long navigation lock and support facility with a normal lift of 2.7 feet located in the Great Bridge section of Chesapeake, Virginia. The purpose of the lock is to prevent the inflow of salt water from the Southern Branch of the Elizabeth River to the fresh water to the south. Locking's are on demand and operated 24 hours a day.

The DSC project includes one highway drawbridge and navigation lock at Deep Creek, Virginia, one highway drawbridge and navigation lock at South Mills, North Carolina. There is a total of three water control structures on the canal and at Lake Drummond. The Deep Creek Lock and South Mills Lock are 52 feet wide by 300 feet long, with a normal lift of 12 feet. Locking's are only 4 times a day, and the Dismal Swamp Canal operating staff works 8 hours per day.

PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE

The Government anticipates awarding a firm fixed-price contract consisting of a base year and four option years for a total of five years of performance over the period October 1, 2024 to September 30, 2029. The base year will run from October 1, 2024 – September 30, 2025. Each subsequent option year will run from October 1st through September 30th of the following year.

BIDDER INSTRUCTIONS

The requirement will be a Full and Open Competition Solicitation. The applicable North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) Code is 488310 “Port and Harbor Operations” with a size standard of $47 million. The PSC code is M1KB.

Contractors will be required to submit bid bonds with submittals. Payment and performance bonds will be required within 10 calendar days from contract award. In accordance with FAR Part 9.104 and 9.106, contractor responsibility will be determined prior to award by the Contracting Officer through the performance of a Pre-Award Survey or utilizing information from a previous pre-award survey and/or any performance data available. The apparent low bidder may be required to show that he has the necessary capital, experience, and owns or can procure the necessary plant or other resources to commence the work at the time prescribed in the specifications and thereafter to prosecute and complete the work safely and satisfactorily within the time specified. The below Pre-Award Survey Information will be requested of the apparent low offeror. This information is not required to be responsive to the Invitation for Bid.

1. Current commitments and expected dates of completion.
2. One (1) signed bank reference demonstrating adequate financial resources. If bidder’s firm has a line of credit – provide information on how many figures bidder can borrow against the line of credit (i.e. medium 6 figures – exact line of credit is not required).
3. The bidder shall provide the latest three (3) complete fiscal year financial statements for the prime contractor, certified by an independent accounting firm, if practicable, or signed by an authorized officer of the organization. Submit evidence of availability of working/operating capital, which will be used for the performance of the resultant contract. The Government may also utilize Dun & Bradstreet reports to evaluate the financial capacity of the bidder.

The Government intends to award a Firm-Fixed Priced contract to the responsible bidder whose bid conforms to the terms of the solicitation, is determined fair and reasonable, and offers the best overall value to the Government as determined through the IFB, Sealed Bid process.

DEFINITIVE RESPONSBILITY CRITERIA

Definitive Responsibility Criteria (DRC), are specific and objective standards established to inform the Contracting Officer’s responsibility in accordance with FAR 9.104-2. These criteria assess whether the apparent low bidder can demonstrate the expertise and specialized facilities needed for adequate contract performance. The inability of a contractor otherwise eligible for award to demonstrate minimally acceptable experience as measured by the DRC may result in the Contracting Officer determining the contractor is not responsible.

The DRC must be provided in the form of a written detailed narrative, with a page limitation that shall not exceed three (3) pages for each listed DRC. The written narrative for each DRC listed below must demonstrate a bidder’s successful completion of at least one (1) year total project experience within the past ten (10) years of the date of this solicitation for the items below.

Subcontractor experience cannot be used to meet the DRC requirements.

The bidder shall provide the following:

• Contract number (or unique identifier) and name of organization awarding each contract
• Contact information for the Contracting Officer or equivalent official
• Period of performance of the contract, i.e., the dates when performance began and was completed
• Annual dollar value of the contract, or pro rata equivalent
• A narrative describing the facilities involved and work performed under the contract clearly addressing each element of the DRC described below

The Definitive Responsibility Criteria is provided as follows:

Facility Management. The apparent low bidder shall provide documented contract experience for a minimum of two years performing facility maintenance comparable in size and scope consistent with the solicitation. At a minimum, the previous contract performance experience must substantiate experience for each element below:

1. Operating, maintaining, and repairing 1930’s era navigation locks, 1930’s and 1950’s era movable highway bridges, and low-level flood/water control structures comparable in size and scope of the plant and equipment detailed in the solicitation.
2. The minimum contract for each submitted contract must be no less than $2 million per year, or equivalent pro rata amount if the contract performance period was less than a year.
3. For purposes of evaluating whether the minimum of two years is substantiated, the contractor may document its experience with more than one contract provided that each contract was a minimum of six months from the start of performance to the completion of performance. The apparent low bidder may use previous contracts performed up to ten (10) years prior to the solicitation date, provided that the period of performance began within that ten-year period.

In the event that the contractor submits a contract for which it received an interim or final unsatisfactory evaluation rating, was issued cure notice or show cause, or was defaulted for termination, the apparent low bidder must explain the circumstances associated with this.

This notice does not constitute an invitation for bid. The IFB and accompanying documents will be issued electronically and will be uploaded to the Procurement Integrated Enterprise Environment (PIEE) suite at https://piee.eb.mil/ on or about March 2024. Notification of any changes to this pre-solicitation will only be made on this website. Therefore, it is the offerors responsibility to check the website regularly for any posted changes to the pre-solicitation notice. Telephone calls or written requests for the IFB package will NOT be accepted. Prospective bidders are responsible for monitoring at https://piee.eb.mil/ to respond to the solicitation and any amendments or other information regarding this acquisition.

IT IS THE SOLE RESPONSIBILITY OF THE BIDDER TO CONTINUALLY VIEW THE WEBSITE FOR CHANGES. No hard copies will be available.

Prospective contractors MUST be registered in the DOD System for Award Management (SAM) database in order to obtain access to beta.SAM.gov. It is incumbent upon vendors to monitor beta.SAM.gov for the release of the solicitation, specification, drawings, and all subsequent amendments. SAM Registration must also be ACTIVE and current to be eligible for contract award. Information on registration and annual confirmation requirements may be obtained by calling 1-866-606-8220 or via the Internet at https://www.sam.gov. Lack of registration in the SAM database will prevent access to beta.SAM.gov and will make a bidder ineligible for award. Representations and Certifications Applications apply to this solicitation and may be completed online via the SAM.gov website.

Inquiries may be directed to Ms. Tracey Strawbridge at Tracey.m.strawbridge@usace.army.mil and copy Ms. Katya Oxley at Ekaterina.oxley@usace.army.mil. TELEPHONE INQUIRIES WILL NOT BE HONORED.