Design Bid Build Marine Construction Lakes Districts

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers established a $260 million shared-ceiling MATOC on February 1, 2023, to procure design-bid-build marine construction within the Buffalo, Chicago, and Detroit Districts mission boundaries, with ordering authority extending through January 31, 2028.

The vehicle is moderately active but decelerating. Thirty task orders have been placed across 7 prime contractors; 95% of combined potential value ($126.5 million of $133.3 million) is obligated. Award momentum peaked in 2023–2024 (11 and 10 orders respectively) and has softened to 7 orders in 2025 and 2 through mid-2026, though several awarded orders carry completion dates extending into 2028. Eighteen months of ordering authority remain.

Scope aligns with the vehicle's charter: stream and drainage improvements, streambank stabilization, breakwater and pier repair, harbor deepening, and confined disposal facility work. Awarded orders cluster around breakwater and pier repair projects—Dunkirk, Buffalo South, Bird Island, Oswego, Lorain West, Great Sodus, Cleveland West, Vermilion, Erie, and others—with several CDF perimeter-dike-raising projects in Buffalo Harbor. All task orders are firm-fixed-price.

Competition is highly concentrated. Great Lakes Dock And Materials holds 14 of 30 orders worth $89.6 million combined potential value (67% of portfolio), followed by Morrish-Wallace Construction (5 orders, $18.2 million), and Architectural Consulting Group Of Chicago (4 orders, $13.6 million). The remaining 4 contractors share 2 orders each. The top three primes capture roughly 85% of awarded value.

Roughly 60% of orders fund Army Corps of Engineers programs (17 orders, $65.5 million); an additional 33% fund Army programs (10 orders, $55.7 million). Remaining volume is split across Corps Civil Works and specific engineering district offices.

Set-aside distribution is heavily weighted to unrestricted competition: 26 of 30 orders (87%) carry no set-aside; 4 orders (13%) are small-business total set-asides. Task-order values span a wide range, from minimum-guarantee orders of $5,000 to complex construction projects exceeding $11 million, with typical executed work in the $2–11 million band. Work is performed within the Great Lakes region, primarily around harbor and breakwater facilities in New York, Ohio, Michigan, and adjacent areas.

The construction project will be within the area of responsibility of USACE Buffalo to construct a significant number of marine construction projects. The MATOC will also be used for other civil works projects not funded by IIJA within the Lakes Districts mission boundaries. The scope of the marine construction MATOC will include: (1) Stream and drainage channel improvement/modification; (2) Streambank stabilization; (3) Breakwater repair; (4) Pier repair; (5) Harbor deepening; and (6) Confined Disposal Facilities (CDFs).