SiteTourNotes.docx

Crooked River Valley Rehabilitation – Phase 1

RFP 12034318R0012

Pre-Bid Tour Notes 5/11/2018 Prepared by Karen Ruklic

Government Representatives:

Karen Ruklic, Contracting Officer Jamey Stogsdill, Contracting Officer’s Representative Anne Connor, Watershed Restoration Program Manager Jenifer Harris, Nez Perce Tribe Watershed Division Project Inspector Paul McCloskey, Project Inspector/Engineer Chris Wolffing, Engineer

Industry Attendees:

Danny Cockrell Bearlake danny@bearlakeconstruction.com

Scott Sullens

ACI N.W.

208-660-0760 ssullens@acinw.com

Eric Atkins North Wind Construction Services 208-512-0516 eatkins@northwindgrp.com

Mark Bledsoe Pro-Op-Co 208-983-8945 mabledsoe@idaho.net

Ed Schmit Glacier Excavating Ed: 406-249-4128 Bob Cuffe (owner) 406-253-7107 bob@glacierexcavating.com

Gordon Eckel Flash Excavation 208-983-8284

Attendees met at the Grangeville Office of the Nez Perce-Clearwater NF on 5/8/18 at approximately 9:30 AM. Industry attendees signed in and then the group caravanned to the Salmon River RD Wareyard to view the steel Temporary Bridge.

Contracting Officer started the meeting by reviewing the following solicitation information, requirements, clauses and provisions:

· Reviewed Objectives and Background of Project - see C-1 (a). The Crooked River Valley Rehabilitation is being performed in conjunction with the Nez Perce Tribe and the Bonneville Power Administration in order to restore fish habitat.

· Briefly touched on the Schedule of Items stressing Additive Item 15 – Large Wood Structure – Type 1. Stressed to contractors that their unit prices and our available funding would be used to determine if any, some, or all of the estimated quantity would be awarded. This decision shall be made concurrent with the award of the base items.

· Noted that original bid bonds are required.

· B-5 Additional Wage Classification Required. No excavator operator rate is included in the wage decision applicable to this project. A rate shall be conformed after award. Most recently conformed rate was $28.60/hour with $11.85 fringe (DOL approval in fall 2017). Base your offer on this rate.

· B-6 Idaho Use Tax. Only GFP that should be subject to Use Tax would be Rip Rap if hauled from off-site. Other locally sourced/stockpiled material should be exempt.

· C-4 Bio-based Product Utilization. The required Fish-Friendly Hydraulic Fluid for equipment operating in-stream (see H-6) will meet the bio-based requirement. Also look at web-site within the clause for other bio-based supplies. A report will be required by the awardee within SAM declaring the total dollar value of bio-based materials used.

· Stressed that all stream work must occur after 7/15/2018. Project completion by 10/31/2018.

· Highlighted H-3 Physical Data. Coordinate with ITD during equipment mobilization as a culvert is being replaced on Hwy 14 this summer that will restrict the road width to one-lane during construction. Also, loads traveling on ID County maintained Crooked River Road 233 must meet highway legal load limits or a proper permit from the county may need to he obtained, this includes load lengths. This coordination is the Contractor’s responsibility.

· Highlighted H-16 Equipment Rental clause. Will only utilize rental equipment on an as needed basis as ordered by the project COR. Funding linked to items not used will be de-obligated at the end of the contract period.

· Group then viewed/discussed the bridge to be furnished by the Government.

· Discussed condition. Bridge being provided as is. Wood running planks all need replaced. Planks GF (currently stored on site next to the bridge parts). Contractor required to dispose of old running planks. New bolts to be supplied by the contractor. A location was identified where the contractor will need to weld/re-attach the center stich plate. Steel curbs will not need to be rehabbed by the contractor. Contractor may rehab the bridge within the Wareyard. Contractor will have to mobilize equipment to lift the two large steel bridge sections off of one-another. Contractors were encouraged to review Specification 06000 closely for more details.

· Per original bridge plans, each half of the bridge weighs 17,750 lbs. and is 50 feet in length. A copy of these original bridge plans will be supplied to the contractor upon award. Professionally stamped (by ID Engineer) design for bridge installation is required. This must be reviewed and approved by the Forest/R1 prior to use. We understand that a fast turnaround will be required and have been in conversation with the R1 Bridge Engineer during solicitation preparation.

· Once rehabbed, tracked equipment will only move over the bridge if the decking is protected so damage does not occur. Bridge will stay in place on site for future phases of construction. Heavy equipment will be allowed to travel over current bypass channel prior to flow diversion into the bypass.

The group then caravanned to the project site and met up again at the stockpile site. Contracting Officer reviewed the following solicitation information, requirements, clauses and provisions:

· Reviewed number of hours currently estimated for equipment rental. The 8 hours for each type of equipment does not look adequate for the scope and size of this project. Be looking for an amendment.

· M-1 EVALUATION CRITERIA Government stressed the requirement for submittal of complete technical proposals that supply all the information requested in this provision; don’t reiterate the specifications. Make sure the client contact information required for reference checks is current and that the key employees are identified for the past work performed. The government requires complete information regarding the techical approach for how/when all the significant work items (see Schedule of Items) will be performed. Be sure to respond with the information requested by the bullets. The government is very interested in knowing who will be on site and who will be operating the equipment; we have seen the difference that a high quality operator can make in the quality of the final product. The government stressed experience constructing new river channels and water and turbidity management. Please note that technical factors when combined are more important than price in the award decision.

Based on our experiences constructing log structures in 2017, the streambank material tends to suspend which makes management of turbidity important. The contractor will not be working in live water with the exception of completing the bypass channel and installing the plug, however, turbidity may still occur through groundwater/surface water connections that the contractor will need to be prepared to control. The contractor shall be expected to have a full complement of erosion control materials on site in order to be prepared and mitigate for spikes in turbidity caused by project activities and in response to environmental conditions such as thunderstorms. No erosion control materials are available for purchase in the Elk City area so when needs arise, lengthy trips are required. Please be prepared. CO will review Technical Approach Criterion to make sure this is emphasized. Amendment to Section M may be issued to clarify the importance of this topic.

A high water table is also expected so excavation to the final channel and floodplain elevations may be complicated by groudwater and may require alternate equipment or creation of hardened routes for heavy equipment. Contractors need to be prepared to make such adjustments with no change to contract price.

Turned meeting over to Jenifer Harris.

· Campground 4, located just north of the stockpile site is a good location for camping. District permit to exceed 14 day stay limit required. COR will facilitate securing permit if necessary. Limited hotel accommodations. Jenifer Harris can provide recommendations for the sites that friendly to government contractors. Limited services in the local area. However, grocery store is good.

· The wood chips within the stockpile site will not be used for this phase of construction. Contractor will need to push the piles up on to the soil stockpile (referred to as vegetative fill in the solicitation) to make room for their equipment.

· Vegetative fill item is an Actual Quantity. Preserving/storing soil for future revegetation work is very important to the government.

Group moved back up to the 233 Road and walked south.

· Stopped at a point below the stockpile site and adjacent to (across the valley from) the location where the bypass channel will be connected to the active channel of Crooked River during this year’s phase of construction. This general area is also where the temporary bridge will be installed. Contractors will need to plan for equipment that will be suited/sized to pass over the government supplied and contractor installed bridge. It may be possible to use a lowboy to spread loads of heavy equipment. Contractors may also need to haul less than full loads across the bridge to meet any load restrictions. Load limits will be determined by an Idaho Licensed Engineer.

· Jenifer Harris pointed out that following completion of construction work last fall, a culvert on the haul route, just south of the stockpile site was removed to make a low point for water to flow through during high flows; this was done to direct the flows away from the stockpiled material. Based on the water currently flowing through this location, the strategy worked. Contractor will need to reinstall a culvert in this location and reconstruct haul route as identified by Note A2 Drawing Sheet 4.0. Please note that the flows will be greatly reduced during the performance period. A 12 inch culvert was sufficent to pass flows. Contractor shall remove culvert and pull this section of bypass road when complete.

· Jenifer Harris and Anne Connor then stressed the de-fishing operation to be conducted by the government. A long stretch of active channel has to be de-fished prior to diverting flows into the bypass channel. Expect this operation to take 5 days. Contractor will be instrumental in assisting the government in reducing water levels with dewatering equipment so that fish/aquatic organisms can be manually removed by government personnel. 20 pools also need to be de-fished with contractor assistance. Expect to need at least 2 - 6-inch pumps to get adequate draw-down due to the amount of groundwater on site and permeable substrate. Contractor is required to give government 15 day notice prior to diverting flows into bypass channel. Amendment to Section M may be issued to clarify the importance of this assistance with and meeting notice requirements for de-fishing.

· We did not state this in the meeting but pumps will be required on site throughout the performance period to deal with turbidity and water issues.

· Haul route viewed was built to Q25. Low nick points were designed in the haul route and diversion plug to be constructed to relieve pressure and allow water to overtop. Diversion plug was designed to be robust. Review requirements on Drawing Sheet 4.4 closely.

· Preservation of existing trees and vegetation if possible is very important to the government. The group viewed an area with established brush and grass that will be preserved. A tolerance is stated in the contract that locations on the floodplain with existing tree(s)/vegetation that are within the final elevation +/- the tolerance stated, will be left in place. This is critical close attention to this requirement resulted in an outcome during last year’s floodplain construction that exceeded the government’s expectations and was asthetically much more pleasing that anticipated.

· Cleared timber will be sorted and stockpiled as specified in the technical specifications..

Group move to the end of the project area.

· Government was pleasantly surprised by the amount of organic material found on the site reconstructed last year. Contractor should also expect large pockets of sand. We speculate that these locations coincide with where the dredge was cleaned. Turbidity may get high when working in these areas.

· Talked about riffle construction. Refer to Drawing Sheet 8.2. Contractor shall sub-excavate 1 ½ feet below grade and import material that has been sorted and screened to meet the specified contract gradation. This tight tolerance is required in relation to the riffle construction but not the regular channel or floodplain.

· CO mentioned that a contractor had requested electronic design elevation data. See Amendment for how to access this information.

· A Contractor asked if the floodplain feature cut volumes including swales, depressions, side channels, and alcoves are included in the Pay Item 6 volume. This was confirmed.

Group move to the location of floodplain constructed in 2017.

· Except for the fact that the woody debris across this floodplain was required to be anchored (partially buried) and the woody debris will be laid on top for the 2018 phase of construction, this floodplain can be used as a model for the micro-topography that should be constructed and the level of desired roughness. The floodplain is very low and was built to Q1/Q2 levels by design to encourage inundation at high flows. Also, contractor did an excellent job of keeping trees and other vegetation/cattails/ponds whenever possible that met the contract tolerance for final floodplain elevation.