20. Request for Technical Proposals.pdf

Department of Energy Western Area Power Administration

Rocky Mountain Customer Service Region

P.O. Box 3700

Loveland, CO 80539-3003

23 December 2021

Two-Step Sealed Bid Solicitation:

Estes-Pole Hill-Flatiron 115-kV Double Circuit Rebuild

Step One: Request for Technical Proposals (RFTP)

Pursuant to Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) 14.5, this document is a Request for Technical Proposals (RFTP), step one of a two-step sealed bid solicitation for the acquisition of the construction services of the Estes-Pole Hill-Flatiron 115-kV Double Circuit Rebuild. The principal components of work includes removing 30-miles of 115-kV wood pole transmission line between Estes, Pole Hill, and Flatiron substations and installing approximately 15-miles of 115-kV double circuit steel monopole transmission line structures, conductor, optical ground wire (OPGW), overhead and underground fiber connections to substations and communication sites. This construction shall be sequenced to continue electrical and communications to the maximum extent possible. The period of performance for this project is 547 calendar days after notice to proceed. This information is not binding on the government, and the actual delivery and performance requirements will be contained in the invitation issued under step two (IAW FAR part 14.503-1(b)).

Required components of technical proposals are outlined in Part II of this document. Offerors shall submit proposals that are acceptable without additional explanation or information. The Government may make a final determination regarding a proposal’s acceptability solely on the basis of the proposal as submitted.

Note: The Government may proceed with the second step without requesting further information from any offeror; however, the Government may request additional information from offerors of proposals that it considers reasonably susceptible of being made acceptable and may discuss proposals with their offerors.

Each offeror shall submit only one (1) technical proposal. The Government will forward a notice of unacceptability to an offeror when, upon completion of the proposal evaluation, and final determination of unacceptability. This will be done in accordance with the dates outlined in Part I below.

In the second step of this two-step sealed bid solicitation process, bids will only be invited from contractors whose technical proposals were determined to be acceptable in step one. Bids in the second step will only be accepted electronically through FedConnect. An award in the second step will be based on lowest price technically acceptable. Each bid in the second step must be based on the bidder’s own technical proposals.

The step one RFTP and resulting step two solicitation is issued as an unrestricted, full and open competition with an estimated order of magnitude of more than $10,000,000.00. The applicable NAICS Code is 237130; Size Standard is $39.5M. Bidders are advised that 100% of the funds have yet to be collected. This request for technical proposal does not commit the Government to pay any costs incurred in the submission of any technical proposal in step one or follow-on bid in step two. NOTE: The Buy American Act will apply to the step two solicitation.

This document is organized into the following parts:

• Part I. General Information

• Part II. Requirements of Technical Proposal

Part I. General Information

1. Invitation number and date

Acquisition Method: Two-Step Sealed Bid Description: Estes-Pole Hill-Flatiron 115-kV Double Circuit Rebuild Number: 89503222BWA000045

Technical Proposals are due to the address listed below by 03 February 2022 at 4:30pm Mountain Time to be considered timely for evaluation. An email confirmation shall be sent to the Contracting Officer at siltman@wapa.gov once the technical proposal has been placed in the mail.

Step-one Issue date: 23 December 2021

Technical Proposals due: 03 February 2022

Notification of Technical Acceptability No Later Than: 22 February 2022

2. Name, address, and telephone number of Contracting Officer

All inquiries and correspondence concerning this solicitation shall be submitted in writing via email to the Contracting Officer Benjamin Siltman.

Benjamin Siltman, Contracting Officer Telephone: 970-461-7630 Email: siltman@wapa.gov

Western Area Power Administration Rocky Mountain Region 5555 E. Crossroads Blvd Loveland, CO 80538

Hours of business are Monday through Friday, except Federal holidays, 7:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

Mountain Time.

3. The North American Industrial Classification System Code(s) and business size standard(s) describing the products and/or services to be acquired under this solicitation are listed below:

NAICS U.S. Industry Title NAICS Code Small Business Size Standard

Power and Communication Line and Related Structures Construction

237130 $39.5M mailto:siltman@wapa.gov mailto:siltman@wapa.gov

Part II. Requirements of Technical Proposal

1. Requirements of the technical proposal.

IMPORTANT: Technical proposals shall not include prices or pricing information.

Contents of technical proposal shall be submitted hard copy via mail to the address listed above in Part I, Paragraph 2. The technical proposal to be in the form of a three-ring binder. Each technical proposal project submission shall be separated by tabs and include the contents listed below. A table of contents shall be provided that corresponds with the project submissions in the technical proposal. The technical proposal shall cover a minimum of two (2) projects, for each technical factor, completed within ten (10) years of the RFTP issue date where the contractor performed as the prime contractor. For example, a contractor could submit two (2) projects, all performed within ten years of the RFTP issue date, with each project meeting each of the three

(3) technical factors, in two (2) separate tabs. A contractor could also submit six (6) projects, all performed within ten (10) years of the RFTP issue date, with two (2) meeting the requirements of Factor 1, two (2) meeting the requirements of Factor 2, and two (2) meeting the requirements of Factor 3, in six (6) separate tabs.

Each proposal will be rated as either acceptable, reasonably susceptible of being made acceptable, or not acceptable.

Each technical proposal project submission shall include the following:

A. One (1) completed government furnished cover sheet is required to accompany each project that supports one or more technical factor submission(s). The government furnished cover sheet is hereby provided as an attachment to this step one RFTP.

B. Evidence of satisfying evaluation criteria. This evidence can be provided in the form of successfully completed, where “successfully” is defined under paragraph (c) below, project specifications, plan and profile drawings, foundation detail drawings, Geotech and/or boring logs as proof of prime construction management. Each of these project submissions will be evaluated to determine meeting all three (3) evaluations factors stated below.

C. One (1) completed government furnished certification letter is required to accompany each project that supports one or more technical factor submission(s). The government furnished letter is hereby provided as an attachment to this step one RFTP. In order to determine a successful completion of a project, the technical proposals shall be accompanied by completed government furnished certification letter for each project submitted. This letter will require a certification by a project owner representative (e.g., Project Manager, Construction Manager, etc.), complete with contact information, that had visibility or involvement in the contract performance and can attest to the successful completion of the project.

2. Evaluation criteria consists of three technical factors that are equally weighted. Step one evaluation criteria technical factors are as follows:

A. Factor 1 – Provide evidence of the installation of a minimum of thirty, 115-kV or above, multi-section, steel monopole transmission line structures. For example, provide two (2) successfully completed projects to include the following for each project, 1) project specifications and plan and profile drawings (showing >30 115-kV or above monopole structures) and 2) structure drawings (showing multi-section steel monopoles).

B. Factor 2 – Provide evidence of the installation (prime contractor or subcontractor) of a minimum of thirty concrete foundations (drilled foundations greater than five feet in diameter or micropile foundations) using drilling methods in rock (including slightly weathered or slightly fractured rock up to strong/very strong rock, in accordance with definitions below). For example, provide data for two (2) successfully completed projects to include the following for each project,

1) construction documents (showing >30 foundations), 2) correlating foundation drawings (showing >5ft diameter), 3) respective geotechnical surveys (showing rock), and any other information to correlate the foundation location with the survey information provided.

C. Factor 3 – Provide evidence of the installation of transmission line conductor (115-kV or above) with a minimum elevation change of 2,000 feet on a single line section not to exceed 15 miles. For example, provide data for two (2) successfully completed projects to include the following for each project 1) plan and profile drawings and project specifications to show stringing of a transmission line from 5,000 to 7,000 ft elevation over 15 (or fewer) miles.

3. Definitions:

Evidence of satisfying evaluation criteria - provided in the form of successfully completed project specifications, plan and profile drawings, foundation detail drawings, Geotech and/or boring logs as proof of construction management for the evaluation criteria, covering a minimum of three projects for each factor within ten years of the RFTP issue date.

Acceptable technical proposal - a proposal that meets or exceeds all three (3) criteria for a minimum of two (2) successfully completed projects for each of the evaluation criteria with the government furnished certification letter, and government provided cover letter for each project.

For example, a contractor could submit two (2) projects, all performed within ten years of the RFTP issue date, with each project meeting each of the three (3) technical factors. A contractor could also submit six (6) projects, all performed within the past ten years of the RFTP issue date, with two (2) meeting the requirements of Factor 1, two (2) meeting the requirements of Factor 2, and two (2) meeting the requirements of Factor 3.

Unacceptable technical proposal – a proposal that fails to meet all three (3) criteria for a minimum of two (2) successfully completed projects. Does not provide a government furnished certification letter and/or government provided cover letter for each project.

Reasonably susceptible of being made acceptable proposal – a proposal that requires minor clarifications and communications in order to be made acceptable.

Degree of Weathering (from EM 1110-1-2908, 30 Nov 94) - the engineering properties of a rock can be, and often are, altered to varying degrees by weathering of the rock material. Weathering, which is disintegration and decomposition of the in-situ rock, is generally depth controlled, that is, the degree of weathering decreases with increasing depth below the surface.

• Unweathered: No evidence of any chemical or mechanical alteration.

• Slightly weathered: Slight discoloration on surface, slight alteration along discontinuities, less than 10 percent of the rock volume altered.

• Moderately weathered: Discoloring evident, surface pitted and altered with alteration penetrating well below rock surfaces, weathering “halos” evident, 10 to 50 percent of the rock altered.

• Highly weathered: Entire mass discolored, alteration pervading nearly all of the rock with some pockets of slightly weathered rock noticeable, some minerals leached away.

• Decomposed: Rock reduced to a soil with relict rock texture, generally molded and crumbled by hand.

Degree of Fracturing (Jointing) (from EM 1110-1-2908, 30 Nov 94). Rock structure descriptions describe the frequency of discontinuity spacing and thickness of bedding. Rock mass strength and deformability are both influenced by the degree of fracturing.

• Unfractured: fracture spacing - 6 ft. or more.

• Slightly fractured: fracture spacing - 2 to 6 ft.

• Moderately fractured: fracture spacing - 8 in. to 2 ft.

• Highly fractured: fracture spacing - 2 in. to 8 in.

• Intensely fractured: fracture spacing - 2 in. or less.

Strength (Estimated Uniaxial Compressive Strength) (modified from Hoek, 2001 and Williamson, 1984).

Term Uniaxial compressive strength (psi) Examples

Extremely Strong = > 36,000 psi Fresh basalt, chert, diabase, gneiss, granite, quartzite

Very Strong = 15,000 – 36,000 psi

Amphibolite, sandstone, basalt, gabbro, gneiss, granodiorite, peridotite, rhyolite, tuff

Strong = 7,500 – 15,000 psi Limestone, marble, sandstone, schist

Medium Strong = 3,500 – 7,500 psi Concrete, phyllite, schist, siltstone

Weak = 700 – 3,500 psi Chalk, claystone, potash, marl, siltstone, shale, rocksalt

Very Weak =150 – 700 psi Highly weathered or altered rock, shale

Benjamin Siltman Contracting Officer