693JJ3-24-BAA-0003-001 Amendment 0001.pdf

693JJ3-24-BAA-0003-001 Amendment 00001

Federal Highway Administration Office of Infrastructure Research and Development (HRDI)

Research Initiatives in Support of FHWA Next Generation Structural

Materials and Systems

04/02/2024

HRDI Bridge Engineering Research Team Broad Agency Announcement (BAA): 693JJ3-24-BAA-0003

BAA Call: 001

1. Announcement Number: 693JJ3-24-BAA-0003

2. Solicitation Number: 693JJ3-24-BAA-0003-001

3. Submission Dates:

Opening Date: April 2, 2024 Questions Due Date: April 23, 2024 White Paper Due Date: May 17, 2024 Proposal Due Date: TBD

White papers, questions, and proposals are due by 1:00 p.m. EST time on each due date.

There will be no exceptions to the time and date on which responses are due, unless determined otherwise by the Government. Any submissions received after the closing date/time will not be considered.

Once all white paper offerors have received an advisory notification, Call 001 will be amended to specify the exact Proposal Due Date. Registration in SAM.gov is required prior to submission of a formal Proposal.

4. Solicitation Topic/s: Below is the topic area for proposals.:

Structural Concrete Research Program

Topic: HRDI40-CR-001 Title: Concrete Advancements Realized by Benefits of New Technologies (CARBON Tech)

The development of next generation binder technologies has recently accelerated with a focus on low-carbon systems for concrete and cementitious materials used in infrastructure. Low-carbon binders are an area of opportunity where significant action taken today can lead to tangible, realized reductions in embodied carbon in infrastructure tomorrow. This is exemplified by the ongoing industry shift to Type IL portland limestone cements. Presently there exist many additional “boutique” technologies, each separately attempting to tread a similar path toward more sustainable concrete, where they each individually face common barriers including limited construction experience, limited specifier knowledge, or regionally constrained material supply. When considered independently, any of these technologies may be easily overlooked but when considered in aggregate the total contribution to reduction of embodied carbon in cementitious-based infrastructure can be substantial. This initiative seeks to begin to address the fractured nature of these efforts by creating and implementing a unified performance basis of evaluation for the technologies which identifies their applicable areas of practice while ensuring they maintain a minimum specifiable level of structural integrity and longevity.

The FHWA seeks to accelerate the implementation of next generation low-carbon binder technologies into engineering practice. This is anticipated to be accomplished in part through benchmarking performance of solutions which have achieved a suitable technology readiness level such that they may be implemented in an industrial trial. The FHWA is seeking solutions of market-ready, low-carbon binders to be benchmarked against (at a minimum) an industrially produced Class A concrete with a target 28-day compressive strength of 4000 psi (see Table 8.2.2-1, AASHTO LRFD Bridge Construction Specifications), with mixture proportions preferably in general agreement with regional benchmarks defined in the Cradle-to-Gate Life Cycle Assessment of Ready-Mixed Concrete Report – Version 3.2 analysis (July 2022).

The benchmarked performance is to be limit-state based, considering the following limit states for reinforced concrete elements (AASHTO LRFD Bridge Design Specifications 9th Ed. references provided):

Strength Limit State (Article 5.4.4) o Flexure (Article 5.6.3.2) o Axial (Article 5.6.4.4) o Shear (Article 5.7.3.3, Article 5.7.4.3) o Development length (Article 5.10.8.2.1a)

Service Limit State o Fatigue (Article 5.5.3) o Deflection (Article 5.6.3.5, Article 9.5.2) o Diffusion based corrosion o Freezing and thawing o Physical salt attack o Sulfate resistance

And codified characteristic behaviors and material properties (Article 5.4):

Compressive strength development Modulus of rupture Tensile strength Modulus of elasticity Poisson’s ratio Coefficient of thermal expansion Creep Shrinkage

The technologies of interest are expected to be complimentary to ongoing research by the FHWA on limestone calcined clay systems. In this context, “low-carbon binder technologies” may include but need not be limited to:

Geopolymers Carbonatable minerals Chemical-based strength enhancers Recycled or reclaimed waste products or supplementary cementitious materials Carbon sequestering aggregates or materials Novel binder chemistries Novel synthesis or production methods.

Proposals should include the following information regarding the proposed technology:

Estimated embodied carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e) per unit volume. Estimations should preferably be justified by an accompanying ISO 21930 conformant Type III environmental product declaration or an ISO 14040/14044 conformant life cycle assessment. If this information is unavailable provide at a minimum sufficient details of the assumptions used, defined scope, stages, and system boundaries (ISO 21930), and any reference databases used.

Basis for technology specification (e.g., AASHTO M85, M240, AASHTO M295 or ASTM C618-23, or similar).

5. Number of Awards: It is anticipated that multiple awards will be made for this topic area.

However, one award or no award may be made for this topic area depending on the quality of the proposals, individual funding requests, and total availability of funds.

6. Anticipated Ceiling: See BAA 693JJ3-24-BAA-0003 Section 2.6 - Program and Project

Funding Limits regarding anticipated ceiling.

7. Period of Performance: The period of performance for awards under this BAA Call are anticipated to be no longer than 24 months.

8. Award Type: See BAA 693JJ3-24-BAA-0003 Section 4.3.6 - Recommended Pricing Arrangement regarding award types.

9. Anticipated Award Dates: The Government anticipates making awards in June 2024.

However, the award date may vary based on the quality of the proposals and the availability of funds.

10. White Paper Instructions: Offerors shall submit their white papers in accordance with

BAA 693JJ3-24-BAA-0003 Section 3 - Project White Papers.

11. Proposal Instructions: Offerors shall submit their proposals in accordance with BAA 693JJ3-24-BAA-0003, Section 4 – Project Proposals.

12. Evaluation Criteria: Proposals will be evaluated in accordance with the evaluation criteria contained in the BAA 693JJ3-24-BAA-0003, Section 6 - Evaluation and Award Process.

13. Questions: Any questions concerning this call must be submitted via email to the Contract Specialist Jessica.Prutz@dot.gov and HCFA-22sri@dot.gov no later than the date and time specified in section 3 - Submission Dates above.

Question # Reference

Contractors’ Question

1 General (if there is no specific document reference)

2 (Example) 693JJ3-24-BAA-0003 page 15, Section 5.2, first paragraph, second sentence

3 (Example) 693JJ3-24-BAA-0003-001, page 2, Section 9, first sentence

Please include “Questions for BAA 693JJ3-24-BAA-0003-001 Topic No. HRDI40-CR- 001” in the subject line. All questions and responses will be posted on the System for Award Management, SAM.gov. Questions will only be accepted or answered electronically.

14. Attachments:

N/A

15. Additional Information:

N/A