Summary of BD27-113 Wattis Mine Coal Fire Abatement RFP

This is a Request for Proposal document issued by the State of Utah Division of Purchasing, conducted by the Division of Oil, Gas, and Mining, for coal fire abatement work at an abandoned coal mine located in Carbon County, Utah. The project scope includes sealing five mine openings, eleven subsidence openings, fifteen exhaust vents and air intakes, and twenty-seven open cracks through excavation, grading, and shallow boring drilling using specialized equipment such as a walker spider excavator. The work is designed to suffocate an active underground coal fire. A mandatory in-person site visit is required on Tuesday, October 20th at 10:00 am at the northwest parking lot located at the intersection of UT-10 S Carbon Avenue and Ridge Road in Carbon County. The meeting is expected to last approximately four hours and will involve driving and hiking over rugged terrain; high-clearance four-wheel-drive vehicles are recommended. Attendance at the entire pre-bid meeting by an authorized representative is mandatory, and bids from firms not on record as attending will be considered nonresponsive. Bidders are advised that abandoned mines are hazardous and should not enter the mines themselves, but are encouraged to examine the project site on their own time to supplement the pre-bid meeting.

The procurement recognizes that abandoned mine closure work is specialized and differs significantly from standard residential or commercial construction, requiring unique expertise and experience in unusual conditions. Per Utah Procurement Rule R33-101-13, the mandatory site visit requirement is enforced to ensure bidders understand the special nature and hazards of the work. The GPS coordinates for the meeting location are 39.536251, -110.816029, with driving directions provided from Price, Utah.