9003 - Questions and Answers.pdf

FLORIDA DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Procurement Office

605 Suwannee Street, MS 20 Tallahassee, Florida 32399-0450

Phone: (850) 414-4381

QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS DATE: February 4, 2025

BID No.: DOT-RFP-25-9003-SJ

BID Title: FION Optical Transmission System Upgrade and Video Distribution Router Additions

OPENING DATE: Friday, February 28, 2025 @ 10:00 AM EST

QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS PROVIDED BELOW

Question

Looking for clarity around the Milestones (two that we see) on page 6 and when is payment will be made by FDOT?

As an example, if the overall cost of the project is $10M, after phase 1 is complete, 20% of the overall cost would be paid by FDOT?

The second milestone I believe reads, after everything has been staged, tested, and signed off by FDOT personnel, the remaining 80% get paid by FDOT? Btw Milestone 1 says 20% and milestone 2 says 75% so still 5% short.

Answer 1

Please refer to Addendum 2 for the updated Exhibit C - Price Proposal Form (Pay Item numbers have changed). The FDOT will issue the Vendor Task Work Orders for the project and they will be paid upon acceptance of the work in the Task Work Order. The first Task Work Order will be for the completion of Milestone 1 in the amount listed on the bid sheet for Pay Item 92. Upon acceptance of Milestone 1, the FDOT will issue a Task Work Order for the completion of Milestone 2 in the amount listed for Pay Item

93. Upon acceptance of Milestone 2, the FDOT intends to issue multiple Task Work Orders for Pay Items 1 through 70. The scope of these Task Work Orders will be defined by the deployment phases in the project. For example, if FDOT and the Vendor agrees that Milton through Tallahassee PSC will be deployed, tested, cutover, and accepted in a single phase, then FDOT will issue a Task Work Order based upon Pay Items 1 through 8 of the bid sheet. Similarly, a Task Work Order may be issued for Pay Items 9 through 13 (Tallahassee FHP through Burns Building). The FDOT intends to repeat this process for the rest of the Pay Items. The system spares, Pay Items 71 through 91 will be issued as a single Task Work Order at the appropriate point in the project. For Pay Item 94, the FDOT will issue Task Work Orders on an as-needed basis for networking engineering consultation and technical support from the Vendor. The FDOT payments will be processed only upon completion and delivery of Task Work Order goods and services.

The Vendor should not confuse the Price Proposal bid price weighting percentages shown on Pay Item 92 and 93 with payment percentages. The Pay Item 92 and 93 bid price percentages are there for the Vendor to use in calculating the bid amounts for those two pay items. Pay Item 92 bid amount shall equal 25% of the Subtotal of the bid amounts of Pay Items 1 through 91. Similarly, Pay Item 93 bid amount shall equal 100% of the Subtotal of the bid amounts of same Pay Items 1 through 91. For example, if the Subtotal of Pay Items 1 through 91 is $10M, then the Vendor shall enter $2.5M for Pay Item 92 (25% of $10M) and $10M for Pay Item 93 (100% of $10M). The Vendor can adjust the Price Proposal bid prices for Pay Items 92 and 93 only by changing the total of Pay Items 1 through 91. The grand total bid price that will be used for price evaluation is sum of Pay Items 1 through 91, plus Pay Items 92, 93, and 94.

After award, how long does it take FDOT to approve Engineering plans and agree to pay the 20%?

How long once all equipment is staged (Milestone 2) does it take FDOT to approve the network and pay?

Answer 2

This project is of high interest and priority to the FDOT. The FDOT will work diligently to review all submittals so that the project may proceed forward in a timely manner. The Vendor should note that the FDOT is an active participant in emergency response during hurricane season and reviews may be delayed before, during, and after an active storm.

The acceptance and payment of Milestone 2 will be based upon the Vendors ability to successfully complete and demonstrate the agreed upon staging acceptance test plan, witnessed by the FDOT, and provide all necessary test results.

After approval of the invoice, payment is processed in accordance to Florida Statute 215.422.

Question

I am looking at the price proposal form and am confused how we should bid. Is the intent that we put the total cost of the project to FDOT in pay items 1-89 and that the milestones are when we will receive payments? If so, then it appears we are missing 5%.

Or do we divide the total cost across items 1-89 and the two milestones?

Answer 3 See Answer 1.

Question

Milestone 1: Task Work Order 1: Engineering plans and submittals, including fiber characterization and site surveys, per Exhibit A, Technical Specifications, Section 5 Milestone 1 1 20% of Price Proposal Subtotal for Pay Items 1 through 89, inclusive

Question – what makes up the 20% subtotal for the price proposal?

Answer 4 See Answer 1

Question

What is the estimated time to complete the site surveys at all sites? We need understand the expected length of time it takes to complete both milestones, so we understand the length of time between both payments.

Answer 5

The Technical Specifications and Contract Plans provide the list of sites to be surveyed and fiber to be characterized. The Vendor will work with FDOT to establish an approved schedule for the site surveys based upon Vendor's available resources and the FDOT’s ability to coordinate and schedule access to the sites. The Vendor should note that some locations are controlled by the FDOT Districts or other State agencies and additional coordination will be required to access them.

Question

Milestone 2: Task Work Order 2: Equipment Staging, per Exhibit A, Technical Specifications, Section 9 Milestone 2 1 75% of Price Proposal Subtotal for Pay Items 1 through 89, inclusive

Question – what makes up the 75% subtotal to receive most of the payment?

Question – the two payments together add up to 95%, when is the remaining 5% paid?

Answer 6 See Answer 1

Question

Is there a priority on which district gets staged first? If so, what is the order? Will there be multiple districts staged simultaneously or is it expected they are all staged at once?

Answer 7 Per the Technical Specifications, Section 9.2, "The system shall be staged in its entirety in a single statewide configuration." See Answer 55 for additional details.

Question

I was wondering if you could provide me with what fiber connections are being reused. Should we assume that each 5200 site will be reusing the fibers at their site?

Answer 8

The fiber pairs in the Tallahassee SPB ring, and from Tallahassee PSC to Master Hub 10 and across I- 10 to Jacksonville FHP are currently in use. In addition, from SR821 MM 25 to MM0.1 is in use. There is potential that existing circuits could have been relocated to fibers strands reserved for this project in response to a fiber cut or other damage. However, the existing system has redundant routes and scheduled downtime for testing and cutover can be accommodated.

Question

Technical Specifications Section 9.3 indicates Fortinet devices need to “function as stand-ins for certain District equipment” at the Milton and Chipley sites. The indicated Fortinet devices are firewalls.

What make/model of district routers will the Nokia 7250 IXR-R6 router communicate with beyond the firewalls at these sites?

Answer 9

At Chipley, the equipment to be interfaced to is a Fortinet 3400E and at Milton it is a Fortinet 1800F.

The equipment at Midway has recently been relocated to the Tallahassee PSC and is a Cisco 4500X.

See Revised Technical Specifications - Addendum 2. In addition, the need for a routed node and ROADM at Midway Operations has been removed and the Vendor shall furnish and install a ILA instead. See Revised Technical Specificaitons - Addendum 2 and updated Contract Plans Sheets A-6, A-7, B-5, B-6, B-7, B-8, D3-S1, and SW-1

Question

DOT-RFP-25-9003-SJ Question Regarding Technical Specification Section 3.3.1.9 states “The FDOT desires that the upgraded Tallahassee nodes utilize IS-IS protocol as required to maintain compatibility with Extreme Networks’ VSP-7400, and X440-G2 nodes that will remain at the Tallahassee Burns Building site.”

Will compatibility with these Extreme Network device models need to be simulated and tested during staging testing?

Answer

The Extreme Network equipment will be reconfigured by the FDOT as Layer 2 switches and the requirement to utilize IS-IS protocol is removed. See Revised Technical Specifications - Addendum 2.

Question

Will the state be selecting one vendor for the RFP, or will the state be open to selecting one vendor for Nokia, and one vendor for the optical network, since there are two separate technologies that come into play?

Answer

The Department will award and contract with one vendor only. That vendor is able to associate with subcontractors, for the purpose of fulfilling the services ascribed to this project, without additional cost to the Department, other than those costs within the limits and terms of the resulting contract.

Question

Can you please provide clarification on the payment schedule as it seems a bit confusing as it looks like the majority of the payment schedule is tied to the staging but don't see a milestone payment for final implementation. Can you provide an example using $1m as the subtotal.

Answer

See Answer 1

Question

Where does FDOT want us to provide services pricing as we did not see a specific location to provide services pricing within your pricing sheet. Does the services pricing need to be rolled into the unit pricing?

Answer

Yes. All costs need to be included in the price sheet. Please see Answer 1 for details.

Can FDOT specifically indicate which fibers are available for service migration as it is not clear which spans have available dark fiber for migration. Can that information be provided on a span by span basis?

Answer

The fiber pairs in the Tallahassee SPB ring, and from Tallahassee PSC to Master Hub 10 and across I- 10 to Jacksonville FHP are currently in use. In addition, from SR821 MM 25 to MM0.1 is in use. There is potential that existing circuits could have been relocated to fibers strands reserved for this project in response to a fiber cut or other damage. However, the existing system has redundant routes and scheduled downtime for testing and cutover can be accommodated.

Question

The RFP refers to the Nokia 7250 IXR-R6 hardware that needs to be provided as part of this RFP for the DWDM Transport network. If the Routing part of the network was awarded to Nokia under a prior RFP , would it not be best for Nokia to supply the 7250 IXR-R6’s under that prior RFP? The integration of the Nokia routers could be still done as part of this RFP, however there would need to be additional info on the configurations that FDOT has standardized on.

Answer

FDOT deployed Qty. (12) 7250 IXR-R6 Routers under a different project and are currently in production.

This project will add Qty. (30) new 7250 IXR-R6 routers and the existing routers need to be integrated into this project. Standardized configurations of the existing 7250 routers will be provided to the awarded Vendor.

Question

DOT-RFP-25-9003-SJ Technical Specification Section 9.2 states “The vendor shall utilize Virtual Routing and Forwarding (VRF) instances on the spare 7250 IXR-R6 routers to simulate the multiple existing routers in production.” Has FDOT confirmed with Nokia the requested solution to use multiple router instances is compatible with the multicast VPN configuration on the existing 7250 IXR-R6 routers?

Answer

The Vendor shall work with the FDOT to develop a staging test plan that accomplishes the goal of staging the system in a statewide configuration to the extent possible. FDOT realizes that it may be necessary to separately stage the networking equipment of District 3 and the Tallahassee ring from the rest of the state to effectively test the networking portion of the project. This will allow the Vendor to utilize the 7250 IXR-R6 routers from the District 3 and Tallahassee Ring segments to supplement the spare routers to effectively simulate the existing 7250 IXR-R6 routers in the network. When performing staging test on the District 3 and the Tallahassee Ring, the Vendor shall simulate the remainder of the network to the extent possible with the spare 7250 IXR-R6 routers to demonstrate a fully working system.

Question

DOT-RFP-25-9003-SJ Technical Specification Section 13 states “During the initial warranty period, the Vendor shall provide network engineering consultation and technical support for the optical transport equipment and routed MPLS network components comprising the system.” Please clarify the criteria that would be used to determine whether “network engineering consultation” is considered as covered under the warranty for the scope of work for this project. Also, can a Proposer specify in their proposal a maximum cap on the number of hours provided for “network engineering consultation”?

Answer

"Network engineering consultation" will consist of help with intergration and operation of the project equipment (plus the 12 existing routers to the extent they interface to this project) beyond initial staging, staging testing, field installation and equipment commissioning and cut over. FDOT has added a pay item to the Price Proposal Form for 200 hours at a vendor specified unit rate for a push-button, as-needed Task Work Order. See Exhibit C - Price Proposal Form - Addendum 2

Question

DOT-RFP-25-9003-SJ Technical Specification Section 5 requires the submittal of a “Fiber optic characterization Measurement Test Plan”. What information is required to be included in this test plan?

Answer

The Vendor shall provide a plan that identifies how the Vendor will complete the characterization testing, include test equipment, measurement procedures for the following tests: connector inspection, OTDR, chromatic dispersion, polarization mode dispersion, and spectral attenuation tests. The Vendor shall prepare and submit the test plan to FDOT for approval.

SECTION: 9/9.1

RFP REQUIREMENT: System Staging mentions “burn-in”.

VENDOR QUESTION: Can you provide the duration of burn-in period?

Answer

Successful completion of System Staging will satisfy the burn-in requirement.

Question

SECTION: RFP and Diagrams RFP REQUIREMENT: The RFP mention 7250 IXR-R6, 7750 SR-a8, 7705 SAR-18 and 7705 SAR-H VENDOR QUESTION: Can FDOT provide the following:

Quantity and which sites these routers are currently installed. ( 7705 SAR-18 and 7705 SAR-H)

Answer

7705 SAR-H: District 6 RTMC and HEFT

7705 SAR-18: Jacksonville FHP, Lake City, McArthur-Sunrise, Wildwood, Orlando West, Orlando South, DeLand, Milton, Coral Reef, Ft. Pierce Interchange

7750 SR-a8: Wilson Rd (D5 RTMC), and District 6 RTMC

Each site has one each of the listed routers.

Question

SECTION: RFP and Diagrams RFP REQUIREMENT: The RFP mention 7250 IXR-R6, 7750 SR-a8, 7705 SAR-18 and 7705 SAR-H VENDOR QUESTION: Can FDOT provide the following:

An architecture diagram that shows 7250 IXR-R6, 7750 SR-a8, 7705 SAR-18 & 7705 SAR-H

Answer

The proposed connections to existing 7705 SAR-18 are shown on Contract Plans Sheets A-6 and A-7.

The 7750 SR-a8 is connected to existing D5 RTMC 7250 IXR-R6 #1. No specific connection to a 7705 SAR-H is proposed. Per Section 3.3.1 of the Technical Specifications, the Vendor shall propose solutions for integrating the microwave transport into the network design in their high-level design deliverable, providing pros and cons of each solution for the FDOT's consideration.

Question

SECTION: RFP and Diagrams RFP REQUIREMENT: The RFP mention 7250 IXR-R6, 7750 SR-a8, 7705 SAR-18 and 7705 SAR-H VENDOR QUESTION: Can FDOT provide the following:

What layer 3 services are currently used in the routers 7250 IXR-R6, 7750 SR-a8, 7705 SAR-18 &

7705 SAR-H

Answer

Layer 3 services running on the routers include: Packetization, host-to-host delivery, forwarding, fragmentation and reassembly (if required), logical subnetting, and routing. There is no network address translation (NAT) occurring on the FION. In the context of the FION MPLS network, the following services are operational: M-VRPN service, Internet Enhanced Service (IES) for network management, VPLS services, epipe services, and cpipe services.

Question

SECTION: Attachment 2, DROP (RED double arrows)

RFP REQUIREMENT: 100GE and 100 Gb/s DROP Interface VENDOR QUESTION: Will the ROADM and 7250 IXR-R6 equipment be collocated and can use 100G- SR4 (short reach) optical interfaces? If not, please specify

Answer

Yes. All ROADM shelves with drops to 7250 IXR-R6 routers will be collocated and both shall use 100GBASE-SR4 QSFP-28 optics.

SECTION: Attachment 2, INTERCONNECT (GREEN double arrows) RFP REQUIREMENT: 10Gb/s INTERCONNECT interface VENDOR QUESTION: Will the 7250 IXR-R6 be collocated with the NNI equipment and can use 10G- SR (short reach) optical interface? If not, please specify.

Answer

Yes. All 7250 IXR-R6 routers with client-side 10GE NNI interfaces will be collocated with client-side equipment and shall use 10GE-SR SFP+ optics.

Question

SECTION: Attachment 2, OPTICAL TRANSPORT (BLUE double arrows) RFP REQUIREMENT: TERL Site, OPTICAL TRANSPORT interface VENDOR QUESTION: Please specify the interface requirement for 1 Gb/s connection from TERL to District 7 RTMC.

Answer

This is a 1Gb/s link utilizing a commercial carrier service. The current interface is a 1000BASE-SX SFP and is not expected to change during the project.

Question

SECTION: Attachment 2, I/4/I-75 Interchange Hub

RFP REQUIREMENT: 7250 IXR-R6

VENDOR QUESTION: Sheet B-65-1 Table and Sheet B-65-2 Drawing shows seven (7)100G ports assigned to 7250 IXR-R6.

The 7250 IXR-R6 can accommodate six (6) slots for the 100G MDA (media dependent adapters).

Recommendation: one (1) additional 7250 IXR-R6 router will be required at I/4/I-75 Interchange Hub.

Please review and confirm

Answer

The design has been modified to remove the optical link between the I-4/I-75 Master Hub and the Tampa Maintenance tower site. Therefore there will be only six (6) wide area links dropping at the I-4/I- 75 Master Hub. The Contract Plans Sheets A-6, A-7, B-65-1, B-65-2, B-67, have been updated accordingly.

Question

SECTION: Attachment 2, Barry Building RFP REQUIREMENT: OPTICAL TRANSPORT interface VENDOR QUESTION: Please specify the interface requirement for 10Gb/s connection from Barry Building to Burns Building.

Answer

This is currently a 10GBASE-ER link and shall remain as such.

Question

SECTION: DOT-RFP-25-9003-SJ, 3.2 Optical Transport Requirements RFP REQUIREMENT: Optical transport equipment shall support 120 VAC and -48 VDC power, as some FDOT sites (such as RTMCs and Master Hubs) have 120 VAC power, and the tower sites have - 48 VDC battery plants.

VENDOR QUESTION: Please specify the sites that require 120VAC-powered source equipment.

Answer

See Exhibit A - Revised Technical Specifications - Addendum 2. Midway Operations is moved from Section 6.1.1 to Section 6.1.2 and Golden Glades Whatley Hub is moved from Section 6.1.1 to Section

6.1.3. With this change, all sites in Section 6.1.1 require -48VDC power and sites in Sections 6.1.2 and

6.1.3 require AC power.

Question

SECTION: DOT-RFP-25-9003-SJ, 3.5.2 Maintenance Spares RFP REQUIREMENT: The Vendor shall also furnish the following Nokia 7750 SAR-a8 router equipment to be used during staging testing and then provided as a maintenance spare:

Qty. (1) IO Module, Part Number 3HE09201BARE01 VENDOR QUESTION: Incorrect part number. The part number for IOM L3BQ is 3HE09202BA.

Answer

The part number is updated in the Technical Specifications. See Revised Technical Specifications - Addendum 2.

SECTION: DOT-RFP-25-9003-SJ, 3.5.2 Maintenance Spares RFP REQUIREMENT: Other necessary parts to provide a fully functional Nokia 7750 SAR-a8 router.

VENDOR QUESTION: Does vendor need to provide the MDA?

If required, please specify the type and qty.

Answer

Technical Specifications have been updated to include one MDA 3HE09025AA 2-port 10G, 12-port 1G MDA. The Exhibic C - Price Proposal Form has been updated to include a Pay Item for this card. See - Addendum 2 advertised within the Vendor Information Portal for this solicitation.

Question

SECTION: DOT-RFP-25-9003-SJ, 3.5.2 Maintenance Spares RFP REQUIREMENT: The Vendor shall also furnish the following Nokia 7750 SAR-a8 router equipment to be used during staging testing and then provided as a maintenance spare:

Qty. (1) 7750 SAR-a8 Chassis, Part Number 3HE09196AARC01, and other Qty. (1) Power Supply, Part Number 3HE09199AARB01 VENDOR QUESTION: For 7750 SR-a8, two PSUs are required to support the full system power requirements without power redundancy. Three PSUs must be installed and powered at all times for (N + 1) redundancy.

Please advise which configuration shall be provided.

Answer

A third PSU is not required for the spare 7750 SR-a8.

Question

SECTION: DOT-RFP-25-9003-SJ, 13 HARDWARE AND SOFTWARE TECHNICAL SUPPORT

RFP REQUIREMENT: As Nokia routing and optical transport equipment are installed, commissioned, and accepted, the Nokia equipment shall be supported by Nokia Gold technical support with Next Business Day Advanced Exchange and shall include the Nokia Software Subscription Plan (SSP). The Vendor shall also provide the equivalent technical support, next business day advanced exchange, and software subscription for the optical transport equipment from the original equipment manufacturer.

VENDOR QUESTION: Please advise the coverage term (start date, how many year).

Please advise if vendor is to perform any of the installation, commissioning and acceptance services for the hardware rollout.

Answer

Per Section 13 of the Technical Specifications, the awarded Vendor is expected to provide Nokia Gold technical support with Next Business Day Advanced Exchange and shall include the Nokia Software Subscription Plan (SSP) through the warranty period.

With respect to installation, commissioning and acceptance services, the awarded Vendor (either themselves or via partners or sub-contractor(s)) is expected to perform field installation, commissioning, and system acceptance testing of all newly installed hardware, as well as integration services and associated commissioning and system acceptance testing with existing FION hardware.

SECTION: Attachment B1

VENDOR QUESTION:

the drawing reflects a 2x lit fiber pairs between I-10/SR23 and Jacksonville.

Reviewing the drawing in B2, I10/23 to Jacksonville shows a single lit fiber pair. Also it appears that there is optical passthrough in the ROADM node indicated by the dashed lines.

The fiber connectivity in B3 also seems to indicate that this is a single lit fiber pair.

Please confirm this is a single lit pair between I-10/SR23 and Jacksonville.

There will be a single active (lit) pair between I-10/SR23 master hub and Jacksonville FHP. The pair shall carry two lambdas, one lambda each for the two circuits. At Jacksonville FHP, the ROADM shelf shall drop the appropriate signal to the appropriate interface on the 7250 router.

Question

SECTION: Attachment 2, Existing 7250 IXR-R6 RFP REQUIREMENT: MDA Card VENDOR QUESTION: Is the vendor required to provide the MDA?

Existing 7250 IXR-R6 routers are already populated with the required MDA and 100GBASE-SR4 optics for terminating all 100 Gb/s WAN links with 100GBASE-SR4 optics for hand-off to ROADM shelves.

Question

SECTION: Attachment 2, Existing 7250 IXR-R6

RFP REQUIREMENT: 100G DROP

VENDOR QUESTION: Is the vendor required to provide the 100G Pluggable Optic? If yes, please specify (100GBase-SR4, LR4, etc.)

Answer

Existing 7250 IXR-R6 routers are already populated with the required MDA and 100GBASE-SR4 optics for terminating all 100 Gb/s WAN links with 100GBASE-SR4 optics for hand-off to ROADM shelves.

Question

SECTION: Attachment 2, Existing 7250 IXR-R6 RFP REQUIREMENT: 10G Optical Transport VENDOR QUESTION: Is the vendor required to provide the 10G SFP+?

Answer

Yes, the Vendor is required to provide the 10G SFP+ modules for the 10G interfaces at Lake City Operations (one for new service to D2 HQ, and one for D2 ITS backup), Jacksonville FHP, D4 RTMC, D7 RTMC, Pompano, and Turkey Lake (7 total). The Network Interconnect Schematics have been updated to show the drop to Turkey Lake. See revised Sheets B-16, B-20, B-36, B-45, B-46, and B-64.

Question

SECTION: Price proposal form, pg 8, items 90 & 91 RFP REQUIREMENT: item 90 (Task Work Order 1) = 20%; item 91 (Task Work Order 2) = 75% VENDOR QUESTION: What is the other 5%?

Answer

See Answer 1

Question

SECTION: 3.2 Optical Transport Requirements RFP REQUIREMENT: Optical transport equipment shall support C and L band operation.

VENDOR QUESTION: As the network is moving from 2.5G and lower transport to a single 100G wavelength on a module which can support 400G, is L band a real requirement ?

As the requirement for this network is to a 100G capacity between nodes, is the requirement for L band support and its associated cost worth the financial investment for equipment that may never be utilized.

The C-band is perfectly capable of transporting multiple wavelengths up to 1.2Tb. For example, if we use the popular 400G wavelengths being predominantly deployed today up to 48 x 400G wavelengths could be supported over a single span.

Answer

The FDOT removes the requirement for the optical transport to support L-band operation. See Revised Technical Specifications - Addendum 2.

Question

Reference Section 3) AGENDA FOR PUBLIC MEETINGS

Will the Public Opening be available by virtual meeting such as teams or zoom for participation or conference call or only in person?

Answer

In-person Only

Question

Reference Section PRICE PROPOSAL FORM (Pages 1 - 7)

Given the fact that all vendor equipment - needs to be purchased in advance for staging will FDOT increase Milestone 1 to 25% and Milestone 2 to 100% to cover these costs and avoid financing charges

- which would have to be in included in the contract proposal.

The FDOT agrees and has increased Milestone 1 to 25% and Milestone 2 to 100% of Pay Items 1 though 89. See Exhibit C - Price Proposal Form located within Addendum No. 2 advertised within the Vendor Information Portal for this solicitation.

Question

Reference Section PRICE PROPOSAL FORM (Pages 1 - 7)

The spares covered under line items 71 -89 must be installed as part of Milestone 2. Will the task work order covering line items 71 - 89 be issued prior to the start of Milestone 2?

Answer

The FDOT will issue a Task Work Order for the spares (Line Items 71 through 91 of Exhibit C - Price Proposal Form - Addendum 2) at the same time the Task Work Order for Milestone 2 is issued. The Vendor may utilize the spares during commissioning of the network, as required, and provide replacements for spares used. The FDOT will accept and pay for the spares at the conclusion of the project.

Question

Reference Section 21.1 Responsiveness of Proposals

The proposal to FDOT is marked on the RFP as due Feb 21 2025 at 9AM EST. This lists the email address of Ms. Johnson as well as an address. 21.1 states "Proposals will not be considered if not received by the Department on or before the date and time specified as the due date for submission. All proposals must be typed or printed in ink. " Are electronic submissions not accepted for this RFP?

Please see the section below as this section is in conflict as it requests submittals electronically. Are these printed only? If printed how many copies are requested? And will the bid opening ensure that the package is not opened until Feb 21 2025 at the stated time? PLEASE CLARIFY electronic or printed copies to be submitted.

Answer

Proposals are to be submitted electronically as outlined within Special Condition Section 27: Electronic Submission of Proposals

Question

Reference Section 27) ELECTRONIC SUBMISSION OF PROPOSALS:

Please see the preceding section as these appear to be in conflict with each other. "Please follow the below instructions for the submittal of electronic bids, failure to do so, may result in your bid being found non-responsive. Non-responsive replies will not be evaluated." PLEASE CLARIFY electronic or printed copies to be submitted.

Answer

See Answer 42

Question

Reference Section 29) PROPOSAL OPENING

How will FDOT sequester or escrow submitted proposals so that they are only opened at the bid opening time when sent either electronically or by print?

Answer

When proposals are submitted electronically, they are moved to a separate file, where they will remain unopened until such time as the Proposal Opening date and time

Question

Reference 30) PROPOSAL EVALUATION

Will the TRC be current FDOT employees and or contractors or will there be external third party members? How will the proposal data be protected and the integrity of the process be kept confidential during selection?

The TRC will be composed of at least three (3) persons who collectively have experience and knowledge in the program areas and service requirements for which the commodities and/or contractual services are sought. Once proposals are opened, the Procurement Office will distribute to each member of the TRC a copy of each technical proposal and a Conflict of Interest Certification. The TRC members will independently evaluate the proposals on the criteria and point system established in the solicitation document in order to assure that proposals are uniformly rated. TRC members are authorized to consult with subject matter experts, who are also required to sign the Conflict of Interest Certification, for the purpose of gathering information, if needed. The independent evaluations, once completed, are then sent back to the Procurement Office.

Question

Reference Section Technical Specifications Section 1.1

Technical Specifications Section 1.1 references “Network Interconnection Parameters”. Will this information be made available to proposers prior to the bid deadline? If so, how can this information be requested?

Answer

Per Section 1.1, "A Network Interface Parameters workbook containing sensitive IP addressing information will only be provided to the awarded Vendor following the award of a contract and notice to proceed."

Question

Reference Section Technical Specifications Section 1.1

Technical Specifications Section 1.1 states “configurations shall be compatible with the existing FION MPLS network”. Is the vendor or FDOT responsible for any configuration changes required to existing network elements to support new network elements?

Answer

The Vendor shall be responsible for developing all configuration changes required to existing network elements to support new network elements and work in concert with the FDOT to ensure proper functionality of the complete system.

Question

Reference Section Technical Specifications Section 1.2

Technical Specifications Section 1.2 states “the Vendor shall coordinate with the FDOT for access to the sites and work areas”. How much advance notice is required to access sites?

Answer

Access to the FDOT tower sites shall be requested a minimum of 48-hours in advance to ensure that there are no conflicts with other activity at the site. Access to District owned facilities (RTMCs, hubs, cabinets) or other State agency-owned sites (e.g,, Naples FHP), shall be requested a minimum of 2-weeks in advance as these sites will require coordination with the Districts and may require escort.

Question

Reference Section Technical Specifications Section 1.7

Technical Specifications Section 1.7 states “changes in work may include…increase or reduction in optical transport and networking equipment and associated spares”

Will any reductions in equipment be identified prior to the start of work on Milestone 2?

Answer

Yes. One of the purposes of Milestone 1 is to identify any changes in the work prior to FDOT issuing a TWO to begin Milestone 2.

Question

Reference Section Technical Specifications Section 1.17.5

Technical Specifications Section 1.17.5 references drawings regarding installation. Will FDOT provide the base drawings in Visio format for floor plans and rack layouts reflecting equipment as currently installed?

Answer

FDOT will provide any existing floorplans and rack profiles of facilities in which these drawings exist (primarily tower sites). The FDOT does not guarantee the accuracy of these drawings and it’s the responsibility of the Vendor to update them, and generate new drawings for all other sites. For floor plans and rack layouts, it is expected that the drawings provided by the Vendor convey only the information necessary to evaluate the proposed installation plan. Details of equipment outside the scope of this project do not need to be provided. For example, a rack layout should be accurate and to scale for the new equipment and equipment interfaced to (such as patch panels), but other equipment in the rack diagrams only require a general representation of the amount of space occupied.

Reference Section Technical Specifications Section 3.1

Technical Specifications Section 3.1 indicates some sites that have already been upgraded “will not require a vendor furnished and installed 7250 IXR-R6 router addition. Does the vendor need to provide the port hardware and associated optics to support the new 100G interfaces on these existing 7250 IXR-R6 routers? If FDOT will provide 100G optics for these existing routers, what is the make and model number of these optics?

Answer

Existing 7250 IXR-R6 routers are already populated with the required MDA and 100GBASE-SR4 optics for terminating all 100 Gb/s WAN links with 100GBASE-SR4 optics for hand-off to ROADM shelves.

Question

Reference Section Technical Specifications Section 3.1.1.5

Technical Specifications Section 3.1.1.5 states “PIM-SM to be served by the 7750 SR-a8 Rendevous Points (RPs) at the Wilson Road and District 6 RTMC sites”. Is the work to get both 7750 SR-a8 RPs installed and operational in the field separate from the scope of this project?

Answer

Yes, but the Vendors are responsible for any configuration changes required on this hardware to accommodate this project.

Question

Reference Section Technical Specifications Section 3.3.1.7

Technical Specifications Section 3.3.1.7 states “The Vendor shall configure the equipment for route distribution with connected entities via external BGP (eBGP) for IPv4 routes and MBGP for multicast group addresses.” Please list the the "connected entities" that will require configuration for eBGP. Will the “connected entities” outside of the FION network be responsible for any configuration changes required within their networks to support the external BGP connections? If so, will the “connected entities” collaborate with the vendor to identify BGP interoperability requirements for these connections to their networks?

Answer

The requirement for configuring eBGP connections to connected entitites is removed from the project.

The Vendor shall configure the equipment using static routes to the entities being connected to as part of this project (e.g., Milton, Chipley, Tallahassee FHP, Barry Building, TERL, SEOC, Tallahassee PSC, Turkey Lake, Lake City HQ, Manatee County Satellite TMC). See Revised Technical Specifications - Addendum 2.

Question

Reference Section Technical Specifications Section 3.3.1.9

Technical Specifications Section 3.3.1.9 states “The 7250 IXR-R6 MPLS network will be extended into the Tallahassee ring to deliver multicast video and other data and services.“ Is the vendor or FDOT responsible for providing the port hardware and associated optics for the Extreme Network side of the connections between the new Nokia 7250 IXR-R6 routers and the existing Extreme Network routers?

Answer

No

Question

Reference Section Technical Specifications Section 3.3.1.9

Technical Specifications Section 3.3.1.9 states “The 7250 IXR-R6 MPLS network will be extended into the Tallahassee ring to deliver multicast video and other data and services. “Is the vendor or FDOT responsible for making any configuration changes required on the remaining Extreme Network routers to support this 7250 IXR-R6 MPLS extension?

Answer

The FDOT is responsible for making any configuration changes required on the Extreme Network switches.

Question

Reference Section Technical Specifications Section 3.4.3

Technical Specifications Section 3.4.3 states “Four nodes on the upgraded network will need to participate in the FION’s M-VPRN service for ingesting multicast video and other data.” Will the

“District/Partners” be responsible for any configuration changes required within their networks to support ingesting data into the FION’s M-VPRN? If so, how will the District/Partners collaborate with the vendor to identify interoperability requirements for these connections to their networks?

Answer

The FDOT will provide relevant portions of the configuration files for the District/Partner network equipment. The Vendor shall review the configurations and provide recommended changes to be implemented by the District/Partner for their review. During the cutover, it is expected that a meeting (typically via Microsoft Teams) be held approximately two weeks before cutover with the District/Partner to review the cutover plan and configuration changes.

Question

Reference Section Technical Specifications Section 6.2

Technical Specifications Section 6.2 states “The Vendor shall perform a physical survey of each site with the FDOT present.” What is the required advance notice to schedule an FDOT representative to be present for these physical surveys?

Answer

Site surveys of FDOT facilities shall be planned a minimum of two weeks in advance to ensure appropriate resources and access is available. The FDOT expects that site surveys, as well as fiber characterization, will be most efficient when performed on a District-by-District basis.

Question

Reference Section Technical Specifications Section 6.3.2

Technical Specifications Section 6.3.2 states “The Vendor shall characterize the fiber strands assigned for FION use in each District’s or Partner’s outside plant, including the strands that are reserved for FDOT’s Central Office future use.” Are all strands that require characterization identified in the Contract Plans, including those reserved for future use?

Answer

Yes

Question

Reference Section Technical Specifications Section 6.3.3

Technical Specifications Section 6.3.3 states “Fiber characterization and OTDR test points will generally be located and available within FDOT’s equipment sites, as shown in the Contract Plans.” Will all splicing between test points be completed prior to project award?

Answer

Though it is a goal of the FDOT to complete all required outside plant work prior to contract award, the FDOT is unable to commit to being able to do so. The Vendor shall work with the FDOT and prioritize site surveys and fiber optic characterization based upon readiness of the outside plant.

Question

Reference Section Technical Specifications Section 6.3.3

If the splice is not adequate and fails the OTDR fiber characterization will FDOT allow for additional charges for additional fiber characterization? If not how many re-works of fiber characterization does FDOT anticipate?

Answer

Should a fiber fail characterization, when the fiber is repaired, the FDOT may issue a negotiated Task Work Order to the Vendor to perform new fiber characterization or the FDOT will provide results from an FDOT-performed fiber characterization.

Question

Reference Section Technical Specifications Section 9.3.1

Technical Specifications Section 9.3.1 states “the staging plan shall include equipment to simulate that each District can receive other Districts’ multicast video via MSDP peering through the FION.” Is the District equipment to be simulated limited to the Turkey Lake, Milton, Chipley, and Midway Operations sites?

Answer

Yes, however, network functionality planned for Midway Operations has been moved to the Tallahassee Public Safety Complex. Midway Operations is now an In-Line Amplifier site. See Revised Technical Specificaitons - Addendum 2 and updated Contract Plans Sheets A-6, A-7, B-5, B-6, B-7, B-8, D3-S1, and SW-1.

Question

Reference Section Technical Specifications Section 2.1

Technical Specifications Section 2.1 states "Maintain 100% compatibility with the FDOT’s existing FION, MegaSys Telenium Spectra, and Nokia Network Services Platform (NSP) network management systems (NMS)." Are there any requirements for equipment not branded as Nokia to communicate with the Nokia NSP platform?

Answer

No, it is not a requirement.

Question

Reference Section Technical Specifications Section 3.6.2

Technical Specifications Section 3.6.2 states "All Nokia branded equipment on the FION must communicate with the NSP servers participating in the network management service". Are there any requirements for equipment not branded as Nokia to communicate with the Nokia NSP platform?

Answer

No, it is not a requirement.

Question

Reference Section Technical Speficiations Section 3.3.1.7

Technical Specifications Section 3.3.1.7 states "The Vendor shall configure the equipment for route distribution with connected entities via external BGP (eBGP) for IPv4 routes and MBGP for multicast group addresses. Autonomous System (AS) numbers for use with eBGP will be furnished during the Detailed Design Workshop." Please identify the "connected entities" that require route distribution via external BGP.

Answer

The requirement for configuring eBGP connections to connected entitites is removed from the project.

The Vendor shall configure the equipment using static routes to the entities being connected to as part of this project (e.g., Milton, Chipley, Tallahassee FHP, Barry Building, TERL, SEOC, Tallahassee PSC, Turkey Lake, Lake City HQ, Manatee County Satellite TMC). See Revised Technical Specifications - Appendum 2

Question

Reference Section Technical Specifications 10.8.1

Technical Specifications Section 10.8.1 states "It is recognized that some links in the new system will reuse existing fiber optic strands that are currently in operation and cannot be readily tested prior to cutover." The contract plans and specifications do not identify which strands will be reused. Please identify the fiber optic strands that will be reused.

Answer

The fiber pairs in the Tallahassee SPB ring, and from Tallahassee PSC to Master Hub 10 and across I- 10 to Jacksonville FHP are currently in use. In addition, from SR821 MM 25 to MM0.1 pair 65/66 is in use. There is potential that existing circuits could have been relocated to fibers strands reserved for this project in response to a fiber cut or other damage. However, the existing system has redundant routes and scheduled downtime for testing and cutover can be accommodated.

Question

Reference Section Technical Specifications 10.3.2

Technical Specifications Section 6.3.2 states "The Vendor shall characterize the fiber strands assigned for FION use in each District’s or Partner’s outside plant" Some of these fiber strands are currently in use. There will disruptions on these fiber links while they are being characterized. What is the process for coordinating any planned service interruptions required to peform characterization testing?

Answer

The fiber pairs in the Tallahassee SPB ring, and from Tallahassee PSC to Master Hub 10 and across I- 10 to Jacksonville FHP are currently in use. In addition, from SR821 MM 25 to MM0.1 pair 65/66 is in use. There is potential that existing circuits could have been relocated to fibers strands reserved for this project in response to a fiber cut or other damage. However, the existing system has redundant routes and scheduled downtime for testing and cutover can be accommodated.

Question

Could FION provide detailed Circuit Layout Records that would specify the Origination "A" to Termination "Z" as well as all intermediate sites that ether "add/drop" or pass-thru at each site of each circuit?

At minimal, could you provide the service path each service will take from Origination "A" to "B" thru "Y" to Termination "Z" locations?

Circuit Layout Records as described are not available. The requested information is, however, contained within the Attachment 2, Network Interconnect Schematics.

Question

Which fiber spans do NOT have spare dark-fiber available to Overbuild the new network?

Answer

See Answer 8 and 14

Question

Should we assume spare (e.g., 2x bandwidth) capacity with microwave spans between sites to Over-build the new network?

Answer

No. Per Section 3.3.1 of the Technical Specifications, the Vendor shall propose solutions for integrating the microwave transport into the network design in their high-level design deliverable, providing pros and cons of each solution for the FDOT's consideration.

Question

Attachment #1 - PDF document page A-2

What are FDOT's disposal requirements?

Answer

The property first must be properly designated as surplus to the FDOT. This process entails gathering specific information from the property such as make, model, serial and asset tag numbers as applicable on Property Management Request (PMR) forms. A copy of this form will be supplied to the awarded Vendor. Once the property is designated as surplus, the property can be disposed. State of Florida surplus tangible personal property is governed by Chapter 273.055, Florida Statutes.

Question

Attachment #1 - PDF document page A-2

How can vendors obtain a copy of FDOT property surplus and disposal documentation?

Answer

Surplus State of Florida tangible personal property is governed by Chapter 273.055, Florida Statutes.

Question

Attachment #1 - PDF document page A-3

How can vendors obtain applicable publications and standards documents - in Attachment 1, page A-3.

Answer

Titles have been corrected on Sheet Current FDOT Standard Specifications for Road and Bridge Construction and FDOT Standard Plans for Road Construction are available on FDOT's website at https://www.fdot.gov/programmanagement/implemented/specbooks/default.shtm and https://www.fdot.gov/design/standardplans/2025/standard-plans---fy-2024-25, respectively.

Question

What is your expectation for traffic growth on this network?

Answer

The FDOT anticipates that a 100 Gb/s optical backbone will meet the department's needs for the foreseeable future.

Question

What is your expections on L Band?

Answer

The FDOT has removed the requirement for L-band operation. See Revised Technical Specifications - Addendum 2

Question

We understand you have 100G waves today but can we offer 200G / 400G waves on the line side and deliver 100G client traffic?

Answer

The Vendor can propose a solution that exceeds the requirements of the Technical Specification and offer a higher bandwidth capable solution. However, the system must operate on FDOT's existing fiber infrastructure. The FDOT will not commit to repairing/replacing fiber to meet the higher bandwidth capable solution if it can meet the requirements for 100G.

Is there a specific requirement for chassis depth. Any limitations at either the ILA sites or the ROADM sites?

Answer

As part of the site survey process, the Vendor and the FDOT will determine space availability. The FDOT desires compact solutions to minimize space requirements.

Question

Traffic Matrix in Attachement 2

The I-10/S-R23 Interchange Hub does not match and only has drops to Lake City Operations & Jacksonville however Jacksonville has 1x100G to Barry building. Please advise.

Answer

From Jacksonville FHP, there are two circuits eastbound on the I-295/I-10 corridors on a single fiber pair. One circuit will be on one lambda and will drop at the I-10/SR23 Interchange hub. The other circuit from Jacksonville FHP on a different lambda will go through the ROADM at I-10/SR23 Interchange hub and continue to the Barry Building in Tallahassee on a dedicated fiber pair. The I-10/SR23 Interchange hub connects to Lake City Operations on a different dedicated fiber pair.

Question

Traffic Matrix in Attachement 2

2:nd 100G in District 5 RTMC has a destination to District 5 Master Hub which is an ILA with no drops.

Where does this 100G go? After tracing it looks like it drops at I-4/I-95 Interchange hub. Please confirm.

Answer

The 100G link from the District 5 RTMC through the District 5 Master Hub 1 drops at the I-4/I-75 Interchange Hub by passing through US98 Hub. This has been corrected in the Contract Plans. See Revised Contract Plans Sheet B-26-1, B-68, and B-69.

Question

Traffic Matrix in Attachement 2

I-4/I-75 Interchange hub also has a 100G connecting to District 5 RTMC which is not listed in the District 5 RTMC list.

Answer

The 100G link from the District 5 RTMC through the District 5 Master Hub 1 drops at the I-4/I-75 Interchange Hub. This has been corrected in the Contract Plans. See Revised Contract Plans Sheet B- 26-1, B-68, and B-69.

Question

Traffic Matrix in Attachement 2

I-75/I-275 North Apex Hub has a 100G going to I-4/I-75 Interchange Hub. I-4/I-75 Interchange Hub does not have a service going to I-75/I-275 North Apex Hub.

Answer

The Contract Plans show two connections between I-75/I-275 North Apex Hub and I-4/I-75 Interchange on the sheets for both locations. One connection is via I-75 and the other is via I-4 & I-275.

District From To Comments

Fibers listed in Attachment 4 (Fiber Distances( not shown on Map in Attachment 1 (Map)

A 4 Andytown Building Coral Reef Tower Building B 4 Andytown Building District 4 RTMC C

4 District 4 HUB #2 Ft Pierce Maintenance Tower

I don't see Ft Pierce Maintenance Tower on the map

D

4 Martin Weigh Station

West Palm Beach Interchange Tower Building

E

West Palm Beach Interchange Tower Building Atlantic Ave Hub Building

Map shows 2 fibers going directly from Martin Weigh Station to Atlantic Ave Hub Building

F 4 District 4 RTMC

Goldent Glades Whatley Hub

G 6 Pompano RTMC

Mcarther Sunrise Tower Building

H

Mcarther Sunrise Tower Building District 6 RTMC

I

Mcarther Sunrise Tower Building

Golden Glades Whatley Hub

J 6 Coral Reef Tower Building

Golden Glades Whatley Hub

K

I-75/I-275 North Apex Hub Building I-4/I-75 Interchange Hub l 7 District 7 RTMC I-4/I-75 Interchange Hub

A. No connection planned. Deleted from table. See Revised Contract Plans Sheet D-4 - Addendum 2

B. No connection planned. Deleted from table. See Revised Contract Plans Sheet D-4 - Addendum 2

C. Label for Ft. Pierce Maintenance Tower on map on Sheet A-4 was updated. See Revised Contract Plans Sheet A-4 - Addendum 2.

D. No connection…