Attachment 1 - Statement Of Work.pdf

DESCRIPTION/SPECIFICATIONS/STATEMENT OF WORK

Fence Removal and Clean-up Specifications

General Specifications

Scope of Contract

It is the intent of this contract to dismantle, remove and dispose of woven wire deer fences and wildlife tree/crib fences on the Allegheny National Forest. Much of this fencing is old and may be knocked down in many areas. The fence material is often rusted/broken and may be buried under vegetation.

a. The deer fences are located in wooded areas and may contain large woody material (live and/or dead trees) on the fence. Most fences also have saplings/brush intertwined in the fence. All deer fences have walk-through gates, some fences may have farm/vehicle gates, to remove on each fence.

b. The tree/crib fences are located in grass openings and may contain dead/live saplings and brush/grass intertwined in the fence material.

The contractor is responsible for furnishing all supervision, labor, equipment, tools, and incidentals necessary to complete the fence removal along with any vegetation removal necessary to successfully remove the fence material.

Location, Description of Project Areas and Identification of Project Area

Refer to the contract area maps and fence removal project table for location information for Item 1 (Marienville) and Item 2 (Bradford).

Most fences are accessible by 4x4 vehicle; however, there may be cases in which an ATV/UTV may be necessary to access the fences.

If a fence is not accessible by 4x4 or ATV/UTV it will be specifically mentioned in the specifications as hand removal only.

Identification of project area

All project areas will be identified with an orange tag, see example below. The contractor or field representative is required to read orange tag, ensure that he/she is at the correct location according to the orange tag’s information and initial it prior to starting any work on the project area for all units on the task order.

Allegheny National Forest Exclosuure Fence Removal RFQ 12363N24Q4069

Ex. of orange tag that needs to be initialed prior to start of project work.

Contractor Representative

Before work starts, the Contractor shall designate a person knowledgeable of contract requirements to act in their absence. The Contractor or authorized representative shall be at the job site whenever work is in progress. In the absence of the Contractor, the authorized representative may receive instructions from the Contracting Officer.

Protection of Existing Structures The Contractor is required to protect existing improvements such as pipelines, powerlines, buildings, roads/traffic gates, plantings, nesting structures, etc. which may be located in the project area. The Contractor shall be required to repair or replace such improvements if damaged as a result of their operations.

Notification The Contractor is required to keep the Contracting Officer Representative currently informed of their work schedule and physical location of their work force to permit ready location and timely inspection of accomplished work. The contractor shall also notify the contracting officer representative at least weekly of the progress being attained on this project. This notification will be written.

Technical Specifications Some Technical Specifications may be specific to certain Items in this contract. The technical specifications will be designated by the item #.

Project Description (Item 1 & 2 These Items consist of taking down and disposing of seven foot high woven wire deer fence. The fencing is comprised of two 4' rolls of fencing stacked on top of each other. The bottom foot of the fencing is buried around perimeter of the project area and is to be dug up. Metal or wood posts, 2x4 lumber, gates, miscellaneous wire, and fasteners are also included for removal.

Fence Material – Most fence material is old and has been exposed to harsh weather conditions for many years. The fencing will most likely be rusted and have vegetation intertwined in the material. All fence wire, hog rings and other wire must be removed from Government property and disposed of properly.

Steel Posts - Steel posts must be pulled and removed from Government property and disposed of at the contractor’s expense.

The exception to this will be site specific where the Government retains salvage rights to posts. The Contractor should review the attached Contract Project Table for information in reference to retention of posts for a given contract year. If the Government retains posts, the Government requires drop-off in a designated location at the FS district office.

Fasteners - All nails and fence staples must be completely removed from live tree

Saw log Sized Trees (greater than 9" dbh) - Remove all nails, staples, and embedded metal. In some cases deeply embedded wire cannot be removed without moderate damage to the tree.

In this case, the tree will be girdled. In areas nears roads or trails, the COR has authority to designate trees to be felled rather girdled. All trees felled will have a stump height of 6 inches or less on the uphill side of the stump. All stumps will be cut parallel to the ground; no angular cuts on stumps will be accepted.

Pole Sized Trees (less than 9" dbh) - If nails or embedded metal cannot be pulled free, then the tree will be felled or girdled if not along a road or recreational trail. All trees felled will have a stump height of 6 inches or less on the uphill side of the stump. All stumps will be cut parallel to the ground; no angular cuts on stumps will be ace

Red painted or blazed Forest Service property boundary trees with ingrown fence will not be cut down.

Wooden boards and posts - All 2”x 4” boards shall be removed from trees, and all 4”x 4” or larger posts shall be pulled or cut flush with the ground. All wooden materials shall be removed from Government property.

The exception to this will be site specific where the Government retains salvage rights to posts. The Contractor should review the attached Contract Project Table for information in reference to retention of posts for a given contract year. If the Government retains posts, the Government requires drop-off in a designated location at the FS district office.

All holes in the ground created by removal of round or square wooden posts will need to be backfilled to reduce tripping hazards. Soil from the edge of the hole will be pulled in to assist in backfilling.

Gates – Walkthrough (man) gates will be removed from each site, unless otherwise designated by the COR. Some gates may be designated to be retained by the Government. The Contractor should review the Contract Project Table for a listing of site(s) where the Government retains the right to walk though gates. If the Government retains gates, the Government will designate a drop off location for them.

All farm gates will remain property of the Government. They will be removed and delivered to a government designated drop off location.

Brush Cutting – All brush cut to remove the fence will be completely severed at a height no greater than 6 inches above the ground on the uphill side of the tree. All stumps will be cut parallel to the ground; no angular stumps are permitted.

Downed Woody Material (Live/Dead Trees) - Deer fences are located in a wooded setting and there are often trees that fall onto the fences. Trees shall be bucked up and removed from the fence The downed woody material shall be bucked up into short sections to allow enough space for equipment to operate as well as provide minimal residual damage to surrounding trees and saplings.

There are two units (402016 and 403044) in Item 2 where excessive debris has fallen on top of the fences. These units are located in the North part of the Bradford Ranger District. These 2 units are called out specifically; however, it does not mean conditions may have changed on other fences. It is highly recommended that all units be visually inspected by potential contractors before bidding on the project.

Buried Fence – All fences have been buried at least 1 foot in the ground and shall be dug up and removed. There may also be occasions where the entire fence has been knocked down and buried by thick vegetation. All vegetation shall be removed away from the fence and the fence shall be removed from the site.

Vehicle Operation (All Items)

Most Project areas may be reached by Forest Roads that are accessible by 4x4 pickup during the normal working season. The Government assumes no obligation to plow snow or do special maintenance to keep roads open. Some project areas may be on a gated road and require signing out a key with the Contracting Officer’s Representative (COR).

ATV's (All-Terrain Vehicles), UTV’s (Utility Terrain Vehicles), small dozers, small skid steers, or mini excavators may be operated around the perimeter of the fence to accomplish fence removal activities only.

The operator is subject to fines if found using equipment in manners other than for the purpose of fence removal.

Not all fences can be traversed along their entire perimeter. If at any time the Forest Service inspections indicate excessive soil damage or excessive rutting has occurred due to the use of equipment, such damage shall be repaired by the Contractor at his/her expense.

The Forest Services also reserves the right to halt operations if weather conditions are not conducive to operations and excessive damage is occurring.

Project Area Clean Up (All Items) The contractor is responsible for proper disposal of fencing materials as indicated above.

Any and all additional trash and debris generated in the performance of this contract shall be removed from Forest Service land.

Project Area Materials Staging (All Items) Staging areas large enough for gathering, sorting, piling, etc. of removed materials prior to removal from Forest Service land are permitted in each project area. The contractor must notify the Forest Service as to the desired location for each staging area. Location will be mutually agreed upon prior to start of removal operations.

Progression of Work (All Items) Only two awarded project areas shall be operated at one time, unless otherwise agreed in writing by the Forest Service. Unless there is agreement in writing to postpone specific requirements, all contractual requirements on a project area shall be accepted by Forest Service prior to working on additional project areas.

Work Plan and Schedule (All Items) Prior to the start of work, the Contractor shall prepare a work plan and schedule that demonstrates when work will be completed within the performance period described in Section F – Deliveries of Performance. The Contractor shall advise the Contracting Officer or COR of any periods that the Contractor will not be working as outlined in the work plan. The Contractor may update the work plan as needed. Work Plans shall be accepted by the Contracting Officer before work may commence. The Contractor will notify the COR as individual fence removal is completed.

The Government may set the order in which fences shall be removed. This is to avoid conflict with other activities that may be occurring in the fence removal areas. The government reserves the right to direct the contractors operations to alternate sites if soil conditions are unfavorable for operations.

Safety (All Items)

It is the Contractor’s responsibility to ensure that the work environment is safe for themselves, their employees, and the general public. If the Contractor feels that a requirement of this contract would place any of the aforementioned in a unsafe environment, then work should stop on that area of work and the Contractor should contact the COR (Contracting Officer’s Representative), or CO (Contracting Officer) if COR is unavailable. Work in other areas that the Contractor does not view as unsafe should continue. The Contractor is required to follow all applicable OSHA standards while working on the job site. In addition, it is required that the successful contractor utilize appropriate personal protective safety equipment/clothing, which may include, but is not limited to, a hard hat, leg protection, eye protection, ear protection, and hand protection, DOT approved ATV helmet (if using ATV’s or UTV’s) while working in the project area.

The awarded contractor will be required to submit a detailed safety plan within 10 days of award and before performance begins that will exemplify what safety measures will be taken to minimize work related injuries (types of PPE utilized), how contact with the RD office/COR will be maintained at the worksites (satellite phone, CB radio, walkie-talkies, etc..) and plans to extract and transport injured personnel.

Measurement & Payment (All Items)

The estimated linear feet of the fences have all been measured using GPS technology;

however, there are still chances for error in perimeter estimates. Bidders should consider that variances of up to +/- 15% will occur during contract performance, thus the offeror should consider these adjustments in their solicitation pricing.

Payment will be authorized upon bid item completion and inspection/acceptance (by Forest Service Personnel). Partial payments will not normally be made on any resultant contract which totals less than $1,000 or occurs more frequently than once a month.

Equipment Cleaning Provisions – Non-native Invasive Plant Control To help prevent the spread on non-native invasive plants, Contractors shall ensure that prior to moving any equipment to a work site on the Allegheny National Forest that they clean all soil, seeds, vegetative matter or other debris that could contain or hold seeds from equipment. Equipment shall be considered free of soil, seeds and other such debris when a visual inspection does not disclose such material.

Equipment includes, but not limited to, the following: mechanized spreaders, augers, shovels, off-road equipment used for transport of materials (ATV’s and trailers), heavy equipment (dozers, backhoes, excavators, or other tracked and/or wheeled vehicles), and power hand tools (chain saws, brush cutters, etc.).

The government reserves the right to request for equipment cleaning if the contractor is moving from an infected project site to a project site that has no invasive species present.

Disassembly of equipment components is not required. The use of detergents or other cleaning agents is not required. Equipment should not be cleaned in streams, ditches or other waterways.

INSPECTION AND ACCEPTANCE

QUALITY ASSURANCE – CONTRACTOR

The Contractor shall perform fence removal and clean-up work in accordance with the specifications contained in this contract. Acceptance will be determined by an inspection of the area requiring treatment and will be based on adherence to the specifications.

Nonconformance with any of the specifications will classify the treatment as unsatisfactory and rework will be required to bring the treatment up to specifiction standards before payment will be made.

Disincentitives - A 3% disincentitive will be applied to the contract if the contractor does not successfully complete the work by the contract deadline. Deadline is defined as the Friday before Veteran’s Day annually. A 2% disincentitive will be applied to any work item that needs more than one final inspection. A final inspection is deemed as all work is complete according to contract specifications and all materials have been removed off site.

DELIVERIES OR PERFORMANCE

The period of performance of this contract is from date of award through November 8, 2024.

The Contractor shall maintain progress at a rate which shall assure completion and acceptance of work within the specified contract time.

DESCRIPTION/SPECIFICATIONS/STATEMENT OF WORK