QUESTIONS_1_SNELL_HFM_SLOTS_CCO681.pdf

HFM SLOT INSTALLATION @ SNELL LOCK

RFP NO. DTSL5517R0681

QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS

AUGUST 11, 2017

1. Q. Will “winches and electric boxes” (capstans) on the north wall be removed?

A. Yes. After removal, the anchor bolts and electrical feed will be covered with a yellow protective box that is about 2 ½ feet high.

2. Q. Will lite poles and bases on the north wall be removed?

A. Normally they are not removed. However, the SLSDC will remove selected lite poles as requested by the contractor. The bases are left in place as they contain the wiring for the lites. The bases stick up approximately 2 feet.

3. The following questions have to do with dimensions of existing lock features. When reviewing these answers, offerors shall understand that this information is approximate and provided for estimating purposes only.

Offerors and contractors shall verify all dimensions that are critical to his/her use.

a. Q: What is the height of the mooring buttons above grade?

A: 13 inches.

b. Q: What is the distance from the back of the parapet curb to the center of the mooring buttons on each side of the lock?

A: 18 feet. The distance to the edge of the button is about 17 feet.

c. Q: What is the distance between the lite poles (or capstans) and the back of the parapet curb on the north side?

A: 21 feet.

4. Q. Please refer to specification page 18, C.22. Floating Plant. From a historical perspective, what date does the last ship of the season pass through the lock? At the pre-bid it was my recollection that Dave said it was sometime in December but I can’t recall if it was the last week or earlier. Please advise. Thank you.

A. The date of the last ship passage of the season varies from season to season with the amount of cargo to be moved, prevailing and forecast weather conditions and other factors. In the recent past, it has ranged from

December 27 to January 1. The actual date will be announced to the Contractor as soon as it is known, but it is typically is not until the last week in December that that this announcement can be made with confidence.

5. Q. We had a couple items that we could not find while reviewing the bid documents as follows:

• Warranty/Maintenance Period

• M/WBE Requirements

Could you please forward these and/or point us in the direction of where they are located?

A. The M/WBE requirements are found on Page 47 under Clause 52.222-23. Also, see Page 49 for information regarding the subcontracting plan.

The warranty terms are covered under 52.246-21, Warranty of Construction. Here’s the clause in full text:

(a) In addition to any other warranties in this contract, the Contractor warrants, except as provided in paragraph (i) of this clause, that work performed under this contract conforms to the contract requirements and is free of any defect in equipment, material, or design furnished, or workmanship performed by the Contractor or any subcontractor or supplier at any tier.

(b) This warranty shall continue for a period of 1 year from the date of final acceptance of the work. If the Government takes possession of any part of the work before final acceptance, this warranty shall continue for a period of 1 year from the date the Government takes possession.

(c) The Contractor shall remedy at the Contractor’s expense any failure to conform, or any defect. In addition, the

Contractor shall remedy at the Contractor’s expense any damage to Government-owned or controlled real or personal property, when that damage is the result of—

(1) The Contractor’s failure to conform to contract requirements; or

(2) Any defect of equipment, material, workmanship, or design furnished.

(d) The Contractor shall restore any work damaged in fulfilling the terms and conditions of this clause. The

Contractor’s warranty with respect to work repaired or replaced will run for 1 year from the date of repair or replacement.

(e) The Contracting Officer shall notify the Contractor, in writing, within a reasonable time after the discovery of any failure, defect, or damage.

(f) If the Contractor fails to remedy any failure, defect, or damage within a reasonable time after receipt of notice, the

Government shall have the right to replace, repair, or otherwise remedy the failure, defect, or damage at the

Contractor’s expense.

(g) With respect to all warranties, express or implied, from subcontractors, manufacturers, or suppliers for work performed and materials furnished under this contract, the Contractor shall—

(1) Obtain all warranties that would be given in normal commercial practice;

(2) Require all warranties to be executed, in writing, for the benefit of the Government, if directed by the

Contracting Officer; and

(3) Enforce all warranties for the benefit of the Government, if directed by the Contracting Officer.

(h) In the event the Contractor’s warranty under paragraph (b) of this clause has expired, the Government may bring suit at its expense to enforce a subcontractor’s, manufacturer’s, or supplier’s warranty.

(i) Unless a defect is caused by the negligence of the Contractor or subcontractor or supplier at any tier, the Contractor shall not be liable for the repair of any defects of material or design furnished by the Government nor for the repair of any damage that results from any defect in Government-furnished material or design.

(j) This warranty shall not limit the Government’s rights under the Inspection and Acceptance clause of this contract with respect to latent defects, gross mistakes, or fraud.

6. Q. Please advise of potential future site visit dates and times available or scheduled.

A. Another site visit has been scheduled for Thursday, August 17, 2017 @ 1:00pm.

7. There were requests for copies of the sign in sheet for each of the site visits. Copies are attached.

8. Q. Is the $300,000 cost factor (Specification page 7 of 52) to be included in proposal pricing or is SLSDC adding this cost on top of submitted proposals? If it is to be included, which pay item?

A: This cost factor is not to be included in the offeror’s price proposal. The cost factor will be added to the offeror’s two year proposal for evaluation purposes only as SLSDC will incur additional costs for inspection and engineering services if construction is performed in the second year. The overall evaluated price for a two year proposal will be compared to the one year proposal as part of SLSDC’s determination of best value.

9. Q. The as built drawings show the rock elevation for the chamber bottom at only a few locations. Are additional elevations or geotechnical information available. Can the SLSDC verify the presence of any existing debris on top of the rock? With a maximum allowable fill elevation of 108 and rock indicated to be +/- 107 there is not much potential for distributing material in the bottom of the chamber.

A. In the area of the lock between Monoliths N52 and N58, the bedrock elevations range from 103.2 to 107.0 feet with a general trend of higher bedrock elevations to the west and south. Elevations are referenced to

United States Lake Survey (USLS) 1935. SLSDC cannot quantify the amount of debris in the bottom of the lock chamber, however, only limited amounts of debris are expected. The lock was last dewatered completely during the winter of 2013-14 and the amount of visually observed debris was minimal.

10. Q. Specification section C.21 requires a contractor design for the cable gallery watertight barrier (between year

1 and 2 construction). Will the SLSDC consider the integration of this design into the permanent structure or will the contractor be required to remove this watertight gallery barrier at the beginning of year 2 construction?

A. Any changes to the barrier design shall be submitted for approval, and must be compatible with the reinforced concrete slot structure. Any changes to the slot design, as a result of the cable gallery watertight barrier design, shall be approved by the Engineer of Record, and at the expense of the Contractor.

11. Q. Drawing SLS-327 Temporary HFM Slot Protection Barricades indicates Center Slot Units are precast and

Not In Contract, is the Bidder’s only responsibility to set the units and furnish anchoring? Slots 1 and 2 are shown as cast in place, can these be Precast?

A. The Contractor will be responsible only for the cast-in-place barricades shown for the west and east slots.

The center slot barricade will be furnished and installed by the SLSDC. The design of the barricades for the end slots differs from that for the center slot due to the necessity of passing ships lines over the end slot barricades. The end slot barricades thus must be designed to take heavy loads that could be imposed by ship lines and also to allow the lines to slide easily along the top of the barricade as the ship is “walked” along the chamber by the line handlers. It is strongly recommended that the contractor use the cast-in-place design shown on the drawing, however, a precast concrete design in lieu of the cast-in-place shown would be acceptable provided that the structural and physical design are exactly equivalent. The ship lines must be able to pass easily along the top of the entire barricade without catching or snagging on anything. The design shall be submitted for approval.

12. Q. Due to the extensive amount of information required in the technical portion of the proposal would the

SLSDC consider extending the proposal date one week?

A. The response date for receipt of proposals is extended to 3:00pm, Monday, August 28, 2017.