IBM14B0002_Q A.pdf

USIBWC Rio Grande Canalization Project Replacement of American Canal Lining - Lower Reach

El Paso County, Texas

August 20, 2014

USIBWC Solicitation No. IBM14B0002 Question and Answers - 1

ATTACHMENT 1 (8 pages), Amendment A002, IBM14B0002

Questions (Q) and Responses (R) for IBM14B0002

Q-1: Can arched culvert sections throughout the project be cast-in-place to specifications or must they be precast?

R-1: No. Project shall be constructed as shown on the drawings with precast arch culverts.

Q-2: Will the levee be available for possible BPS traffic by-pass where needed? River material only to be used?

R-2: The levee is the existing road used by USIBWC and BPS. Except when the levee is breeched for construction on the College Arroyo culvert and overchute, the levee road is available for Contractor's use. However, Contractor shall keep the levee road open for BPS traffic. The use of river material in the question is not understood.

Q-3: I respectfully request the consideration of extending the bid date due to the holiday?

Industry practice is to price the day before to maintain a competitive edge on materials and services from suppliers, venders, and sub-contractors. You consideration would be greatly appreciated.

R-3: The Date & Time has been revised to Friday, September 5, 2014 at 1:00 PM MST.

Q-4: Will the 10% price evaluation preference by applied under the HUBZone Program; FAR 19.1301-19.1308?

R-4: This Clause has been added. Please note consistent with the Clause, for general construction, (i) At least 15 percent of the cost of contract performance to be incurred for personnel will be spent on the prime contractor’s employees; (ii) At least 50 percent of the cost of the contract performance to be incurred for personnel will be spent on the prime contractor’s employees or on a combination of the prime contractor’s employees and employees of HUBZone small business concern subcontractors; (iii) No more than 50 percent of the cost of contract performance to be incurred for personnel will be subcontracted to concerns that are not HUBZone small business concerns.

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Q-5: Per the RFP a field office is to be provided for the IBWC/USCOE. Please identify and provide location.

R-5: USCOE is an unknown term; if this was meant to be USACE (US Army Corps of Engineers), they are not involved in this project. Per Specification 01.52.13 1.7 the USIBWC office shall be located within the Contractor's staging area or field office.

Q-6: Would IBWC consider incorporating the following clause as part of the contract for the Reconstruction of the American Canal Lining Lower Segment (IBM-14-B-0002) bid? 52.219-4 Notice of Price Evaluation Preference for HUBZone Small Business Concerns (JAN 2011)

R-6: This Clause has been added. Please note consistent with the Clause, for general construction, (i) At least 15 percent of the cost of contract performance to be incurred for personnel will be spent on the prime contractor’s employees; (ii) At least 50 percent of the cost of the contract performance to be incurred for personnel will be spent on the prime contractor’s employees or on a combination of the prime contractor’s employees and employees of HUBZone small business concern subcontractors; (iii) No more than 50 percent of the cost of contract

Q-7: With regards to the pre-cast items, would you accept a cast in place substitution if the materials, designs and end results were equal to those indicated?

R-7: No. Project shall be constructed as shown on the drawings with precast arch culverts.

Q-8: Can the use of Cast-In-Place methods be listed an Alternate price rather than Pre-Cast?

R-8: No. Project shall be constructed as shown on the drawings with precast arch culverts.

Q-9: Specification 03-41-00 Precast Structural Concrete requires a PCI plant Group C certification. Group C is designated for Commercial products. According to the PCI website http://www.pci.org/organization-search.aspx there are currently no plants located in or near El Paso, TX. There are 14ea companies (17ea plants) that meet the requirements but this is a group that includes mainly architectural suppliers that do not fabricate culverts. The same companies are located as far as Dallas or Houston. This requirement means a great amount of shipping costs for both the owner and contractor.

a. Austin Pre-stress cast box culverts in El Paso for the previous IBWC project and was not PCI certified.

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b. In order to reduce the costs of the project, will the IBWC and design engineers allow the use of TXDOT approved precast and pre-stressed manufacturers, such as Austin Pre-stress?

R-9: Prior to casting any structural unit for the project, the fabricator’s plant shall demonstrate it has a PCI Plant Certification B (B1, B2, B3, or B4) or C (C1, C2, C3, or C4) or the plant is a TXDOT approved multi-project major prestressed fabrication plant. The current list of TxDOT approved precast plants is located at http://ftp.dot.state.tx.us/pub/txdot-info/cmd/mpl/pstress.pdf.

PCI certified plants can be located at http://www.pci.org/organization-search.aspx.

Q-10: Most, if not all, of the plants that meet the PCI Group C Requirements do not have the forms or experience required for culvert work. Many of the plants that have been contacted cannot furnish the culverts because the forms must be purchased or leased. The custom design makes it cumbersome to fabricate and ship. In either case this means additional costs to both the owner and the contractor.

a. In an effort to save money and improve constructability, will the IBWC consider an alternate design using box culverts that meet or exceed the hydraulic capacity within the same footprint?

R-10: No. Project shall be constructed as shown on the drawings with precast arch culverts.

Q-11: On Sheet SS-3001: The concrete and reinforcing steel notes call for all reinforcing steel to be epoxy coated. Will this also apply to the reinforcing in the precast structures? Will the IBWC consider waiving the epoxy coating for all structures and/or cast in place slab?

R-11: The precast structures are not required to use epoxy coated wire/rebar. However, the USIBWC will not waive the epoxy coating requirement on rebar for all cast in place structures.

Q-12: Can you please identify who will be considered the Contaminated Soil and Water Generator?

R-12: Since the Contractor has control over the storage, transportation, and disposal of these materials, the Contractor shall be considered the generator.

Q-13: How many days after the bid has been received will the Contracting Officer issue the Notice to Proceed? (Is there a typical rule of thumb that can be provided?)

R-13: Every attempt is made to issue the NTP within 60 days of award. NTP will not be awarded without prior discussions with the Contractor to agree upon a mutually agreeable date.

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Q-14: The bid opening is scheduled the day after Labor Day, a national holiday. Many suppliers/subcontractors will be closed several days before the holiday. Will the IBWC delay the bid opening by a week so that the best possible pricing can be obtained?

R-14: The Date & Time has been revised to Friday, September 5, 2014 at 1:00 PM MST.

Q-15: If the excavated material meets the specifications, will the IBWC allow the contractor to use that material as fill in areas not requiring structural or special fill?

R-15: No. This is stated multiple times in the specifications. No onsite material may be reused in the project. All excavated material shall be removed and disposed of.

Q-16: Line Item 001 - No Cost Receiving Line, 30 EA: Can you please clarify that the unit price and total cost will be zero on our bid form?

R-16: Yes, you may record the unit and total cost as $0.00. This is a no cost receiving line used by our Agency for invoice processing.

Q-17: Will you define the measurement and payment to each line item? Do you expect any other revisions to page 7 of 47?

R-17: Amendment A001 corrected the Contract Line Item Numbers (CLIN). No other revisions to the CLINs are expected at this time.

CLIN 003 Measurement and Payment is defined in 31.23.19 1.5 B.

CLIN 004 Measurement and Payment is defined in 31.23.00 1.5 A.(1) and B.(1).

CLIN 005 Measurement and Payment is defined in 31.24.10 1.5 A.(2) and B.(2).

CLIN 002 Is a lump sum covering all other items of work.

Q-18: On sheet of 17 of 47 for the proposal: It calls for the contractor to pay for any overtime incurred by inspectors for work outside of the normal working hours. Can you please state what the average hourly rate will be charged is and if that will include truck and/or labor burden? Is there a minimum amount of time that will be charged?

R-18: A construction inspector has not yet been hired for this work, so only an estimate can be provided. The hourly rate is probably around $90. This includes all incidentals and appurtenances required by the inspector. Since USIBWC only passes these costs to the

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Contractor, there is no minimum amount of time that will be charged. If no inspector overtime is required, then no inspector overtime is charged.

Q-19: The project call for a registered surveyor to provide intermediate data and final calculation for earthwork as shown on page 01-22-00-2. The project is set up for a lump sum measurement and payment. In order to save the owner and tax payers money will the IBWC exclude requiring the measurement of items paid for as lump sum?

R-19: USIBWC is aware of the surveying costs involved, but wants to know the full extent of work performed; these surveys are also required for the record drawings. This requirement will not be excluded.

Q-20: Will certified payrolls be required on this project and if so, how often?

R-20: Yes. Please refer to 01.29.00 1.9.

Q-21: Specification 01-32-00 requires a full time scheduler to provide weekly, biweekly, and three week look ahead schedules at every progress meeting. The schedules are required to be cost loaded to match the schedule of values. The project may have substantial non-work phases during the irrigation seasons. Will the progress meetings and scheduler be required during non-work phases?

R-21a: If no work is being completed onsite, weekly progress meetings will not be required;

however, to keep caught up on project progress, monthly progress meetings via telephone or video conference will be expected. Once the Contractor is onsite, weekly progress meetings will commence.

R-21b: The intent of look ahead schedules is not to require a full revisiting of the schedule.

These schedules are a discussion point in the progress meetings. The look ahead schedules can be as simple as bar chart created in Excel, a detailed daily list of activities, or a full blown CPM schedule. Only the full project schedule and pay estimate updated progress schedules are required to be created by your qualified scheduler. Look ahead schedules shall not be cost loaded.

Q22: Can you please forward the CAD plans or a link to the CAD plans for the American Canal project?

R22: The AutoCad files will not be released as part of the solicitation. The awarded Contractor will be provided with a full set of AutoCad files; however, the pdf files remain the official version of all drawings.

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Q23: In an effort to create the same bidding conditions for all contractors will the IBWC share all written questions and answers, with all bidding contractors?

R23: All questions and responses will be posted to FBO.

Q24: Will the IBWC allow contractors to treat the contaminated soil onsite and reincorporate into the non-structural fill or levee?

R24: If the soil is fully remediated to TCEQ residential clean fill levels (see Specification

31.05.13 1.10) using an EPA approved method of remediation, and if the soil meets the material requirements for fill (Specification 31.24.10 Part 2), then yes, it would be allowed.

Remediated material shall be tested in the same manner and at the same frequency as Clean Fill detailed in Specification 31.05.13 3.3 C. Also, USIBWC offers no guarantee that the excavated material will meet any part of Specification 31.24.10 Part 2. If the Contractor chooses to try and remediate the excavated material, it shall be at their own time and expense. No time extension nor compensation will be provided to the Contractor for pursuing this.

Q25: The test results provided state that the soil excavated is considered non-hazardous. If during the actual construction, the FEM/Contractor encounters higher levels than previously tested what will be course of action?

R25: If testing indicates the soil exceeds the TCEQ Class 2 Non-Hazardous Waste classification, then disposal will need to be addressed as a differing site condition.

Q26: If the custom arch culvert design ends up being the only option approved; the forms that have been found in the U.S. are not an exact match to what is shown in the plans. There are differences in arch radius, the overall span and height.

R26: A substitution to match available arch forms would be considered as long as the walls remain vertical and there are no hydraulic impacts.

a. Will a full precast arch design to the bottom of the footing be allowed or what is the minimum/maximum CIP wall that is required?

b. Will the IBWC approve a design with an arch that is taller or shorter than shown on the plans? If so, how much more/less?

c. Will the IBWC approve a design with walls or an arches that go beyond the 27’-10" span. If so, how much more/less?

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R26a: Precast section to the footing is acceptable unless shown otherwise on the drawings where transitions require additional wall. Proper seating of the precast unit shall be incorporated to prevent lateral movement.

R26b: No change to culvert height is allowed.

R26c: The culvert exterior width may be increased up to 28 feet. If a change is made to the culvert or concrete slab/walls, it shall be for the Contractor's benefit only. Any increase in cost or construction time from increasing the span width, including all incidents, appurtenances, and associated work, shall be at the Contractor's expense. No time extension nor compensation will be provided to the Contractor for pursuing this. Additionally, all changes to the culverts, the storm drains, and any other items caused by increasing the width shall be full noted on the record drawings.

Q27: We respectfully request that FAR Clause 52.219-4 needs to be incorporated in this contract per SBA guidelines?

R27: This Clause has been added. Please note consistent with the Clause, for general construction, (i) At least 15 percent of the cost of contract performance to be incurred for personnel will be spent on the prime contractor’s employees; (ii) At least 50 percent of the cost of the contract performance to be incurred for personnel will be spent on the prime contractor’s employees or on a combination of the prime contractor’s employees and employees of HUBZone small business concern subcontractors; (iii) No more than 50 percent of the cost of contract

Q28: Are quantities provided in the drawings binding for pricing/change orders purposes or are only for information purposes and the contractor is responsible for any discrepancies.

R28: The quantities are for information purposes only and the Contractor is responsible for any discrepancies.

Additional Information As a reminder, the awarded Contractor will be required to coordinate day-to-day site access with Border Patrol. The Contractor must also coordinate dewatering water disposal with EPWU.

USIBWC will enter into an agreement for EPWU to accept the water, but the Contractor must coordinate the flow rate of water releases and time of day of water releases. At this time, only the manholes located within the levee downstream of the project are allowable discharge points.

The Contractor shall assume that the American Canal will have water in it until February 15, 2015.

Water will then be diverted into the Rio Grande until the 2015 irrigation season kicks off. At the end

USIBWC Solicitation No. IBM14B0002 Question and Answers - 8 of the 2015 irrigation season, the American Canal will be allowed to dry and all water will be kept in the Rio Grande. The Contractor shall schedule site work, as appropriate, around these limitations.