J A Cavatoc.pdf

Control Number: LRE FY21-08

JUSTIFICATION AND APPROVAL (J&A)

FOR OTHER THAN FULL AND OPEN COMPETITION

BRAND NAME OR EQUAL

Contracting Activity:

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) Detroit District Contracting Branch 477 Michigan Ave 7th Floor Detroit, Michigan 48226

Description Of Action:

Section 888(a) of the Fiscal Year 2017 National Defense Authorization Act requires competition on Department of Defense contracts not be limited through the use of proprietary specifications, in solicitations, unless a justification is approved in accordance with 10 USC 2304(f). This Justification and Approval (J&A) is being prepared for the use of a Cavotec MoorMaster Automated Mooring System for the New s Canal, Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan.

system is the only known HFM system that will meet the specifications of the design-bid-build contract for construction of the project, requiring the construction contractor to procure Cavotec system.

Description Of Supplies/Services:

The HFM equipment is part of an automated system which applies vacuum pads to ships to hold them in position instead of the ships having to use wire ropes for that purpose. Full details of the machinery is included in specification section 35 01 42, Hands Free Mooring Machinery. Full details of the electrical is included in specification section 35 20 21, Electrical Equipment for Hands Free Mooring System. Also, the HFM system is included in the 22 series plan set, sheets 2580 through 2643, 63 total sheets.

Authority Cited:

10 United States Code (U.S.C) 2304(c)(1), as implemented by Federal Acquisition Regulation

(FAR) 6.302-

ifications in accordance with FAR 6.302-1(c)( ).

Reason For Authority Cited:

Background-

As part of the New Third Lock design, the Project Delivery Team (PDT) was tasked with investigating implementation of a HFM system to replace current line handling procedures.

Current operational procedures require vessels transiting the Soo Locks to be guided through the facility by lines and line handlers. A HFM system eliminates lines and line handlers and consists of vacuum pads mounted to a rail which holds the ship steady as water in the chamber is raised or lowered. Over the last 5 years, HFM technology has been developed and implemented on the Saint Lawrence Seaway to replace lines and line handlers. The Saint

Lawrence Seaway Management Corporation (SLSMC) which operates the Canadian Locks began implementing the HFM system in 2015 and now all 13 of the SLSMC Locks have employed HFM and are operated remotely. The Saint Lawrence Seaway Development installation in June 2019 with completion of the Snell Lock in Massena, NY. The Saint Lawrence Seaway Management Corporation (SLSMC) has invested over over several years in design and development to perfect this system.

There are only two ways to moor vessels as large as seen at the Soo Locks, that is line handling and the hands free mooring system. Line handling has been used as long as these vessels have been on the lakes. Recently Cavotec and the SLSMC have identified HFM as a safer way to moor the vessels. Cavotec originally worked with the Canadian locks along the St. Lawrence Seaway when they wanted to implement a safer system over line handling.

The contract to develop that system was awarded to Cavotec and now they are the only manufactures of a system other than line handling to lock vessels. No other company has yet to come out with a system that performs the same as the HFM system.

The HFM system offers safety benefits, it provides a labor cost savings to the shipping industry, allows for standardization with the locks on the St. Lawrence Seaway, and has the potential to provide transit time savings. The greatest benefit of the HFM system is safety.

Line handling is a very dangerous task for both the shipping industry and the Soo Operations personnel.

b) Justification- Currently wire ropes are used on the Poe lock to hold the ships while they are in the lock. The wire ropes are passed from the ships to linehandlers by ship deckhands, the linehandlers place the wire ropes around mooring buttons and the deckhands are responsible for adjusting the tensionin the wire ropes to keep the vessel in position while it is being raised or lowered in the lock. The installation of HFM system will reduce the costs for ships locking through by allowing the workers who would normally be handling the lines to work on other tasks or remain on break instead of collecting overtime to line handle. Due to the size and weight of the wire ropes line handling can be a dangerous job this system would reduce the risk of injury to line handlers. It also eliminates the risk of the wire ropes breaking which poses a serious threat to personnel in the vicinity of the ropes.

In addition to the authority cited, there are many reasons to install the HFM equipment Cavotec as follows:

Initial investment By utilizing the Cavotec equipment the USACE does not have to invest in the development of similar equipment because the SLSMC has already made this investment with Cavotec and improved this equipment up to the 5th generation of improvements.

Cost Savings to the Shipping Industry When Hands Free Mooring is in use vessels would not need to have workers line handling during the lockage. The Lake Carriers association estimated they would see a cost saving of a year with the use of Hands Free Mooring. Over a 50 year lifespan this would be a savings of .

Safety The SLSMC invested in the development of the HFM system to increase safety for their deckhands and linehandlers. The USACE, specifically the Soo Area Office, would like to take advantage of the fact that this system has been developed and use it to increase safety on our project. Between 2009 and 2018 the Soo Area Office had 13 recordable incidents related to line handling. It is expected we would see this dropped close to 0 with the use of hands free moorings. Although the number of incidents may be low the severity can be very high, if a line were to snap and hit someone they would be seriously injured, if not die. The shippers have also stated they have had injuries related to line handling but were not able to provide specific numbers.

Alternatives The only alternative to is the use of mooring lines and bollards to hold the ship steady while it is locked through.

Impact The use of will reduce the cost to shippers and will also increase the safety of USACE employees and the shippers.

Efforts To Obtain Competition:

The Corps of Engineers publicized a notice of intent to sole source to the beta.sam website and invited participation and comments on the sole-source procurement. The market research notice was posted on 03-Feb-2021 and closed on 23-Feb-2021. No responses were received from any supplier expressing interest or capabilities to provide a similar hands free morning system.

Actions To Increase Competition:

Market research as described in paragraph 8 was conducted to determine if other sources were available for potential competition. Even though there are currently no known suppliers that can produce this equipment, to allow for competition, the specifications are written to describe the type of system that we want to use and do n specifically. To date another company has not been identified through market research that can meet the specifications.

8. Market Research:

USACE personnel conducted market research to determine the availability of open market sources for the procurement. Efforts included the following:

A. Contacting knowledgeable individuals in Government and industry regarding market capabilities to meet requirements.

B. Reviewing the results of recent market research undertaken to meet similar or identical requirements.

C. Reviewing catalogs and other generally available product literature published by manufacturers, distributors, and dealers or available on-line.

D. Publicized a notice of intent to sole source to the beta.sam website for additional comments on the procurement, as described in paragraph 6.

Preparation of the HFM portion of this project design was contracted out to an Architectural- Engineering firm, Tetra Tech, Inc. Market research, conducted by them in preparation of writing the specifications, indicates that only one source is known to supply this equipment and no other sources of supply are known.

9. Interested Sources:

A Notice of Intent to Sole Source was posted on the beta.sam.gov website on 03-Feb-2021 and closed on 23-Feb-2021. To date, no othersources have expressed either a written or verbal interest in this portion of the procurement.

10. Other Facts:

None. All pertinent facts, are stated in the paragraphs above.