JA Notre Dame Bridge MOD - Redacted.pdf

Justification and Approval for Other Than Full and Open Competition

1. Contracting Activity: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Philadelphia District (USACE-NAP), Contract Division, 1650 Arch Street, Philadelphia, PA 19103-2004.

2. Description of Action: Approval is being requested to modify the utility design for the scope below in an estimated amount of $140,773.91 and extend the current period of performance (POP) from 5 April 2026 to 28 December 2027. The changes associated with the modification extend the duration of the design schedule and thus extends the date of issuing the solicitation for construction. The period of performance is necessary to match the anticipated duration of solicitation since solicitation phase services are part of the original task order.

3. Description of Services: USACE-NAP has been requested by Caribbean District to design a replacement for the existing Notre Dame Street Bridge that will be able to fully span a widened channel that will be constructed to convey the Rio Piedras. The site is located in the municipality of San Juan, Puerto Rico at the Notre Dame Street crossing of the Rio Puerto Nuevo Channel, approximately 3.0 miles upstream from San Juan Harbor. The replacement bridge to be designed is anticipated to be a roughly 98-ft long, single span bridge with vertical wall abutments, a precast concrete beam superstructure, and concrete deck.

The Architect-Engineer (AE) Singhofen & Associates Inc., now known as Halff Associates, was tasked with preparing project documents for the relocation of the utilities, including certain telecommunication lines, as discussed further below, in the vicinity of the bridge, for the bridge and roadway lighting, and for temporary roadway lighting, which includes: development of plans and specifications (P&S), design document report (DDR), design analyses and calculations, and other supporting documents necessary for the construction of the project. The effort includes utility survey data verification, demolition plans of the existing affected utilities, utility relocation design, and lighting and power design. Other supporting documents required include a construction contractor submittal register, construction cost estimates, and an engineering considerations and instructions report.

After the subject task order was awarded on 24 September 2020 in the amount of $534,376.01 with a period of performance ending 15 October 2022, there were necessary design changes. On 28 October 2021 a modification in the amount of $126,626.54 extended the period of performance to 5 April 2026 to reflect the changes which included revisions to the utility design to accommodate design changes to the river channel required due to changed hydraulic conditions from adjacent design contracts. The period of performance was extended to match the anticipated duration of construction solicitation since solicitation phase services are part of the task order.

The modification to the scope includes the following:

Utility Relocations:

The Government has determined that the existing telecommunications lines within the limits of work cannot be included within the scope of this construction contract due to new requirements beyond the AE’s control. The design associated with the relocation of the telecom lines must be removed from the contract documents, which requires additional effort from the AE to revise drawings, specifications, and design analysis accordingly.

The Government has also determined that a full tree survey and replanting plan is required for this project due to new requirements beyond the AE’s control to properly design and construct utility relocations. The tree replanting plan must meet the requirements of Puerto Rico Highway and Transportation (PRHTA) Design Directive 900.

Due to the changes, the AE must gain re-endorsement from all required agencies through the Puerto Rico Permits Management Office (Oficina de Gerencia de Permisos) (OGPe) process. In Puerto Rico, OGPe handles permitting processes for construction and development, so the AE must adhere to approved plans by maintaining accurate plans and resubmitting to the OGPe for any changes, renew permits and endorsements to keep them updated and valid through the duration of solicitation of construction. The endorsements must remain valid until 31DEC2027 and the AE task order must be active throughout this duration.

Revised Telecom and Landscaping 95% Design Plans and Specifications:

The AE shall submit the revised telecom and landscaping 95% design plans and specifications which include revising the design based on the changes listed above. This submittal will include a Design Quality Control review (DQC), Quality Assurance Review (QAR), Sponsor Review, and Biddability, Constructability, Operability, Environmental and Sustainability (BCOES) Review. The AE will submit the revised telecom and landscaping plans, specifications, current working cost estimate (CWE), and design document report (DDR).

The anticipated final submittal review cycle is included in a project design schedule in the scope of work. Should Government review durations be extended, the project schedule will be modified accordingly.

Revisions and/or corrections resulting from the DQC, QAR, Sponsor Review, and BCOES reviews will be included in the final submittal. The final utility relocation design will then be included in a construction contract solicitation.

The AE will also provide the Government support during the solicitation period.

4. Authority Cited: 10 U.S.C. § 3204(b)(B), Only One Responsible Source and No Other Supplies or Services Will Satisfy Agency Requirements, as implemented by FAR 6.302-l(a)(2)(iii):

(iii) For DoD, NASA, and the Coast Guard, services may be deemed to be available only from the original source in the case of follow-on contracts for the continued provision of highly specialized services when it is likely that award to any other source would result in-

(A) Substantial duplication of cost to the Government that is not expected to be recovered through competition;

or

(B) Unacceptable delays in fulfilling the agency’s requirements. (See 10 U.S.C. 3204(b)(B)).

5. Reason for Authority Cited: The existing AE is the only source that can provide continued unique services to maintain the overall delivery of the task order without creating substantial duplication of cost to the government that is not expected to be recovered through competition and will result in unacceptable delays in fulfilling the requirements.

Justification/Impact:

a. Duration of the Project. The period of performance allows for performance of the full scope of the project to be achieved and allow for sufficient time to ensure the solicitation phase services actions are completed and accepted by the appropriate agencies. The original intent of this task order was to execute the design and solicitation phase services; however, due to the design changes and real estate acquisition that were beyond the AE’s control, the duration to construction contract award has been extended. In addition, it is in the best interest of the Government to keep the same AE for RFP services for AE liability reasons; it would be difficult to transition to a new AE and for a new AE to obtain Designer of Record (DOR) responsibility without redoing the full design.

b. Schedule constraints. The schedule for this acquisition is heavily influenced by the Caribbean

District requirement to construct the project in order from downstream to upstream to maintain hydraulic efficiency of the channel. The risk associated with delay is high considering the critical need to advance the active task order so construction can begin following completion of the design.

Transitioning to a new AE would incur additional delays (12-18 months) which includes: the process for request for service acquisition approval, solicitation, AE selection and approval, negotiation, and award. In addition, a new AE would essentially need to start from the beginning of the design to obtain DOR responsibility, which would result in an additional 6-12 month delay.

c. Cost Effectiveness and Efficiency. Having the current AE firm continue the design would be cost effective to meet mission requirements for the Government and will allow the firm to be on the project until the solicitation is complete, which is estimated to be 28 December 2027. A shorter period of performance could result in the task order expiring, resulting in the need for a new contract to continue the effort if future changes are needed. There are new costs associated with getting a new contract executed, demobilizing the former contractor (at least $10,000 for efforts to transfer incomplete project information to a database), and remobilizing a new contractor including the creation of new programmatic planning documents (at least $90,000 for overlap of contractor project management effort such as kick-off meetings, project management plan, and creating new programmatic work plans), in addition to the new work itself and taking ownership of the existing design, which is an additional $650,000.00 based on design costs so far plus escalation. These project impacts add up to at least $750,000 with an interruption of progress of over six months.

d. Maintaining the period of performance to 28 December 2027 would be an efficiency gained for management of the contract and for the contractor to do the work.

Alternatives:

e. There are no alternatives available to the Government that would provide the services required without additional cost, redesign, and delays while capacity is sought to cover task order modifications.

6. Efforts to Obtain Competition:

a. Notice of Intent to Sole Source: Pursuant to FAR 5.203(a) the notice of a proposed contract action must be published at least 15 days. Notice of intent to issue a J&A was published on 3 July 2025. No comments or responses were received. Once approved the J&A will be published on SAM.gov.

b. Effective competition: Full and open competition was used to procure the original base contract.

7. Actions to Increase Competition: Sole source is necessary for these Architect Engineer services because to solicit another A-E would cause severe consequences to the schedule and cost of the associated work required. Based on the information provided in the above, increasing competition for this action is not feasible.

8. Market Research: The existing Single Award Task Order Contract (SATOC) was awarded to Singhofen (Halff) through Full Open Competition under the Brooks Act. No additional market research was conducted.

9. Interested Sources: To date, no other sources have expressed an interest in writing. If interested sources respond to the J&A, it will be documented and reviewed by the contracting activity along with the technical team.

10. Other Facts:

Procurement History:

1- W912EP19D0019

Date: 12 July 2019 Ordering Period: 12 July 2019 – 11 July 2024 Contract value: $9,000,000.00 Competitive status: Full Open Competition

Task Order: W912BU20F0084 Date: 24 September 2020 Amount: $534,376.01

Mod: P00001 Date: 20 January 2021 Amount: Exercised Option $19,195.00

Mod: P00002 Date: 28 October 2021 Amount: $126,629.54