Justification & Approval to Limit Competition – Sole Source Contract

This document is a Justification & Approval to Limit Competition (J&A) for a sole source contract award to HDR MN Galveston JV (HDR) for Construction Phase Architect-Engineer (A-E) services on the Houston Ship Channel (HSC) Segment 3 at Spillman Island, Harris County, Texas. The contract value is $1,046,239.53, with authority under 10 U.S.C. 3204(a)(2) citing Unusual and Compelling Urgency. The contracting agency is the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Southwestern Division, Galveston District. The requirement involves conducting a comprehensive structural assessment of an existing bulkhead wall system, developing engineering design plans, specifications, construction cost estimates, project schedules, and supporting documentation for repair or rehabilitation. Services include detailed design drawings, bidder inquiry responses, construction submittal reviews, Request for Information (RFI) responses, design change execution, and site visit attendance. The work is funded through Civil Works and will be solicited under a 270-calendar-day duration using the $900M Multiple Award Task Order Contract (MATOC) tool.

The J&A establishes that HDR is uniquely qualified as the Designer of Record (DOR) for the original bulkhead design and possesses irreplaceable knowledge critical to remediation efforts following two slope failures occurring in late 2025. The justification emphasizes unusual and compelling urgency based on schedule risk and financial impact: the construction contractor McCarthy will incur approximately $200,000 daily standby costs beyond mid-May if engineering services are delayed. Retaining HDR avoids substantial time and expense associated with a new designer conducting full re-analysis, independent site investigation, and complete redesign. Evaluated alternatives—including full and open competition, MATOC competition, and in-house government resources—were deemed unsuitable due to the 50+ workday delay that would result in estimated costs exceeding $24.2 million. The document includes technical certifications from the Geotechnical and Structural Lead Engineers and confirms price reasonableness based on comparison with the Independent Government Estimate and historical MATOC pricing data.