Justification and Approval for W912EP25CA009 Tampa Harbor Maintenance Dredging_Redacted_04102026.pdf

Control Number:

CUI

Source Selection Information – See FAR 2.101 & 3.104

JUSTIFICATION REVIEW DOCUMENT

FOR OTHER THAN FULL AND OPEN COMPETITION - FAR Part 6

Program: Tampa Harbor, Maintenance Dredging, Upper Channels and Cut-G (PT), Hillsborough County, Florida.

Authority: Title 10 U.S.C. 3204(a)(1) as implemented by FAR 6.103-1(c)(2)(ii), only one responsible source and no other supplies or services will satisfy agency requirements.

Amount: Estimated at

Prepared by:

Type Name: Phone:

Title: Contract Specialist E-mail:

Signature:

Contracting Officer:

Type Name: Phone:

Title: Contracting Officer Email:

Signature:_

Technical Representative:

Type Name: Phone:

Title: Senior Project Manager Email:

Source Selection Information – See FAR 2.101 & 3.104

Reviews

Concurrence

Small Business Representative:

Type Name: Phone:

Title: Small Business Chief

Signature

Legal Counsel:

Typed Name: Phone Title: Assistant District Counsel

Signature:_

Source Selection Information – See FAR 2.101 & 3.104

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Jacksonville District Justification and Approval (J&A)

For Other than Full and Open Competition – FAR Part 6

1. Contracting Activity:

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Jacksonville District (SAJ), Jacksonville, FL, is the contracting agency responsible for the subject action.

2. Description of Action:

The proposed action is a contract modification to Firm-Fixed-Price (FFP) Contract No.

W912EP25CA009, Tampa Harbor, Maintenance Dredging, Upper Channels and Cut-G (PT), Hillsborough County, Florida. The original contract was awarded on 28 August 2025 to Cashman Dredging & Marine Contracting Co LLC (Cashman) through full and open competition. The modification will add additional dredge areas to remove critical shoaling that restricts navigation in Tampa Harbor. The estimated value of this modification is $2M of Operation and Maintenance funds.

The justification for this action is a compelling need to ensure safe navigation within Tampa Harbor. Critical shoaling has reduced the depth of the Tampa Harbor Navigation Channel. As a direct result of this critical shoaling, the Tampa Bay Harbor Pilots have imposed a 37-foot draft restriction. This restriction places the federally authorized channel in a degraded state, below its minimum intended operational condition. The restriction has created an immediate and significant adverse impact on navigational reliability and the stability of regional supply chains. Projections based on current vessel movements indicate that the Port of Tampa stands to lose as many as 400 vessel calls in 2026 alone, compelling vessels to either light-load—thereby operating inefficiently— or bypass the port entirely. This shoaling is detrimental to the regional economy and compromises the economic benefits the authorized federal channel is intended to support. This action is therefore necessary to remove the minimum material required to lift the draft restriction and restore the channel to its authorized operational condition.

3. Description of Supplies/Services:

The original contract scope required maintenance dredging of the Tampa Harbor, Maintenance Dredging, Upper Channels and Cut-G (PT), Hillsborough County, Florida.

Project work consists of maintenance dredging Tampa Harbor at identified dredging areas indicated on the drawings. Dredge areas will incorporate 1 foot of allowable overdepth. All dredged material is to be disposed of in DMPF-2D. Additional work includes turbidity monitoring, sea turtle trawling and relocation, bird monitoring, and environmental species monitoring.

The scope of this modification is to add additional dredge areas within Tampa Bay Cuts A, B, C, D, and E to restore them to a required depth of 44 feet with a 1-foot allowable

Source Selection Information – See FAR 2.101 & 3.104 overdepth. The estimated quantity of material to be dredged is approximately 40,000 cubic yards. All dredged material will be placed within the existing Dredged Material Management Area (DMMA) 2D, located approximately 25 miles from the excavation area. The work will also include turbidity and environmental species monitoring as required by the original contract.

This modification uses the contractor’s existing crew and equipment already mobilized for the original contract. The price includes all associated costs for labor, materials, and equipment required to dredge the additional areas and dispose of the material. This modification will extend the period of performance by an estimated days. The contractor is required to commence work on the modification within 30 days and complete it before returning to the remaining sections of the original scope.

4. Authority Cited:

Title 10 U.S.C. 3204(a)(1), as implemented by FAR 6.103-1(a) – Only one responsible source and no other supplies or services will satisfy agency requirements. More specifically, and as specified in FAR 6.103-1(c)(2)(ii) 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 unacceptable delays in fulfilling the agency’s requirements.

5. Reason for Authority Cited:

The Tampa Harbor Navigation Channel is experiencing critical shoaling up to 1 foot above its authorized depth of 43 feet. On 22 January 2026, the Tampa Bay Pilots Association imposed a new draft restriction of 37’ 09” for vessels based on a USACE hydrographic survey posted on 17 December 2025. According to the Port, this restriction affects approximately 400 vessel transits annually, leading to significant economic loss. This action is necessary to remove the minimum amount of material required to lift the draft restrictions and restore the channel to its authorized operational condition.

The Corps has performed maintenance dredging of Tampa Bay Harbor Cuts A-F every two years on average. The projects are budgeted 2-3 years out based on the historical and current surveys in each area. Since this area did not show as an area of great need due to only a small amount of shoaling in the center of the navigation channel, budget and planning for dredging was not anticipated for dredging this year.

Source Selection Information – See FAR 2.101 & 3.104

See survey image below showing the navigation channel in blue and areas requiring immediate attention hi hli hted in green in the middle of the harbor.

Award to any other source would result in unacceptable delays that would severely impact the economic viability of the Port of Tampa. The current reduced draft restrictions present an urgent challenge to safe navigation, forcing vessels to light-load or bypass the port entirely. These circumstances creates cascading detrimental effects, including significant loss of cargo throughput, increased transportation costs, and severe supply-chain disruptions. The resulting economic damage to the port, its tenants, and regional consumers compromises the fundamental benefits the authorized federal channel is intended to provide.

Maintenance dredging is a highly specialized service requiring specific dredging plant (hopper) and experienced personnel familiar with local hydrographic conditions and environmental constraints. The incumbent contractor, Cashman, is currently on-site and fully mobilized with the requisite specialized equipment and personnel, making them uniquely positioned to commence work on the new areas almost immediately. Cashman has the necessary equipment for these dredge depths of over 40 feet and pump out capabilities for disposal of dredge material.

There is a limited number of qualified contractors who can mobilize and begin work in the project area to address the issue. A new, full and open competition would take several months to complete, followed by additional time for a new contractor to mobilize a suitable dredge and support equipment to the site. This mobilization alone could take weeks or months, assuming a dredge is available, and would incur significant costs.

The cumulative delay from a new procurement and mobilization process would be ggg g

Source Selection Information – See FAR 2.101 & 3.104 unacceptable given the immediate and significant economic harm caused by the shoaling and draft restrictions. The loss of 400 vessel calls represents a significant disruption to regional supply chains and economic activity, justifying this sole-source action to prevent further damage.

Moreover, this modification avoids the duplication of substantial mobilization and demobilization costs, as the contractor is already performing work in the immediate vicinity. Procuring this effort in a separate contract is not feasible as the mobilization costs for a new contract would be disproportionately high relative to the dredging quantity, which is merely one-fifth of the existing contract volume.

6. Efforts to Obtain Competition:

a. Based on the information in paragraph 5, competition for this action is not feasible.

There are no other known contractors who possess the capability to perform this highly specialized service, requiring specific dredging plant (hopper), and experienced personnel familiar with local hydrographic conditions and environmental constraints, within the required time frame necessary without unacceptably delays. The contractors that possess the capability to provide the highly specialized dredging services Many contractors that provide dredging services are not in the local area and the time necessary for mobilization of a dredge, if available, would not meet the urgent needs of the Government.

b. Subcontracting competition: Subcontracting competition: A Small Business Participation Plan (SBPP) and subcontracting plan were required as part of the initial proposal submissions for solicitation W912EP25CA009. The submitted bid, dated 28 July, 2025, met all submission requirements outlined in the solicitation and contained all elements required by FAR 19.704. Cashman’s proposed subcontracting goals were determined to be meaningful and challenging for this work and have been approved for all socioeconomic categories.

7. Actions to Increase Competition:

This J&A supports a discrete requirement that will end when the project is complete.

This is a one-time, urgent requirement to prevent further economic disruption. Future maintenance dredging requirements for this area will be procured through full and open competition. Therefore, there are no planned actions to increase competition for the requirement covered by this J&A.

8. Market Research:

a. Due to the nature of this emergency requirement, market research was done by identifying companies within the immediate local area capable of meeting the needs of the Government in the time frame necessary. Cashman is currently performing work in the immediate area with the equipment necessary to accomplish the work in the time needed. Other contractors in the area are unable to complete the work due to prior

Source Selection Information – See FAR 2.101 & 3.104 commitments or not possessing the capabilities to complete the work with the local equipment. The contractor for the project Tampa Harbor, Maintenance Dredging, Tampa Bay Cuts Through Cut-C (HB), Hillsborough County, Florida (2024) Contract number W912EP24C0025 has already demobilized from work in the area. The next planned contract in the area has completed design but will not be advertised until early summer for work beginning in October 2026. This contract will dredge areas further south and will not use a dredged material management area in close proximity to the dredging areas (cuts A-F).

b. Cashman has the experience, resources, and financial capability, and availability to provide the highly specialized dredging services immediately without unacceptable delays.

9. Interested Sources: N/A

10. Other Facts: N/A

CERTIFICATIONS

11. Technical Certification:

I certify that the supporting data under my cognizance, which are included in the justification, are accurate and complete to the best of my knowledge and belief.

Signature:

Typed Na

12. Requirements Certification:

I certify that the supporting data under my cognizance, which are included in the justification, are accurate and complete to the best of my knowledge and belief.

Typed Na

13. Contracting Officer Fair and Reasonable Cost Determination:

I hereby determine that the anticipated cost to the Government for this contract will be fair and reasonable. The basis for this determination of a fair and reasonable price will be a comparison of the proposed costs to the Independent Government Estimate.

Source Selection Information – See FAR 2.101 & 3.104

Signature: __

Typed Name:

14. Contracting Officer Certification:

I certify that this justification is accurate and complete to the best of my knowledge and belief.

Signature: __

Typed Name

15. Approval:

Based on the forgoing justification, I hereby approve the addition of additional dredge areas to the plans and specifications for Contract No. W912EP25CA009, Tampa Harbor, Maintenance Dredging, Upper Channels and Cut-G (PT), Hillsborough County, Florida to address critical shoaling that is adversely impacting the authorized federal channel. Award is on an other than full and open competition basis pursuant to Title 10 U.S.C. 3204(a)(1) as implemented by FAR 6.103-1(a). Only one responsible source and no other supplies or services will satisfy agency requirements without unacceptable delays in fulfilling the agency’s needs. The total estimated cost is . Award is subject to availability of funds, and provided that the services and supplies herein described have otherwise been authorized for this acquisition.

Name: Date: _____________________

Title: Sig