MVD_CW CSO_May2026.pdf

Mississippi Valley Division Civil Works Areas of Interest

Commercial Solutions Openings

W912P926SC001

SECTION A: INTRODUCTION

The Mississippi Valley Division (MVD) of the United States Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) is issuing this Commercial Solutions Opening (CSO) authorized by 10 U.S.C. 3458 and implemented by the Department of Defense (DoD) Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement (DFARS) 212.70 (DFARS CD 2026-O0028), Defense Commercial Solutions Opening.

Under a CSO, the MVD and other DoD agencies may award a contract to any one or more offerors relative to that offeror’s submission received in response to this general solicitation to obtain innovative solutions or potential capabilities that fulfill requirements, close capability gaps, or provide potential innovative technological advancements.

“Innovative” means any technology, process, or method, including research and development, that is new as of the date of submission of a proposal, or any application that is new as of the date of submission of a proposal of a technology, process, or method existing as of such a date.

All products, technologies, and services shall be treated as commercial items; products, technologies, and services do not have to be “commercially available” to be submitted in response to this solicitation. If the solution meets the requirements of the DFARS regulation, the solution is treated as commercial whereby the Contracting Officer will utilize commercial procedures to develop and execute the resultant award.

This CSO contains broadly defined Areas of Interest (AOI), however more specific Individual Program Requirements (IPRs) may be provided in the future. The AOIs are intentionally broad in nature, generally have no known funding specifically available, and will be posted under this CSO on an open-continuous basis for one (1) year from the date of original posting. Any specific IPRs that are posted under the authority of this CSO, will describe the desired end result, offer additional context for the needs that seek solutions, provide a funding profile, and will stipulate a specific due date for solutions.

The USACE MVD mission is to serve the region by providing vital public engineering services and stewardship of water resource infrastructure, partnering in peace and war, to strengthen our nation’s security, energize the economy and reduce risks from disasters. Investment is critical in generating near- and long-term benefits to the Civil Works Program. Therefore, MVD seeks innovative commercial products, technologies, and/or services in the following AOIs:

• Maintenance of Authorized Channel Dimensions to Sustain Navigation and Production Efficiency

• Materials and Repair Methods for Navigation Structures

• Comprehensive Above- and Below-Water Imaging of Navigation Structures

• Locating subaqueous subsurface objects

• Sedimentation Prediction Modeling for Navigable Waterways

• Navigation and Flood Risk Management Project Delivery

• Non-Structural Dry Floodproofing

This is a two-step project announcement:

Step 1: This announcement is being issued to solicit solution briefs ONLY. The purpose of the solution brief submissions is to identify potential partners that may have promising solutions relative to one or more of the AOIs specified herein. An offeror that describes a promising solution may be asked questions regarding their solution via email or requested to virtually attend a solution pitch with the Government project team. The Government reserves the right to move straight to Request for Proposal (RFP) phase by issuing an RFP to any one offeror based on that offeror’s solution brief only, even before the one year period of this CSO closes. Further, an offeror’s inability to accept an invitation to provide a solution pitch does not preclude them from receiving an RFP.

Step 2: If a solution is selected and funding is available, the Government will issue an RFP to the offeror that submitted the solution. If a solution is selected and funding is not available, the Government may request that the solution be maintained in the electronic library for consideration and subsequent funding availability up to three years after submission. If a solution is not selected, the offeror will be notified generally within 30 days of submission.

SECTION B: SOLUTION BRIEF PREPARATION AND SUBMISSION

NOTE: The Government reserves the right to not select a solution if it omits any of the required information below.

DO NOT INCLUDE CLASSIFIED OR PROPRIETARY INFORMATION

1. GENERAL FORMATTING REQUIREMENTS: Solution briefs shall be no more than three pages and submitted electronically. All submissions must be clear, legible, and conform to the following general formatting guidelines:

• Paper: Pages shall be 8.5 x 11 inches, single sided, with each page numbered “X of Y pages.”

• Margins: Minimum of 1 inch on all sides.

• Type Font: 12-point Arial, single spaced.

• Acronyms: Spell out all acronyms the first time they are used. One page of the proposal body is allocated to spell out acronyms, abbreviations and symbols.

• Language: English.

• Electronic file format: PDF, compatible with current Adobe Acrobat Reader. File size less than 20 MB.

2. TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION OF SOLUTION:

• Proposed solution and mission impact.

• Overview of the concept in alignment with one of the AOIs. The proposed solution shall not simply repeat the AOI but rather provide convincing evidence that the proposed solution or potential capability fulfill a Government requirement, close capability gaps, or provide technological advancements. The following examples of convincing evidence are strongly encouraged – o Authentic company URL or web address. Note: The Government may elect to use the information provided as part of its continuous market research. However, the government is not obligated to use the URL or web address as part of its review process.

o Summary of product commercialization currently used in the open market.

o Pictures, diagrams, models, or figures to depict the essence of the proposed solution.

• Describe how the proposed solution is “innovative” and the feasibility of the solution solving an agency challenge, including examples demonstrating possible application of the proposed innovation or existing use of the solution in the commercial marketplace.

3. ROUGH ORDER MAGNITUDE (ROM) – Provide an estimated price of the solution ONLY. Further details will be requested for full proposal, if selected.

4. SUBMISSION

SAM Registration: It is critical that offerors are registered in the System for Award Management (SAM), https://sam.gov/ ; offerors will not be eligible for an award if not registered in SAM. Additionally, entities are required to be registered to receive contracts (not just grants) and the address from the solution must match the registration information in SAM.

For a solution to be evaluated for possible selection, it must be submitted to both Alicia.K.Bounds@usace.army.mil and Whitney.R.Dee@usace.army.mil. Submissions will be accepted through 5PM EST, 31 May 2027. A hardcopy will not be accepted.

Please ensure that the offeror’s email address listed in your proposal/submission is current and accurate.

5. SELECTION

Solutions received in response to this announcement will be selected to move onto the RFP phase based upon a review of how innovative and feasible the solution is at solving an agency challenge, the potential to enhance the mission effectiveness of the agency, and funding availability.

If a solution is selected and funding is available, an RFP may be issued by the Contracting Officer to that offeror, which shall include a request for further details or documents prior to award (i.e., contractor self-developed Performance Work Statement (PWS) or Scope of Work (SOW), delivery details, etc.). A PWS is like a Service Level Agreement (SLA) used in the commercial marketplace. The PWS shall detail the proposed work to be completed during the period of performance, deliverables, etc. As appropriate, the Government may engage in a collaborative process with that offeror to develop the PWS/SOW, deliverables, data rights, and necessary terms and conditions for the potential award.

The government reserves the right to select none of the submissions, proposals, and/or solutions.

https://sam.gov/ mailto:Alicia.K.Bounds@usace.army.mil mailto:Whitney.R.Dee@usace.army.mil

SECTION C: PROPOSAL EVALUATION

RFPs will further describe proposal preparation and submission requirements, evaluation factors, relative order of importance and method of evaluation. But at a minimum, proposals received in response to an RFP will be evaluated in accordance with the following criteria by scientific, technological, and/or other subject matter expert peer review process.

• Technical requirements will assess how innovative the solution is (as defined in this announcement) and the feasibility of the solution solving the agency’s challenges in the AOI’s mentioned herein.

• Importance to agency programs will assess the solution’s potential to enhance the mission effectiveness of the agency.

• Price Reasonableness Determination: Price shall be considered to the extent appropriate, but at a minimum, the Contracting Officer will use market research as the primary method to determine that the price is fair and reasonable. The Government may elect to use external market research in the evaluation of the proposal. The MVD or other DoD agency must determine the price fair and reasonable prior to award using the procedures at DFARS 212.204 (DFARS CD 2026-O0028. In some circumstances, the Contracting Officer may request information from the offeror regarding recent purchase prices paid by the Government and/or commercial customers for the same or similar commercial items.

SECTION D: AWARD

All resultant contracts will be firm-fixed price. All items, technologies, and services (including research and development) procured via this CSO are treated as commercial. MVD is conducting this CSO on a full and open basis (via the posting of this CSO) and if it subsequently sends an RFP and awards a contract to one or more offerors, it intends to use RFO part 12 and the RFO part that is deemed most appropriate for the specific solution proposed (i.e., RFO part 12, 15, and/or 35).

RFO / DFAR CD clauses will be integrated into contracts on a case-by-case basis based on proposed scope.

Additional terms and conditions may be required as circumstances necessitate; examples of such would be data rights, security, etc.

The government does not plan to engage in the debrief process outlined in RFO part 15 but will provide feedback to unselected offerors as appropriate and at its discretion.

SECTION E: AREAS OF INTEREST

Note: The AOIs and any IPRs issued are subject to change at any time during the open continuous period. Revisions or additions may be made on an as needed basis.

• Maintenance of Authorized Channel Dimensions to Sustain Navigation and Production Efficiency Innovation to preserve the authorized channel depth and width on navigable waterways in accordance with authorized specifications to sustain current production throughput and to ensure that no additional delays are introduced to commercial navigation traffic during production.

• Materials and Repair Methods for Navigation Structures Innovation of components and repair methods for navigation structures that meet or exceed current USACE and regulatory standards, ensuring long-term structural integrity, operational reliability, and environmental compliance.

• Comprehensive Above- and Below-Water Imaging of Navigation Structures Innovation in acquiring precise visual and data-driven documentation of structural conditions both above and below the waterline, in support of ongoing maintenance, assessment, and rehabilitation planning efforts of navigation structures.

• Locating subaqueous subsurface objects Innovation in precise location, identification, and documentation of any buried or partially buried objects, debris, or anomalies beneath the bed of a water body—such as rivers, lakes, harbors, or coastal areas.

• Sedimentation Prediction Modeling for Navigable Waterways Innovation in accurately forecasting sediment transport, deposition rates, and channel shoaling patterns that may impact navigation safety, channel maintenance, and long-term operational planning.

• Navigation and Flood Risk Management Project Delivery Innovation in approaches including systems, technologies, and processes, to improve the delivery, effectiveness, and resilience of navigation and flood risk management efforts from concept through construction.

• Non-Structural Dry Floodproofing Multiple deployment/multi-use deployable flood barriers for implementing dry floodproof measures to structures (NOT single use like sandbags or HESCOs).