PCD_RFI_CarlsonSoftware_20261105_Final.pdf

STATE OF TENNESSEE

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

REQUEST FOR INFORMATION

FOR

Survey Field and Office Software

RFI # 40100-51897

11/05/2026

1. STATEMENT OF PURPOSE:

The State of Tennessee, Department of Transportation issues this Request for Information (“RFI”) for the purpose of gathering vendor insight to guide the State’s planning and decision-making for future survey software procurement. We appreciate your input and participation in this process.

2. BACKGROUND:

The State of Tennessee, Department of Transportation (TDOT) operates data collectors, total stations, and GNSS receivers to support surveying activities across its transportation programs.

All current equipment and software operate on the Carlson platform. To meet current and future operational requirements, the State intends to competitively procure a Contract for the acquisition of additional survey equipment and the associated software necessary for data collection, processing, and analysis. TDOT is only considering equipment and software operating within the Carlson ecosystem to ensure interoperability, consistency of data formats, and compatibility with current field and office processes. Alternative equipment and platforms not within the Carlson ecosystem will not be considered. The following list describes certain modules that are required to fulfill current State needs, while others provide additional capabilities that are useful or desirable but not mandatory at this time. Please respond with these modules in mind. Required Software is designated by the (*) symbol.

1. Carlson SurvPC (Field Software)

a. * TS – Operation of conventional total stations for survey data collection, staking, and field adjustments.

b. *RTS – Operation of robotic total stations for survey data collection, staking, and field adjustments.

c. *GPS/GNSS – Operation of GNSS equipment for survey data collection, staking, and field adjustments.

d. Advanced Roading – Provides specialized tools for road staking, cross-sections, slope staking, volume calculations, and related tasks. It can also utilize BIM and DTM models.

e. Hybrid+ – Enables the simultaneous use of a robotic total station and GNSS equipment for survey data collection and field adjustments.

2. Carlson Office Software (installed on desktop)

a. *Survey – Processes field-collected survey data and exports data in formats compatible with Bentley OpenRoads Designer.

b. *Survey GNSS – GNSS post-processing software used to process static survey data for the development of high-accuracy project control.

c. Civil – Provides roadway and site-design tools and supports DWG, DGN, and LandXML file formats.

d. GIS – Provides tools for data capture and linking, data labeling, SHP-file import and export, and polygon-topology creation.

e. Point Cloud Advanced – Provides LiDAR point-cloud manipulation and feature-extraction tools for identifying roadway features.

f. PhotoCapture – Drone photogrammetry processing software used to generate orthomosaics, digital elevation models, point clouds, meshes, etc.

g. P3D Topo – Combines survey data, surfaces, point clouds, LiDAR, and drone data from different sources to create and visualize 3D surfaces.

3. COMMUNICATIONS:

3.1. Please submit your response to this RFI to:

Lauren Shirey, Senior Technical Specialist Tennessee Department of Transportation William R. Snodgrass Tennessee Tower, 11th FL 312 Rosa L. Parks Avenue Nashville, TN 37243 TDOT.RFP@tn.gov

3.2. Please feel free to contact the [STATE AGENCY NAME] with any questions regarding this RFI. The main point of contact will be:

Lauren Shirey, Senior Technical Specialist Tennessee Department of Transportation William R. Snodgrass Tennessee Tower, 11th FL 312 Rosa L. Parks Avenue Nashville, TN 37243 TDOT.RFP@tn.gov

3.3. Please reference RFI # 40100-51897 with all communications to this RFI.

4. RFI SCHEDULE OF EVENTS:

EVENT

TIME

(Central Time Zone)

DATE

(all dates are State business days)

1. RFI Issued 11/05/2026

2. RFI Response Deadline 11/19/2026

5. GENERAL INFORMATION:

5.1. Please note that responding to this RFI is not a prerequisite for responding to any future solicitations related to this project and a response to this RFI will not create any contract rights. Responses to this RFI will become property of the State.

5.2. The information gathered during this RFI is part of an ongoing procurement. In order to prevent an unfair advantage among potential respondents, the RFI responses will not be available until after the completion of evaluation of any responses, proposals, or bids resulting from a Request for Qualifications, Request for Proposals, Invitation to Bid or other procurement method. In the event that the state chooses not to go further in the procurement process and responses are never evaluated, the responses to the procurement including the responses to the RFI, will be considered confidential by the State.

5.3. The State will not pay for any costs associated with responding to this RFI.

6. INFORMATIONAL FORMS:

The State is requesting the following information from all interested parties. Please fill out the following forms:

RFI #40100-51897

TECHNICAL INFORMATIONAL FORM

1. RESPONDENT LEGAL ENTITY NAME:

2. RESPONDENT CONTACT PERSON:

Name, Title:

Address:

Phone Number:

Email:

3. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF EXPERIENCE PROVIDING SIMILAR SCOPE OF

SERVICES/PRODUCTS

4. Confirm whether the Contractor is an authorized reseller of all Carlson software modules identified in the RFI Background.

5. Does the Contractor attest that all responses provided in the Technical Information Form, Cost Information Form, and any Additional Considerations are based solely on the software modules specified in the RFI Background?

6. Please describe any bundles you offer for the Carlson software products listed in the RFI Background, including the specific modules included within each bundle. In addition, describe your ability to create custom bundles of these modules.

7. Please describe any benefits or challenges for TDOT in identifying core software bundles upfront versus procuring modules individually and/or requesting modules in bundles as needs arise during the contract term. Include any factors that may influence cost efficiency, flexibility, or administrative impact.

8. Please describe whether your bundling capabilities are limited to grouping similar types of software (e.g., field modules bundled only with field modules, office modules bundled only with office modules), or whether you can combine field and office software modules into a single bundle. In your response, identify any manufacturer, licensing, or administrative constraints that may limit cross‑category bundling.

9. Please describe any module dependencies or prerequisites that would influence how TDOT should group modules.

COST INFORMATIONAL FORM

1. Describe what pricing units you typically utilize for similar services or goods (e.g., per hour, each, etc.:

2. Describe the typical price range for similar services or goods

3. How do you typically calculate bundle pricing? (percentage discount off list price, fixed discounted bundle rates, tiered discounting, incremental pricing, etc.)

4. Describe the extent of your ability to support the following cost methodologies, if it varies from the typical bundle pricing model established in question 3. In addition to describing your ability to support each model, rank your preference if you can support more than one, and provide any additional considerations TDOT should be aware of as TDOT evaluates cost structures for future solicitations.

a. Custom predefined bundles – bundled modules are predetermined and static for the contract term.

b. Custom configurable bundles – bundle modules are not predetermined but 1 or more line items are assigned to the following ends:

i. One line establishes a %-discount bid off the individually-priced sum of any quantity of bundled items

ii. Multiple lines establish a %-discount bid off the individually-priced sum based on number of modules requested in the bundle? (e.g., 2‑module bundle, 3‑module bundle, 4‑module bundle, etc.).

iii. Multiple lines establish a fixed priced bundle cost based on the number of modules in a bundle (e.g., 2-module bundle, 3-module bundle, 4-module bundle, etc.).

5. Describe to what extent bundle pricing is affected by the following:

• number of modules purchased

• type of modules combined

• volume of licenses

• describe any other variables that may impact pricing and describe the extent of the impact.

6. Are there any cost methodologies you cannot support?

ADDITIONAL CONSIDERATIONS

1. Please provide input on alternative approaches or additional things to consider that might benefit the State: