Solicitation - Attachment 4 - Justification and Approval - Brand Name - Instrumentation.pdf

MVSJA-22-0002

Justification and Approval for Other than Full and Open Competition (See AFARS 5153.303-5)

1. Contracting Activity: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Mississippi Valley Division, St. Louis

District Contracting Office

2. Description of Action: This procurement is for a new contract using construction general funds for Melvin Price Locks and Dam Design Deficiency Corrections Project (Reach 2) Upper Wood River Levee. The solicitation will be a Best Value Trade Off with 100% Small Business Set-Aside competition strategy. The contract type will be firm-fixed-price.

3. Description of Supplies/Services:

a. The contract for constructing twenty-five (25) partially penetrating relief wells, modifying twenty-five (25) existing D-type relief wells, extensive dewatering due to elevated groundwater, articulated concrete mattress erosion protection, ditch formation and regarding, access road installation, extension of existing IDOT storm drains, and installation of automated piezometers in Madison County, Illinois. The estimated total contract value is over $10,000,000.

b. Included in this contract is installing new open system piezometers and expanding the automated system to critical areas of the levee, which will provide regular readings, real time data collection, and allow users to access the data remotely. This will improve monitoring of the levee that is known to have a seepage issue in order to assess risk and better understand the deficiencies in the Wood River Levee District.

c. The Campbell Scientific Inc. brand name hardware and software to be purchased in order to setup the automated system includes the dataloggers for data collection, internal system communication components, external communication components, the proprietary software, equipment to support vibrating wire transducers, and required supporting components. The estimated cost for these items will be between $25,000 and $30,000.

d. The GeoKon brand name products necessary for this requirement are 22 vibrating wire transducers and cables. The transducers are fabricated with cables eliminating a submerged connection. The transducer cables will be connected to Geokon lightning arrestors to provide protection from electrical interference and the elements. Additional cables will be required for connections from the lightening arrestor to the Campbell Scientific datalogger. These transducers are compatible with the Campbell Scientific Inc. equipment and will have an estimated cost between $15,000 and $20,000.

e. The Solinst brand name hardware includes dataloggers and all necessary supporting equipment to collect and record data. The Solinst dataloggers are able to collect and store water level and barometric conditions without extensive supporting infrastructure.

The estimated cost for these items will be between $3,000 and $5,000.

4. Authority Cited: 10 USC 2304(c)(1), as implemented by FAR 6.302-1(c), Only One

Responsible Source and No Other Supplies or Services Will Satisfy Agency Requirements

5. Reason for Authority Cited:

a. Background: The Wood River Levee has a limited amount of automated open system piezometers utilizing a combination of Campbell Scientific Inc. equipment and Solinst transducers. The Solinst transducers are self-supporting having the capability of being installed in an open system piezometer and require no external support while collecting data on a programmed schedule. The contract will install new automated open system piezometers in critical sections, as well as upgrade the existing automated system to a permanent, more capable system.

b. Justification: The justification and approval is to cover only the portion of the acquisition which is brand-name or peculiar to one manufacturer. The District’s instrumentation section personnel have received training from Campbell Scientific Inc. in using their proprietary software to install, maintain, and operate their systems, which costed the government more than $3,000 per person. Based off the experience of the personnel, Campbell Scientific’s hardware performance has been unmatched requiring minimal maintenance while maximizing functionality and is used at a majority of our projects.

GeoKon manufacturers a vibrating wire transducer with proven reliability and life span.

The section has used other manufacturer’s vibrating wire transducers in the past but had issues with the transducers providing invalid data or slowly skewing the data over time.

The District’s instrumentation database has procedures to import data from Campbell Scientific Inc. and Solinst data files. If a separate manufacturer is selected it would require additional training expenses, required software expenses and approvals, and costs to create a process to import and validate the data.

c. Impact: The current equipment list has been proven to be reliable, durable, and capable of being accessed remotely through the Corps of Engineers network and firewall. The automated system will allow the district to monitor the levee at any frequency with minimal manpower, download historic data and see real time data remotely, and allow programming changes or access to critical data during a flood event or other significant events. The cost of introducing a separate manufacturer’s software and hardware will significantly increase cost while possibly reducing the reliability of system and staff’s maintenance knowledge. The District’s instrumentation section has specific hardware and knowledge on the proper programming and implementation of the vibrating wire transducers of the preferred manufacturer. If a separate manufacturer is selected the cost of maintenance would increase due to required hardware purchases and training.

The District has also had issue with other manufacturers not supporting their hardware or software while it was still in use.

6. Efforts to Obtain Competition: Any contractor can purchase the required brand name products to be used in performance of the contract, due to these items being commercial off the shelf products for public purchase.

7. Actions to Increase Competition: Geotechnical instrumentation is a relatively small community and even smaller when looking at an individual instrument type or dimension requirements. Several companies in the community will advertise other company’s equipment that their equipment is compatible with. Attempting to have the equipment fabricated or purchased from a manufacturer will increase cost significantly or reduce reliability for the relatively small quantity that is required.

8. Market Research:

Sources Sought - Melvin Price Flood Control Project has two phases (Reach 1 and Reach 2); both contain similar scopes of work and similar dollar value. A formal Sources Sought for Melvin Price Reach 1 Flood Control Project was performed from 20 April 2020 through 4 May 2020 on Beta.SAM.gov using Notice ID W912P920Z0051. Two responses were received, both small businesses; however, only one of those small businesses was determined to be technically capable of performing the work required based on their response submittal.

Site Visit - A Solicitation for Melvin Price Reach 1 Flood Control Project was posted from 6 January 2021 through 5 February 2021 on Beta.SAM.gov using Notice ID W912P920R0053. During the Solicitation phase, a Site Visit was conducted on 14 January 2021, and all interested vendors were encouraged to attend, but it was not mandatory in order to provide a proposal. Representatives from eighteen (18) contractors attended the site visit. Fifteen (15) were small businesses; one (1) was a large business; and two (2) were unknown.

Similar Requirements - Four (4) proposals were received in response to the Melvin Price Reach 1 Flood Control Project Solicitation from three (3) small businesses and one (1) large business. During evaluations, all four business were found to be at least “acceptable” in all technical evaluation factors. None of the contractors that responded to the Sources Sought in May 2020 provided a proposal.

Small Business Industry Day - The St. Louis District Small Business Deputy conducted an Industry Day and Capability Briefing on 10 February 2021 where the Melvin Price Lock & Dam Flood Control Project was presented as an upcoming requirement. Three (3) small business contractors expressed interest in performing the work and provided capability statements. Two (2) of the small business contractors may be capable of performing the work required for this project.

9. Interested Sources:

a. Drilling Service Company (DSCO) (4HA33)

b. Southern Contracting, LLC (48KK6)

c. Meyer Contracting, Inc. (1KUR8)

d. Kamadulski Excavating & Grading Co., Inc. (1FHH3)

e. Davinroy Mechanical Contractor, Inc. (1CVM5)

f. SYTE Corporation (339E0)

g. VuCon, LLC (6DZ53)

h. Genesis 360 LLC (7GPY3)

10. Other Facts: N/A

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.

Name: Christopher Redell Date:

Title: Civil Engineer, Geotechnical Signature: ______________________________

12. Contracting Officer Certification & Approval

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

Based on the foregoing justification, I hereby approve the procurement of Melvin Price Locks and Dam Design Deficiency Corrections Project (Reach 2) Upper Wood River Levee on an other than full and open competition basis pursuant to the authority of 10 U.S.C.2304(c), FAR 6.302-1(c), Only One Responsible Source and No Other Supplies or Services Will Satisfy Agency Requirements, subject to availability of funds, and provided that the services and property herein described have otherwise been authorized for acquisition.

Name: Jacob Prebianca Date:

Title: Contracting Officer Signature: ________________________________

Note: The brand name portion of this contract action does not exceed $700,000, the Contracting Officer is the approval authority.