Justification_Approval_Isabella_Lake_DSMP_-_Add_French_Gulch_(17-C-0025)_Redacted.pdf

Source Selection Information – See FAR 2.101 and 3.104

JUSTIFICATION AND APPROVAL

FOR OTHER THAN FULL AND OPEN COMPETITION

1. CONTRACTING AGENCY: Department of the Army, United States Army Corps of Engineers, Sacramento District (SPK), Contracting Division, 1

2. DESCRIPTION OF ACTION: The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Sacramento District is requesting approval for an out of scope modification in order to modify the existing Isabella Lake Dam Safety Modification Project (DSMP) contract to include work on an adjacent U.S. Forest Service (USFS) recreational boat launch facility on Lake Isabella. While the Isabella Lake DSMP includes minor concrete work on the recreation sites, including French Gulch, this is not the preponderance of work on the Dam contract.

The DSMP contract includes three optional Contract Line Items No. (CLINs) for miscellaneous grading at the USFS sites, underwater grading at the USFS site and miscellaneous concrete at the USFS sites. These three line items however total $220,000.00 which is less than 1% of the overall project cost (awarded amount $241,817,065.00). The entire project is Civil Works funded.

3. DESCRIPTION OF SUPPLIES/SERVICES OR NATURE OF CONSTRUCTION:

The Sacramento District’s mission is to provide all aspects of acquisition, planning, design and construction services for both the Military community and the Civil Works Program. These services are critical not only to the Sacramento community but also to surrounding areas within the Sacramento District. The requiring activity for this project is the Mega Project Center, which is a Division within the Sacramento District that provides Program Management support to our Mega Projects (ie: projects over $100M). The purpose of the Isabella Dam Safety Modification Project is to mitigate the dam safety risks.

The Phase II contract is divided into a base contract for the Main Dam and an exercised option for the Auxiliary Dam. The base Phase II contract will include excavation of the new Emergency Spillway, modifications to the existing Service Spillway, a 16 foot raise of the Main Dam and corresponding raise of the Main Dam Control Tower, modifications to California State Route 155 at the Main Dam right abutment, site work and modifications at several recreation facilities north of the Auxiliary Dam, stockpiling of material for modifications to the Auxiliary Dam, and the disposal of waste material on Engineers' Point. The contractor will excavate approximately 2.95 million cubic yards (CY) of material from the Emergency Spillway, process the necessary volume of this material into differing sizes, and use these materials to produce on-site concrete aggregates, concrete, filter/drain materials and rockfill for raising the embankments. Also included in the base contract is construction of a 28-foot tall labyrinth weir using approximately 56,000 CY of concrete. The Auxiliary Dam exercised option includes demolition of several downstream monoliths in the Borel Outlet Works through the Auxiliary Dam, filling the Borel Outlet Works conduit through the Auxiliary Dam with lightweight concrete, and modifications to the Auxiliary Dam to meet the requirements of the Plans and Specifications.

The Isabella Lake Dam Safety Modification Project was awarded to Flatiron/Dragados/Sukut Joint Venture (FDS) on 18 September 2017 in the amount of $241,817,065.00. The contract number is W91238-17-C-0025.

4. AUTHORITY CITED: 10 USC 2304 (c)(1), as implemented by FAR 6.302- 1(a)(2)(iii)(B)“Only One Responsible Source and No Other Supplies or Services Will Satisfy Agency Requirements.”

5. REASON FOR AUTHORITY CITED:

Background: The Isabella Lake Dam (including Main and Auxiliary Dams) is located on the Kern River, approximately one mile downstream of the confluence of the north and south forks of the Kern River in Kern County, California. In 2005, Isabella Lake Dam was evaluated under the Screening for Portfolio Risk Assessment process and both the Main and Auxiliary Dam were ranked as a Dam Safety Action Classification (DSAC) 1 (“unsafe”, “critically near failure”), due to seepage, hydrologic, and seismic concerns along with large downstream consequences. The Isabella Dam does not meet modern design standards for earthquakes. In the event of a large earthquake, the dam may fail, causing loss of life and significant property damage downstream. With the award to FDS, the USACE, Sacramento District currently is making modifications to the dam to meet current design standards. Below are the justification, impact and alternatives for modifying the FDS contract to include the French Gulch Interim Boat Launch:

Justification: This modification to the DSMP contract is needed to extend the French Gulch Interim Boat Launch while the water level remains low. The previous project scope included the construction of a low level boat ramp to replace Boat Launch 19, which would be shut down during the DSMP contract. The previous contract for the French Gulch Interim Boat Launch was awarded in December 2016 to Spectrum-Straub Joint Venture (SSJV), in the amount of $5,727,000.00, contract no. W91238-15-D-0017- 0001. However, due to the rainy season in early 2017 the SSJV contract was suspended because the water levels rose too fast for work to be completed under the current design configuration, and the contractor was unable to complete the work in the dry. While the contractor was suspended, the District re-designed the boat ramp by pulling it back several feet and making the ramp slightly steeper. While by doing this, the ramp was not the same bottom elevation as it had been under the original design, it remained a usable ramp for the community. SSJV completed the project in July 2018.

In September 2018, the Auxiliary Dam option was exercised on the DSMP contract and with that exercise of the option, we were required to demolish several downstream monoliths in the Borel Outlet Works through the Auxiliary Dam, and fill the Borel Outlet Works conduit through the Auxiliary Dam with lightweight concrete. In order to do this, we had an agreement with the water users to have a one-time lowering of the lake. With the lowering of the lake, the current French Gulch Interim Boat Launch is completely out of water and unusable. This boat launch was a replacement for Boat Launch 19 that was closed in May 2018 once construction on the DSMP started. The District made a commitment to the community of Lake Isabella that while Boat Launch 19 was closed during construction, French Gulch would be made available and usable to the public.

With the ramp out of the water it is no longer usable and poses a safety risk.

It is now necessary to include this unfulfilled requirement in the FDS contract, because we have an opportunity to complete the ramp while the water is low enough to complete the work in the dry. The current design elevation is 2560.0’ NAVD88 and a quick water analysis found that the water levels will exceed the existing boat launch 52% of the time all year and 60% of the time in peak season (1 March – 15 September). The proposed design elevation is 2543.73 NAVD88 and would be usable 82% of the time all year and 86% of the time during peak season. Without these dry conditions, the agency would have to spend a considerable amount of additional money to create a coffer dam which would allow for construction in the dry. From water year 1995 through 2018 (24 years), the water level has only been below the level of the proposed ramp construction 9 times.

Due to the rising levels of the lake in 2017 a modification and a re-design was issued on the SSJV contract, which changed the ramp elevation to a level higher than the original design. This has now left the ramp with a significant drop-off. The height of the drop-off is a distance of up to 15 feet (see attachment). This poses a safety risk and the ramp is currently unusable. In order to avoid unacceptable delays in fulfilling our commitment to provide a low level boat launch, the plan is to modify the DSMP contract and safely tie-in the ramp to an existing sand bar within the lake bottom. This modification is therefore time sensitive, since the water level is currently low and can change rather quickly with a wet winter.

Therefore, executing this ramp modification under normal contracting procedures is not feasible, since this modification must be executed as soon as possible. It is estimated the work will take 90 days, which includes approximately 30 days of submittals and 60 days of actual construction. The estimate for this work is approximately $3,000,000.00.

Putting this project out to offerors and reviewing proposals would take at least 30-60 days and by the time a potentially different contractor mobilized and started work, it is highly likely construction in the dry would not be possible.

Impact: The current design of the ramp poses serious life safety risk to the community when launching, especially during periods of low water levels, as vehicles could drop-off the end of the ramp. This could cause serious harm, up to and including death. The timing of this action is also critical as it is dependent on weather. It was already delayed once due to rising lake levels, so we must expedite this action so that work can be completed prior to water levels rising due to rain and/or run-off.

6. EFFORTS TO OBTAIN COMPETITION: Due to the time sensitive nature of this action, there were no efforts to obtain competition. However, if the DSMP contractor chooses to subcontract a portion of this work, the contractor will be required to obtain at least three quotes from industry in order to find the best overall subcontractor for the work.

7. ACTIONS TO INCREASE COMPETITION: No actions will be taken to increase competition due to the reasons stated in Paragraph 5 above. This modification will need to be executed as soon as possible as part of the FDS contract.

8. MARKET RESEARCH: Since this ramp was completed by another contractor, the Government is confident if the Prime cannot complete the work themselves, they will be able to find a sub-contractor that can complete the work in a timely manner.

9. INTERESTED SOURCES: N/A

10. OTHER FACTORS:

Procurement History: Prior to the SSJV contract, there was no similar type of work completed within the Sacramento District.

Other considerations: The Sacramento District has considered several alternatives to complete this work timely including the following:

8(a): Even if we found an 8(a) that is capable of completing this work, it would still take up to 2-4 weeks to get the 8(a) on contract and another 2-4 weeks to get the Contractor mobilized. The site is remote and finding skilled laborers is difficult so mobilization could take even longer. There would be limited time to complete the submittals for this work and complete construction in the next 90 days.

Follow-on with previous contractor: While the previous contractor completed this project in July 2018 and could be a logical option to complete the bottom of the ramp, the

. This project is financially closed out.

Open-competition: Similar to that of an 8(a) award, this would require even more time and not allow us to complete the project within 90 days and before the water level begins rising.

Mod to current contract: While the construction of a boat launch is not the main function of the FDS contract, they have the efficiencies of a large business and can quickly obtain the resources needed to expeditiously complete this project. Being currently on-site and familiar with the USACE processes and submittal procedures will save the Government time and money that would not otherwise be gained by going to another Contractor.

Additionally, there would be no negative impact to the progress or quality of the Isabella Dam project and they are willing to complete this additional work.

CONCUR:

PARC-Dallas Regional Counsel U.S. Army Corps of Engineers

JUSTIFICATION AND APPROVAL

FOR OTHER THAN FULL AND OPEN COMPETITION

$3M / Only One Responsible Source/No other Supplies or

Services will Satisfy Agency Requirements Isabella Lake Dam Safety Modification Project (DSMP) – French Gulch Addition

APPROVAL

Based on the foregoing justification, I hereby approve the procurement of this modification to the Isabella Dam Safety Modification Project on an other than full and open competition basis pursuant to the authority of 10 U.S.C. 2304(c)(1), subject to the availability of funds, and provided the supplies and services herein described have otherwise been authorized for acquisition.

Advocate for Competition