3238 RFI 30-43.pdf

ANSWERS TO RFI 30-41 AS OF NOVEMBER 15TH, 2021

30. This question is the same as question 19 on RFI Response 1, which was unintentionally left unanswered.

Propeller speed requirements aren’t descriptive enough. It would be better if USACE could dictate whether the preference is for bollard pull or top speed. 12 knots open lake speed will be very challenging. Is this a max required speed or intended transit speed? What is desired cruise speed? What is desired bollard pull?

31. Please advise of Answer to previously asked Question No 19, as follows: Propeller speed requirements aren’t descriptive enough. It would be better if USACE could dictate whether the preference is for bollard pull or top speed. 12 knots open lake speed will be very challenging. Is this a max required speed or intended transit speed? What is desired cruise speed? What is desired bollard pull? (Note, no response to this question was included in the Q&A #1.) Speed is a tradeoff for bollard pull in the design of the propeller, the greater speed desired, the lower bollard pull will become. Generally, with a tug, we design the propeller for maximum bollard pull, and vessel speed is secondary to bollard pull. Please advise.

ANSWER for 30 and 31: Bollard pull shall be a minimum of 25 tons. Light ship open lake transit speed shall be a minimum of 10 knots. During Phase II Engineering, three propeller options shall be developed, one maximizing bollard pull potential, one providing the minimum 25 ton bollard pull, and one with a mean bollard pull value (between the minimum 25 ton and maximum potential). Calculated light vessel transit speeds and towing speeds (based on C002 “Excavator barge with dimensions of 170’ of length, 50’ breadth, and an approximate draft of 4’ with up to one (1) deck or hopper badge (150’ x 35’ x 4’ draft).”) shall be provided. The COR will select the propellor to be used based on the three options.

Specification Section C606 will be modified to:

“The propellers shall be designed per ABS Rules and shall be classed for ABS Ice Class C0. The

Contractor shall design the propellers for a minimum 25 ton bollard pull and a minimum light boat open lake transit speed of 10 knots.

During Phase II Engineering, the Contractor shall develop three propeller options: one maximizing bollard pull potential, one providing the minimum 25 ton bollard pull, and one with a mean bollard pull value (between the minimum 25 ton and maximum potential). Calculated light vessel transit speeds and towing speeds (based on C002 “Excavator barge with dimensions of 170’ of length, 50’ breadth, and an approximate draft of 4’ with up to one (1) deck or hopper badge (150’ x 35’ x

4’ draft).”) shall be provided for each option. The COR will select the propellor to be used based on the three options.

After the COR has selected the propeller based on the options, the Contractor shall develop drawing 877-C606-01 PROPELLERS and 877-C606-02 PROPELLER CALCULATIONS for submittal to the COR and ABS during Phase II of the Contract.

The propellors shall rotate outboard at the top when looking forward.

The propeller shall be open wheel type and shall have a propeller tip clearance to the hull of at least 10% of the propeller diameter.

The propellers shall be CF-3 Stainless Steel. The propellers shall have anti-singing trailing edges.

The propellers shall not exceed 10% back cavitation on the Burrell chart.

The Contractor shall provide an ABS Statement of Fact that each propeller meets all ISO R484, Class I fabrication, finish, and balance requirements. ABS certificates shall be provided to the

COR for each propeller.”

32. Please confirm the fire monitor requirements of 1200 cu meters per hour (5280 GPM).

ANSWER: Specification Section C675 Paragraphs E and H will be modified to:

E. FIRE PUMP

The Contractor shall supply and install two (2) fire pumps in accordance with ABS and USCG

Subchapter M requirements. At least one (1) pump shall be an independently driven, self-priming, centrifugal pump with cast iron housing and bronze impeller. The second fire pump may be driven by a main engine..

A combination of fire, sanitary, ballast, bilge, or general service pumps may be used to satisfy the requirements for the fire monitor identified in part H of this section.

The independently driven fire pump shall be electric drive type, with the pump and motor furnished as a matched set from the pump manufacturer. The motor controller for the pump shall be set-up with low-voltage release. See Contract Section C750.

The flexible connections/expansion joints to the pumps and throughout the system shall be single sphere EPDM flame resistant ASTM F1123-87. The joints shall be wrapped in an A-60 equivalent fire rate blanket, aluminum faced, ABS type approved.

A relief valve shall be provided and installed on the discharge of the fire pumps that relieves overboard of the vessel. The relief valves shall be provided with isolation valves and an emergency bypass valves. A pressure gauge shall be fitted on the discharge side of each fire pump.

The electrical overload protection on the fire pump shall be removed.

The fire pumps shall be capable of being started and stopped locally and from remote locations as follows:

• Locally by the fire pumps

• Remotely in the pilothouse

• Remotely on the main deck near the fixed fire extinguishing system pulls

The remote control shall be capable of both starting and stopping the fire pumps. Each remote control shall have a green running indication light.

A placard shall be located at the fire pumps indicating that the isolation valve downstream of the fire pumps shall always remain open, except for during maintenance periods.

H. FIRE MONITOR

One (1) remote controlled fire monitor shall be installed on the forward pilothouse top. The controls for the monitor shall be located in the pilothouse. Final location of the monitor and its controls will be approved by the COR.

The fire monitor shall be sized to be capable of reaching a throw length of 225 feet and throw height of 100 Feet. Pump requirements for the fire monitor are provided in the Fire Pump section above.

33. Is the monitor intended for firefighting and ice mitigation?

ANSWER: The fire monitor will be used for washdown service and firefighting.

34. Will the fire monitor system require ABS certification for FEFE requirements?

ANSWER: No, the fire monitor system will not require ABS certification for FEFE requirements.

35. If required to meet ABS certification requirements there may be stability concerns as the monitor is required to function in 360° circle of operation.

ANSWER: The fire monitor system will not require ABS certification for FEFE requirements.

Therefore, this question is not applicable.

36. On page 38 of the subject solicitation there is a section on an Ice Scraping Attachment and a reference drawing FRE-H210-0001 “Hull Strengthening”. I don’t see this on the SAMS site. Can you provide in the next amendment?

37. We are confused by the government’s response to Question No. 10. C410/ B of the Q&A

#1. The referenced zip file contains two (2) drawings:

a) Dwg 611-D460-02 – COMMUNICATIONS MARK

b) Dwg FRE-H210-0001 – TUG OWEN M. FREDERICK REHABILITATION STEM

DETAILS.

However, we cannot locate where either drawing mentions the words “Ice Scraper” in their content. The requested drawing is numbered FRE-H210-001 with two (2) zeros, not three

(3) as included in the zip file. Perhaps this has created confusion.

ANSWER for 36 and 37: Drawing FRE-H210-0001 is located in the “Drawings.zip” file and is incorrectly labeled as “Ice Breaking Bow Steam Details.tif”. The drawing depicts bow stem details that were implemented to allow the tug to scrape ice from lock walls and miter gates with the 6”x1-

3/4” flat bar. This detail is only meant to represent current means and methods. The proposed vessel may provide other solutions to allow ice scraping from lock walls and miter gates other than a permanently integrated bow stem with plate steel protruding.

38. Section C201 Page 25 of specification has fire monitor at aft end of PH top. Section C675

Page 80 has fire monitor on fwd PH top. Which is location is preferred, please clarify?

ANSWER: There is no preferred location of the fire monitor. The only requirement is that the fire monitor is located on the Pilothouse Top.

39. Section C201 Page 25 call for double bitts fwd and midship. Section C410 Page 39 call for double bitts fwd and aft near the transom. Which is location is preferred, please clarify?

ANSWER: The intent is to have double bitts for bow work and stern work. Bow work double bitts shall be located forward. Stern work double bitts shall be aft of the pilot house and any raised areas for access to the engine room and below deck spaces. The double bitts for stern work shall complement, and not interfere, towing winch arrangements

40. Section C685, Section I Heating – Will the Corps accept an electrical deck trace heating system in lieu of hot water deck plate heating? Also, the requirements for this section are not detailed as to how much heating is required. Is the intention to keep ice from forming on exterior deck, or to solely heat the interior engine room & lazarette spaces? Please consider past language on contract W912BU-16-C-0035 which included a Deck Anti-Icing

System in Section C698. Please clarify system requirements.

41. Section C-685.I of the Solicitation states: “I. HEATING - The heating system shall be designed for hot water circulation heating. The pilothouse, galley, and accommodation spaces shall be heated using the hot water coils in the fan coil units. The engine room and lazarette shall be heated by hot water deck plate heating (emphasis added).” Regarding the engine room and lazarette heating, is it the USACE’s intent for the heating coils to be located in the overhead of the respective spaces (engine room and lazarette) to radiate heat into the space? Alternately, could hot water fan coil units fed by the boiler be used if there is space to do so?

ANSWER for 40 and 41:

Due to shore power limitations, boiler heated hot water deck plate heating is required to reduce the electrical load and prevent freezing when the vessel is left moored and unattended.

During Phase II Engineering, the Contractor may propose a heating arrangement variation for consideration with overall vessel electrical load calculations while moored in the given environmental parameters outlined.

Specification Section C685 will be modified to:

“I. HEATING

The heating system shall be designed for hot water circulation heating. The pilothouse, galley, and accommodation spaces shall be heated using the hot water coils in the fan coil units. The engine room and lazarette shall be heated by hot water heaters. The heaters shall allow for freeze prevention in the lazarette, and other unoccupied spaces. Engine room(s), pilothouse(s), and other typically occupied spaces shall be heated per the previously specified ASHRAE requirements in this section.

The Contractor shall provide and install all components necessary to form a complete hot water heating system consisting of a hot water boiler, piping, and heaters in the deckhouse, including the pilothouse and accommodation spaces, the engine room, and the lazarette.

The Contractor shall provide a packaged, cast-iron sectional, diesel-fired, hot water boiler rated to meet the heating load requirements determined in the Contractor’s heating load calculations.

The boiler shall be designed, built, tested and certified to comply with the latest edition of the

ASME Boiler and Pressure Vessel Code – Section IV – Rules for Construction of Heating Boilers.

The boiler shall be installed in accordance with the boiler manufacturer’s installation manual and recommendations.

The boiler shall be furnished as a complete, factory-assembled, wired package. Included with the boiler shall be all boiler fittings, a forced draft type burner for use with No. 2 diesel oil, control panel, safety controls and accessories. Boiler fittings shall include an ASME safety relief valve, inlet and outlet connections and one, round exhaust vent connection. The Contractor shall furnish and install all piping and fittings required to vent the boiler exhaust to the Upper Deck Level exterior above the boiler room. The boiler exhaust piping (chimney) shall be constructed of galvanized or stainless steel piping and shall include an adjustable damper and cleanout connection. Supply air for the boiler intake shall be provided from the space that the boiler is located (i.e. dedicated outside air ducting is not required).

The boiler shall be furnished with high-limit/low-limit control with manual reset, inlet/outlet pressure and temperature gauges, barometric damper, low-water cutout with manual reset, built-in air eliminator, observation ports and cleanout plates. The boiler shall be configured so that power is restored after a power failure to ensure that the boiler continues to operate.

The boiler shall include a summer/winter hook-up connection (tankless heater section) and shall be connected to the potable water heater. The summer/winter hook-up connection is intended to allow the boiler to heat the water for the potable water system during colder weather in lieu of having to run the potable water heater. During warmer weather when the boiler is shut down, the potable water heater will provide hot water for the potable water system.

The boiler heating system shall operate with an ethylene glycol-water mixture with freeze protection down to -30 degrees Fahrenheit and shall have two (2) centrifugal circulating pumps.

Local start/stop controls with run indication shall be provided for each pump. A run indicator light for each pump shall be provided in the generator room. The pumps shall be provided with low voltage release to ensure that power is restored after a power failure.

Other features of the system shall include an air separator at the boiler supply line and automatic air vent fittings at high points in the system; an expansion tank connected into the suction side of the circulating pump.

The system shall be arranged for zone control. Flow to the hot water heaters shall be regulated by electric, thermostatically controlled flow valves. Additionally, each heater shall be provided with isolation valves. Wall thermostats shall be provided for temperature control of all heaters contained in each space. Where multiple space heaters are provided for a compartment, a single thermostat shall provide control. Power for the thermostatically controlled valves shall be fed directly from a set of auxiliary contacts on the motor controller for one of the heaters in each space.

All system piping shall be ASTM A-106. The Contractor shall properly support all piping to allow for thermal expansion and pipe deflections. Expansion joints shall be employed as necessary to permit thermal expansion and contraction that cannot be accommodated by the piping alone. All hot water supply and return lines shall be insulated.

J. BACK UP ELECTRIC HEATING

The Contractor shall provide and install electric space heaters for freeze prevention in the pilothouse(s), lazarette, engine room(s), and other spaces with electronics or water piping.

K. EXTERIOR DECK PLATE HOT WATER HEATING

The Contractor shall provide and install a separate circuit of the hot water circulation to provide deck plate heating in the above space of the lazarette and the engine room for the purpose of de-icing the steel deck plating of the exterior main deck.”

42. In our efforts to fit all the required equipment into the engine room of our proposed tug design (as proposed in our reply to the sources sought notice), we have found the specific requirement for exhaust stacks (Section C650, paragraph C.) to be problematic. Our proven existing design includes horizontally positioned exhaust mufflers located aft in the engine room overhead with the exhaust pipe exiting out the stern of the hull. This element of our design reduces the size of the stacks to house the ventilation fans only and allows for 360-degree visibility from the helm. It also provides much more space in the forward engine room, electrical spaces, and accommodation spaces forward.

Please advise if our proposed exhaust system design, with all mufflers horizontally positioned in the aft engine room, is acceptable.

ANSWER: Proposed vessel arrangements without exhaust stacks are acceptable. This proposed exhaust system design is acceptable.

43. We have reviewed the bonding section and the revision to the bonding section with the addition of section 525.228-1. The amount of bonding required under this bid is prohibitive. The current bonding market is difficult, and a bond of this size may preclude us and other bidders from being able to participate. We request that USACE reconsider the total bonding requirements for this project and lower the amount requested.

ANSWER: Bonding requirements are placed in Government contracts to protect the interest of the Government. The bonding requirements will remain as currently stated in the solicitation.