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Control #: MVK-2015-0013

For Official Use Only

Justification and Approval For Other Than Full and Open Competition

1. Contracting Activity: The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Vicksburg District Contracting

Office, 4155 Clay Street, Vicksburg, MS 39183-3435.

2. Description of Action: The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Vicksburg District Contracting Office is seeking approval of a new stand alone Firm Fixed Price Negotiated Architect- Engineering Services Contract to be awarded to New Orleans Small Business Engineering, JV (NOSBE JV) for an eighteen (18) month duration to complete the engineering during construction and geotechnical monitoring services on Hurricane Protection System at West Bank Non-Federal Levee NOV-NF-W-04a Levee and Floodwalls in Plaquemines Parish, Louisiana. Project authority is provided as follows:

(a) Original Authorization: Section 203 of the Flood Control Act of 1962, Public Law 87-874 (76 Stat. 1173)

(b) Supplemental Authorization: New Orleans to Venice, LA— Under the Flood Control and Coastal Emergencies (FC&CE) heading, Chapter 3, Title I, Division B of Public Law 109 148 (119 Stat. 2762 – 2763) (3rd FC&CE Supplemental); under the FC&CE heading, Chapter 3, Title II of Public Law 109-234 (120 Stat. 454-455) (4th FC&CE Supplemental); under the FC&CE heading, Chapter 3, Title III of Public Law 110-252 ( 122 Stat. 2349-2350) (6th FC&CE Supplemental); and under the FC&CE heading, Chapter 3, Title I, Division B of Public Law 110-329 (122 Stat. 3590) (7th FC&CE Supplemental)

Project funds (appropriation: 96 x 3125, Flood Control and Coastal Emergencies (FC&CE)) in the amount of $1,500,000 have been reserved for this work.

3. Description of Supplies/Services: The New Orleans to Venice, West Bank Non-Federal W- 04a reach of the levee and floodwalls in Plaquemines Parish (NOV-NF-W-04a) is a part of the Hurricane Protection System that provides a greater level of risk reduction to the Oakville and Jesuit Bend communities. This ongoing $42.6 million construction project consists of raising 8.1 miles of non federal levee and incorporating them into the NOV Federal levee system. These monitoring services and extended engineering services have an approved Independent Government Estimate of $1,403,550.86 with an estimated period of performance of eighteen (18) months.

The current construction of the NOV-NF-W-04a levee projects is approximately 7 months behind schedule. The delays in construction are attributed to the complex design, unfavorable soils conditions and unique design requirements for this project. The project requires the construction of a complex levee system in a unique and challenging marsh environment. As a result of these challenges, the construction contractor encountered delays in construction from the beginning until they became acclimated to the working environment, soil conditions and unique design elements and monitoring requirements. These conditions posed an

There is a need to continue the engineering and geotechnical monitoring services through the duration of this construction project. This contract will be a continuation of existing engineering during construction and geotechnical monitoring services in support of this construction project. These services are currently being provided by NOSBE JV on Contract W912P8-07-D-0059, task order 0058. Task order 0058 has a completion date of 12 May 2015 and can no longer be extended because the base contract expired on 12 September 2012. Services to be provided under this contract shall include, but not be limited to, the following:

(1) Acquire and install the instrumentation for the pre-load in accordance with the timeframe outlined in the Plans and Specifications (P&S) and soil report for the NOV- NF-W-04a Levee and Floodwalls, including an instrumentation report.

(2) Prepare a Design Quality Control Plan (DQCP) addendum for instrumentation, monitoring and Engineering during Construction (EDC).

(3) Prepare responses to all Technical Assistance Requests (TAR).

(4) Perform site visits to the construction site and prepare site reports after each site visit.

(5) Attend Meeting and Teleconferences held between the Government and the Contractor.

(6) Prepare specification for installation and monitoring of geotechnical instrumentation.

(7) Prepare and implement detailed pre-load monitoring plans, including bi-weekly reports, an intermediate assessment of progress, and a final report.

(8) Install all equipment required in instrumentation and monitoring plan.

(9) Prepare construction contract modifications as directed.

(10) Prepare the Final Design Documentation Reports.

4. Authority Cited: The statutory authority for this procurement is contained in the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) 6.302-1(a)(2)(iii) Only One Responsible Source and No Other Supplies or Services Will Satisfy Agency Requirements.

(a) Authority.

(2) When the supplies or services required by the agency are available from only one responsible source, or, for DoD, NASA, and the Coast Guard, from only one or a limited number of responsible sources, and no other type of supplies or services will satisfy agency requirements, full and open competition need not be provided for.

(iii) For DoD, NASA, and the Coast Guard, services may be deemed to be available only from the original source in the case of follow-on contracts for the continued provision of highly specialized services when it is likely that award to any other source would result in—

(A) Substantial duplication of cost to the Government that is not expected to be recovered through competition, or

(B) Unacceptable delays in fulfilling the agency’s requirements. (See 10 U.S.C.

2304(d)(1)(B).)

5. Reason for Authority Cited: The proposed procurement meets the criteria for exclusion from full and open competition under the authority cited due to the specialized nature of these technical services.

Background: The New Orleans to Venice, Non-Federal W-04a reach of the levee and floodwalls in Plaquemines Parish (NOV-NF-W-04a) is a part of the Hurricane Protection System that provides risk reduction to the Oakville and Jesuit Bend communities. The construction contract for this project was awarded on 26 April 2013 with an initial completion date of 19 November 2015. Due to construction delays caused by the working environment, soil conditions, unique design elements and monitoring requirements, the current projected completion date has been extended to 31 December 2016. As the designer of record on this project, NSOBE JV was awarded Contract W912P8-07-D-0059, Task Order 0058 on 11 September 2012 for $1,803,557.69 to provide engineering and geotechnical monitoring services for this project. This task order has a period of performance of 729 calendar days of construction from notice to proceed to the end of construction. It is requested that NSOBE JV be awarded a contract to continue the EDC and geotechnical monitoring services through final construction completion on this project.

Justification: NOSBE JV has been providing engineering services and geotechnical monitoring services on this project, since award of the construction contract on 26 April 2013. NOSBE JV is the designer of record for this project and has exclusive knowledge of the design of the levee project and experience in the installation and monitoring of the consolidation required for this project. The services being requested are a continuation of the services currently being provided; however, since the contract will expire 12 May 2015, these services must be obtained by a new contract . It is believed that the Government will benefit through the use of NSOBE JV for this contract because this will allow the designer of record and the existing contractor to continue seamless engineering services in support of the construction on this complex project. Additional time delays would be anticipated if a different contractor is selected, since they would require time to become familiar with the complex design and geotechnical monitoring requirements as well as the construction contractor’s progress. It is anticipated that a new A-E contractor providing engineering during services would have similar challenges to overcome before they could be effective in continuing the execution of their work. They would require additional time to understand the complex design, uniqueness of the construction requirements, and all field construction changes made in order to execute the requirements of this contract. The existing contractor is providing these services now and is fully acclimated with the work and the construction contractor.

Impact: NOV-NF-W-04a is an integral part for the hurricane protection system for Plaquemines Parish. Without the services being provided under this contract, the completion of this construction project will be significantly impacted as the New Orleans and Vicksburg District’s currently do not have the adequate staff to provide the necessary engineering and geotechnical monitoring services. Unacceptable delays in this construction contract will occur if a new contractor is awarded this work, which will also significantly impact the award of the next construction item, (NOV-NF-W-04A1) flood control project. The construction of the NOV-NF-W-04A1 project cannot start until the ongoing NOV-NF-W-04a project is substantially complete. An increased level of protection for the area behind the NOV-NF-W-04 levee cannot be obtained until both projects are completely constructed.

Delays in completion of construction will impede the increased level of protection through another hurricane season.

Awarding this contract to NOSBE JV, would allow the engineering designer of record to continue to install and monitor the geotechnical monitoring instrumentation, provide seamless engineering design services during construction, while maintaining consistency in the monitoring and evaluation of the data. This would allow the same contractor to continue current reporting requirements that have occurred since the beginning of the construction contract over the past 18 months. If a new contractor is selected for this work, the new contractor will not be able to provide effective and prompt delivery of services, since they will need time to evaluate and comprehend the design, plans and specifications, monitoring requirements in addition to understanding the past construction history, construction modifications and all of the previous contractor’s responses to ensure that they can provide consistent services. By not having a full and comprehensive knowledge and understanding of the final plans and specifications, monitoring data and how the data is used to inform the construction contractor, a new contractor will not be effective in performing these services and unacceptable time delays will occur.

The 6 – 9 months required for the solicitation, evaluation, selection, negotiation and final award of a new A-E services IDIQ contract is unacceptable and will adversely impact the construction schedule for this project and will significantly impact the completion of this much needed flood protection system. By continuing with the same technical expertise of the current contractor, the avoidance of duplication of costs for reprocurement will be avoided.

This will ensure a smooth adherence to the current construction completion schedule with no impact to the ongoing hurricane projects completion dates and avoid additional manpower hours for administration.

6. Efforts to Obtain Competition: Since this is a continuation of services, no efforts were made to obtain competition. NOSBE, JV is the designer of record for this project and they are currently performing the required services.

7. Actions to Increase Competition: The Vicksburg District continues to solicit competition from vendors to satisfy the needs of its customers. A notice of intent to sole source was posted to the Government Point of Entry (GPE) on 16 March 2015 and any inquiries were to be submitted by 31 March 2015. This notice gave potential vendors the opportunity to submit capability statements which included their experience, skills and ability to provide the requirement. This information is used to develop future requirements and improve on efforts to obtain competition.

8. Market Research: NOSBE JV is the designer of record for this project and has exclusive knowledge of the design of the levee project and experience in the installation and monitoring of the consolidation required for this project. The services being requested are a continuation of the services currently being provided. NOSBE JV’s registration in the System for Award Management Database is active until 15 August 2015 and has no active exclusions. Based on this information, further market research was not conducted.

9. Interested Sources: Intent to sole source was posted at the GPE on16 March 2015. The notice, required by FAR 5.201, gave potential vendors the opportunity to submit capability statements which included their experience, skills and ability to provide the requirement. As of the due date, 31 March 2015, no capability statements were received.

10. Other Facts:

a) Procurement history. Existing engineering during construction and geotechnical monitoring services are currently being provided by the New Orleans Small Business Engineering, LLC, JV on Contract W912P8-07-D-0059 task order 0058. This task order has a completion date of 12 May 2015 and can no longer be extended because the base contract has expired.

b) Acquisition data availability. An Independent Government Estimated has been prepared by the technical manager, A Scope of Work with Technical Specifications, outlining the engineering and geotechnical services required to support the final construction of the levee enlargement at NOV-NF-W-04a Levee and Floodwalls has been provided by the technical negotiation team. As this requirement is for the continuation of services currently being provided by the contractor, no additional acquisition documents or data, suitable for procurement under full and open completion have been provided.

c) Unusual and compelling urgency. N/A

d) Subcontracting competition. NOSBE is a small business; therefore no subcontracting opportunities are anticipated under this contract.

11. Technical Certification: I certify that the supporting data under my cognizance, which are included in the justification, are complete and accurate to the best of my knowledge and belief:

Name: Benjamin S. Caldwell

Title: Chief, Levee and Drainage Section

Signature:

12. Requirements Certification: I certify that the supporting data under my cognizance, which are included in the justification, are complete and accurate to the best of my knowledge and belief:

Name: Benjamin S. Caldwell

Title: Chief, Levee and Drainage Section

Signature:

13. Fair and Reasonable Cost Determination: I hereby determine that the anticipated cost or price to the Government for this contract action will be fair and reasonable. Price reasonability will be negotiated based on the independent government estimate by the negotiations team.

Name: Michelle D. Kelley

Title: Contracting Officer Signature:

14. Contracting Officer Certification: I certify that this justification is accurate and complete to the best of my knowledge and belief.

Name: Michelle D. Kelley

Title: Contracting Officer Signature:

KELLEY.MICHELL

E.D.1062609580

Digitally signed by KELLEY.MICHELLE.D.1062609580 DN: c=US, o=U.S. Government, ou=DoD, ou=PKI, ou=USA, cn=KELLEY.MICHELLE.D.1062609580 Date: 2015.04.03 12:48:52 -05'00'

KELLEY.MICHELLE.

D.1062609580

Digitally signed by KELLEY.MICHELLE.D.1062609580 DN: c=US, o=U.S. Government, ou=DoD, ou=PKI, ou=USA, cn=KELLEY.MICHELLE.D.1062609580 Date: 2015.04.03 12:49:17 -05'00'

CALDWELL.BENJA

MIN.S.1230772211

Digitally signed by

CALDWELL.BENJAMIN.S.1230772211

DN: c=US, o=U.S. Government, ou=DoD, ou=PKI, ou=USA, cn=CALDWELL.BENJAMIN.S.1230772211 Date: 2015.04.06 10:01:42 -05'00'

CALDWELL.BENJA

MIN.S.1230772211

Digitally signed by

CALDWELL.BENJAMIN.S.1230772211

DN: c=US, o=U.S. Government, ou=DoD, ou=PKI, ou=USA, cn=CALDWELL.BENJAMIN.S.1230772211 Date: 2015.04.06 10:01:55 -05'00'

APPROVAL

Based on the foregoing justification, I hereby approve the procurement of engineering-during-construction and geotechnical monitoring services for construction of floodwalls at Plaguemines Parrish (New Orleans, Louisiana to Venice, Louisiana) in the amount of $1,403,550.86 for a period not to exceed 18 (eighteen) months, on an other than full and open competition basis pursuant to the authority of Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) 6.302-1(a)(2)(iii) Only One Responsible Source and No Other Supplies or Services Will Satisfy Agency Requirements according to 10 U.S.C. 2304(c)(1), subject to the availability of funds, and provided the services herein described have otherwise been authorized for acquisition.

DATE: COL KEVIN P. STODDARD

Special Competition Advocate U.S. Army Corps of Engineers

Sig page J&A APPROVAL - MVK Geotech Services J&A