RFI_-_Sources_Sought_Research_Questionnaire_-_CSS_GA_Recovery.docx

The purpose of this Request for Information (RFI) is to determine the best methods and approach to completing the required task. The Savannah District Corps of Engineers appreciates your assistance in this request.

Please complete the following form:

CONTRACTOR: ______________________________________________________

DUNS NO.: ______________________________________________________

CAGE CODE: ______________________________________________________

ADDRESS: ______________________________________________________

CITY, STATE, ZIP ______________________________________________________

PREPARED BY:

(Printed Name and Title)

E-MAIL: ______________________________________________________

PHONE NO.: ______________________________________________________

GENERAL QUESTIONS:

1) Is your firm registered in System for Award Management (SAM) at www.sam.gov?

2) Is your firm considered a large business or small business per SBA size standards?

3) If small business, is your firm any of the following (Check all that apply):

4) Check Revenue Index – Average Annual Receipts for the last 3 years.

5) Please select the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) codes that will demonstrate recent specialized experience, technical competence and past performance for your firm.

If other, please provide the most applicable NAICS Code: ___________

6) Does your firm currently hold other contracts with the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) or has it previously held other contracts with DOD that were at least $1 million in value?

7) How would your firm intend on proposing on the subject requirement, if proposing?

8) How has your firm submitted proposals for DOD in the past 24 months?

SCOPE RELATED QUESTIONS

1) Has your firm previously developed and/or executed salvage plans for the recovery of historic shipwrecks?

If yes, please provide a short narrative to describe the work previously performed and the firm’s performance roles.

2) Has your firm performed work in marine areas with near zero visibility and currents that could possibly exceed 5 knots?

If yes, please provide a short narrative to describe the work previously performed and the performance roles.

3) Has your firm conducted salvage operations or archaeological data recovery in water depths that exceed 35 feet?

If yes, please provide a short narrative to describe the work previously performed and the performance roles.

4) Has your firm performed salvage efforts or archaeological data recovery that may have involved live military ordnance in marine environments?

If yes, please provide a short narrative to describe the work previously performed and the performance roles.

5) Has your firm performed salvage efforts on items similar in dimensional size or weight to the USACE requirements indicated below?

If yes, please provide a short narrative to describe the work previously performed and the performance roles.

6) Has your firm performed salvage efforts on materials with weakened structural integrity?

If yes, please provide a short narrative to describe the work previously performed and the performance roles.

Request for Information / Suggested Approach

Please provide a narrative detailing your suggested approach for reaching the intended results for each of the two Courses of Action (COA) below. Provide all supporting documentation. Your suggested approach for each COA shall not exceed 20 pages (12pt Times New Roman Font), 40 pages total for both COAs.

BACKGROUND: The CSS Georgia is a historically significant submerged Confederate ironclad vessel that will be adversely impacted by the proposed Savannah Harbor Expansion Project. Archaeological data recovery and mitigation activities were initiated in 2015 pursuant to a 2012 Programmatic Agreement, between the US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), Savannah District, the Naval Historical and Heritage Command, the Georgia State Historic Preservation Officer (SHPO), and South Carolina SHPO.

Archaeological data recovery efforts were initiated in 2015 to recover the casemate sections and artifacts. Small sections of casemate were recovered and over 90 percent of the site area was cleared of artifacts from June – October 2015. Two large sections of the vessel -- the west and east casemates, and artifacts that lie underneath and immediately adjacent to those sections remain on site and must be removed from the area that will be impacted by dredging activities.

To assist USACE in planning how this work may be performed, this Request for Information (RFI) is being issued to seek input from industry regarding two courses of action (COA) for removing the casemate sections and artifacts from their current locations. COA 1 will address how to efficiently recover the two large casemate sections intact, archaeologically document each section, recover all cultural materials that reside underneath those sections and materials that are immediately adjacent to the casemates, and reburial of the west casemate and selected materials in a pre-determined location in Back River (approximately 1.5 miles from the wreck site). COA 2 will address efficient removal of the casemate sections without archaeological documentation, recovery of cultural materials that reside underneath those sections and are immediately adjacent to the casemates, and reburial of both casemates and selected materials in a pre-determined location in Back River.

COA 1: Recover the two large casemate sections intact, archaeologically document each section, recover all cultural materials that reside underneath those sections and materials that are immediately adjacent to the casemates, and reburial of the west casemate and selected materials in a pre-determined location in Back River.

Task 1. Recover the two large casemate sections intact A method to enable intact recovery of each section is required. Recovery shall consist of raising each section in its entirety from its present location in the Savannah River for subsequent archaeological documentation.

The wreck is located in the Savannah River on the northern top slope and channel side slope of the navigation channel for the Savannah Federal Navigation Project. The vessel is no longer whole and lies in large sections on the river bottom. A debris field of associated artifacts of various types and sizes covers the site. The site area is located in an approximately 36-46-foot-deep, near-zero-visibility, high-current (average 2-3 knots, maximum 5 knots) navigation area in the Savannah River. The remains rest on Miocene clay. Savannah Harbor experiences semidiurnal tides of two high and two low tides in an approximate 24 hour period. The difference between mean high water and mean low water, is 6.92 ft. The diurnal range, the difference between mean higher high water and mean lower low water, is 7.50 ft.

The vessel remains and associated cultural material lie near, but outside of, a deep-draft navigation channel. The Port of Savannah is among the busiest in the US and all recovery methods shall include plans that avoid restricting or closing the channel and vessel traffic.

Figure 1. Sonar image of remaining sections as of October 2015.

The casemate (i.e., armor) consists of interlocked 24 foot long railroad iron fastened to a 24-inch thick wood backing made up of multiple layers of large timbers. The shipworm Teredo navalis has adversely impacted the integrity of the wood timbers and the amount of wood backing remaining is unknown. Estimated dimensions and weights for the sections are below.

Figure 2. Drawing of casemate section based on 2003 Data

Table 1. East Casemate weights and dimensions from 2015 East Casemate Section

Table 2. West Casemate weights and dimensions from 2015 West Casemate Section

Figure 3. Evidence of damage done to wood by Teredo navalis as observed in 2013.

Several disarticulated railroad irons are presently positioned on top of the casemate sections (see Figure 1). The recovery method proposed must take into consideration the loose rails and integrity of the wood when developing recovery plans.

Task 2. Archaeological Documentation of Each Casemate Section Methods shall be developed that will allow each casemate section to be archaeologically documented. Archaeological documentation shall use methods that ensure sufficient data is collected in order to reconstruct the vessel either virtually or physically for museum exhibit purposes. Persons conducting the documentation must meet the minimum standards for Archeology as stated at 36 CFR Part 61. The term "archeological documentation" refers specifically to any operation that is performed using archeological techniques as a means to obtain and record evidence about past human activity that is of importance to documenting history and prehistory in the US.

Methodology shall include documentation of both the top and bottom sides of the sections.

Methodology shall also include means of preparing the east casemate section for and transportation to the conservation lab.

Task 3. Recovery of cultural materials that reside underneath and are immediately adjacent to the casemate sections Methods shall be developed to ensure all cultural material is recovered from the area immediately surrounding the casemate sections and under the sections. The methodology shall include a way to systematically collect artifacts that range in size from <1/8 inch size to greater than 9,000 pounds.

The recovery methods shall include a means of identifying and recording the location of each recovered piece of cultural material. Previous recovery methods are described in the Research Design prepared for the archaeological data recovery, dated November 2014.

Methods for sorting cultural material into categories that (1) will determine those that have research value that will contribute to the understanding of the CSS Georgia and will be retained for conservation, and (2) have limited to no research value at this time and will be reburied shall be developed. The methodology shall include ways to track (similar to a chain-of-custody) each object that is recovered and means of ensuring retained artifacts do not deteriorate from the point of recovery from the wreck site until received at the conservation facility.

To ensure site reconstruction and artifact distribution can be recreated after field work has been completed, a method is needed for keying each artifact recovered to an electronic site grid and map.

All results must ultimately be accessible to a broad range of users including appropriate Federal and State agencies, the professional community and the general public. Results should be communicated in technical reports that summarize the objectives, methods, techniques and results of the data recovery and identify the repository of the materials and information so that additional detailed information can be obtained, if necessary.

Over 200 pieces of fuzed Civil War ordnance were recovered during 2015. It is possible that additional ordnance (discarded military munitions) may be under or around the remaining casemate sections. Methods should be developed for recognizing, and reporting recovered munitions.

To ensure that no artifacts will be impacted by dredging activities in the future, methods shall be developed for verifying that all artifacts have been recovered from the site.

Task 4. Reburial The west casemate section and any cultural material that is not being retained for conservation shall be transported and buried in a pre-determined location in Back River. An anaerobic reburial environment shall be created to slow deterioration of the deposited materials.

The casemate section shall be reburied in a manner to allow for intact recovery in the future for research or exhibit purposes.

Selected non-diagnostic artifacts with limited research value under current conditions shall be reburied in a manner that will allow the material to be excavated and studied at a later date. A USACE archaeologist in consultation with the Naval History and Heritage Command Underwater Archeology Branch archaeologists will make the determination of which artifacts shall be reburied.

The methodology shall include a way to record the exact reburial location of the casemate section and the non-diagnostic materials.

The methodology shall include a way to verify that the materials are in an anaerobic environment.

Figure 4. Map showing proximity of wreck site to Back River

COA 2: Removal of the casemate sections without archaeological documentation, recovery of cultural materials that reside underneath those sections and are immediately adjacent to the casemates, and reburial of both casemates and selected materials in a pre-determined location in Back River.

Task 1. Removal of the casemate sections without archaeological documentation A method is required to remove the sections from their respective locations and transport each section to the reburial location in the pre-determined location in Back River. The casemate sections shall be recovered and transported in a manner that allows the sections to remain intact for future research and study.

Fuzed Civil War ordnance has been recovered from the wreck site. Additionally ordnance unrelated to CSS Georgia has been recovered during previous dredging activities in Savannah River. Methods for recovering and transporting the casemate sections must consider ways of avoiding contact with live ordnance that may be resting on the river bottom.

Savannah River contains numerous threatened and endangered species. All methods proposed for recovering and transporting the casemate sections to Back River shall address ways to ensure compliance with applicable environmental laws and regulations.

This recovery method shall consider ways that materials that may be on top of the casemates or snagged on the casemate sections will be monitored during the transport from the wreck site to Back River. The methodology shall include ways to document the locations of the objects that are lost during transport and a means to retrieve them.

Task 2. Recovery of cultural materials that reside underneath and are immediately adjacent to the casemate sections Methods shall be developed to ensure all cultural material is recovered from the area immediately surrounding the casemate sections and under the sections. The methodology shall include a way to systematically collect artifacts that range in size from <1/8 inch size to greater than 9,000 pounds.

The recovery methods shall include a means of identifying the location of each recovered piece of cultural material. Previous recovery methods are described in the Research Design prepared for the archaeological data recovery, dated November 2014.

Methods for sorting cultural material into categories that (1) will determine those that have research value that will contribute to the understanding of the CSS Georgia and will be retained for conservation, and (2) have limited to no research value at this time and will be reburied shall be developed. The methodology shall include ways to track (similar to a chain-of-custody) each object that is recovered and means of ensuring retained artifacts do not deteriorate from the point of recovery from the wreck site until received at the conservation facility.

To ensure site reconstruction and artifact distribution can be recreated after field work has been completed, a method is needed for keying each artifact recovered to an electronic site grid and map.

All results must ultimately be accessible to a broad range of users including appropriate Federal and State agencies, the professional community and the general public. Results should be communicated in technical reports that summarize the objectives, methods, techniques and results of the data recovery and identify the repository of the materials and information so that additional detailed information can be obtained, if necessary.

Over 200 pieces of fuzed Civil War ordnance were recovered during 2015. It is possible that additional ordnance (discarded military munitions) may be under or around the remaining casemate sections. Methods should be developed for recognizing, and reporting recovered munitions.

To ensure that no artifacts will be impacted by dredging activities in the future, methods shall be developed for verifying that all artifacts have been recovered from the site.

Task 3. Reburial The casemate sections and any cultural material that is not being retained for conservation shall be transported and buried in a pre-determined location in Back River. An anaerobic reburial environment shall be created to slow deterioration of the deposited materials.

The casemate sections shall be reburied in a manner to allow for intact recovery in the future for research or exhibit purposes.

Selected non-diagnostic artifacts with limited research value under current conditions shall be reburied in a manner that will allow the material to be excavated and studied at a later date. A USACE archaeologist in consultation with the Naval History and Heritage Command Underwater Archeology Branch archaeologists will make the determination of which artifacts shall be reburied.

The methodology shall include a way to record the exact reburial location of the casemate sections and the non-diagnostic materials.

The methodology shall include a way to verify that the materials are in an anaerobic environment.

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