A/E Design Services

Added: May 27, 2011 12:53 pm This is a Request for Qualifications to perform the following A/E Services in the State of Louisiana. The scope of these services includes geotechnical engineering, modeling, design, and surveying services to develop complete designs for projects located within the coastal areas of Louisiana.

The contractor shall furnish all supervision, labor, supplies, and materials necessary to complete engineering designs for various water resource projects in coastal areas of Louisiana as described below:

Design Activities: Services may consist of but are not limited to any part, one or all of the following: design water resource project features, prepare construction specifications, prepare construction plans (drawings), prepare land rights work maps, prepare cost estimates, prepare bid schedules, and prepare design folders. The typical project could require knowledge and experience in all aspects of engineering design associated with the design and construction of deep and shallow foundations (bearing capacity, consolidation, etc.), earthwork, reinforced concrete structures, automated and manual water control gates, rock riprap placement, timber structures, steel structures, and structural fabrication, timber, steel and concrete piling, sheet piling, channel bank stabilization measures, and dredging for access channels and marsh creation/nourishment. The firm will be required to interpret hydrologic and hydraulic reports as well as geotechnical reports, and accurately apply the data to the design of the project measures. The firm will be required to perform engineering design activities in accordance with NRCS standards. The majority of the work will be civil; however, electrical and mechanical engineer expertise may be required on some projects.

Geotechnical Activities: Services may consist of but are not limited to any part, or all of the following: ability to work on sites which are landbased, shallow draft and deep draft marine areas, and marshland based areas. Services may include field investigations such as drilling, field testing, sampling, logging and packaging of soil specimens extracted from locations to be used in the aid of the design; laboratory testing to include the laboratory classification and testing of soil specimens extracted from the soil field investigation; Analysis to include analyses utilizing the data collected and developed from the field investigations and laboratory testing. The analyses shall include but not be limited to slope stability, settlement, shallow and deep foundation, various pile design and other analyses as related to geotechnical engineering. Reporting will consist of the formulation of a report defining the field, laboratory and analyses results along with appropriate goetechnical design recommendations.

Modeling Services: Services may consist of existing data compilation to include the identification, compilation, review and evaluation of any existing pertinent data to determine its utility for the implementation of a hydrologic study of a project area. Examples of data that may be needed include existing or predicted water levels, stream flows, wave propagation, siphon discharge, salinity, rainfall, wind, topography, bathymetry, etc. Additional data collection may consist of field collection of additional data if determined necessary for use in design of a project. Hydrological Analysis/Model Selection consisting of the formulation of a report detailing the proposed method for performing hydrologic study of the project area. The methodology will contain, at a minimum, the formulas and rationale used for a mathematical simulation and/or a description of the software used for a model. Hydrologic Analysis/Model Setup to include the identification and providing rationale for all parameters, including assumptions used for geometric setup, boundary configuration and data input. Hydrologic Analysis/Model Calibration to include calibration to reasonably assure that the assumptions, setup parameters, and methodology used for the analysis is capable of simulating observed responses. An acceptable level of accuracy, to be determined upon model selection, shall be attained before applying scenarios. Hydrologic Analysis/Model Scenarios may include the simulation of specific scenarios for the given project area. NRCS will provide input regarding project boundaries, scenarios and time frames for which the analysis will be performed. Hydrologic Analysis/Model Results may consist of the formulation of a report containing the following information (1) narrative of items noted above to include all calculations and documentation used to the support the model conclusions (2) GIS map showing the project area, project features and any data locations used for the simulation (3) narrative and graphics of the results of the scenarios evaluated (4) report shall be sealed by a Licensed Professional Engineer.

Surveying Activities: The firm must be able to work on sites which are landbased, shallow draft and deep draft marine based, and marshland based. The firm will perform surveying services which may consist of but are not limited to any part, one or all of the following: boundary surveys, topographic/planimetric surveys, magnetometer surveys, hydrographic/bathymetric surveys, side scan sonar surveys, sub-bottom profiling, horizontal and vertical control surveys, design surveys, development of graphical representations of survey data collected. A typical project would require knowledge and experience in all aspects of surveying and surveying equipment. The firm will be required to perform surveys in accordance with NRCS standards. All survey drawings shall be computer generated in .dgn for .dxf format. All electronic raw survey data shall be submitted as ASCII or Hypack software.

The Louisiana NRCS will award one IDIQ contract resulting from this notice. The contract will have a one-year base period with up to four one-year option periods. The contract maximum is $1,000,000 per year with a contract maximum of $5,000,000. The total contract value at the end of the 5-year period is $5,000,000 maximum. Exercise of the option years will be based upon anticipated need and quality/timeliness of work performanced.

Award to the most highly qualified firm will be based on the following criteria:

A. Pre-selection Criteria

1. Have a minimum of two civil engineers. At least one engineer must be a Registered Professional Engineer in the state of Louisiana or hold a temporary permit to practice engineering in Louisiana and have a minimum of ten years of design experience, a majority of which should be specialized in water resources projects.
2. Have a minimum of one electrical and one mechanical engineer with a minimum of 5 years experience.
3. Have a minimum of three in-house draftspersons employed on a full time basis, one with a minimum of ten years CAD experience.
4. Have a minimum of one licensed Professional Engineer with a minimum of five (5) years experience in hydrologic analysis or modeling. This engineer shall be licensed in the state of Louisiana or hold a temporary permit to practice engineering in Louisiana.
5. Have a minimum of one licensed Professional Civil Engineer with a minimum of ten years experience in geotechnical investigations. This engineer shall be licensed in the state of Louisiana or hold a temporary permit to practice engineering in Louisiana.
6. Have a minimum of one licensed Professional Land Surveyor (PLS) in the State of Louisiana with a minimum of ten years experience.

B. Selection Criteria

1. Professional qualifications necessary for satisfactory performance

Evaluation will be based upon the number of qualified personnel and their knowledge and level of experience associated with the requirements noted in the pre-selection criteria and their availability to perform work on this contract.

2. Specialized experience and technical competence in the type of work required

Evaluation will be based on the extent of directly related experience in performing engineering designs, geotechnical, modeling and surveying services for the types of projects described; specialized experience and education in performing the types of services identified in the pre-selection criteria, and all other applicable education, training and certifications. Preferential consideration will be given to those firms with knowledge of and direct experience in the application of the described requirements in the coastal marsh environment in Louisiana. Examples of work, no more than two consisting of not more than 100 pages, shall be provided for review, as well as a description of the location and type of work performed. Previous work samples will be evaluated based on the complexity of work performed and knowledge of coastal and marsh experience.

3. Capacity to accomplish the work.

Evaluation will be based upon the number of qualified personnel available in the disciplines described in the pre-selection criteria, the quantity of existing work under contract, the anticipated contractual workload, and the schedules for completion of that work. Evaluation will also be based upon the precision level and quantity of office equipment and other hardware/software units available to work on this contract. Examples of equipment include but are not limited to computers, AutoCAD, MicroStation, Hypack, variety of slope stability, foundation, pile design and consolidation software, computer software models used for engineering design, plotters, printer; number/size of boats, trucks, drill rig equipment, GPS, TRK, echosounders, magnetometers, gradiometer, side scan sub-bottom sonar; laboratory work load capacity, quantity and types of testing equipment, etc.

4. Past performance on contracts with government agencies and private industry.

Evaluation will be based upon the firm's past experience with other governmental agencies and the private sector in performing the requirements described; the quality and timeliness of performance under previous contracts. A minimum of three references with telephone numbers must be provided.

5. Location in the general geographic area and knowledge of the locality.

Evaluation will be based upon past work experience in Louisiana and other coastal areas of the United States where engineering design, geotechnical, modeling and surveying work was performed. Firms shall indicate the locality of their past work experience. Preferential consideration will be given to firms that have performed the requirements described in coastal marsh areas in Louisiana.