Barge rental services

SOURCES SOUGHT NOTICE FOR BARGE RENTAL SERVICES

This is a Sources Sought/Request for Information only. This is NOT a Solicitation Announcement, nor is it a

Request for Proposal. This request does not obligate the Government in any contract award.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Wilmington District, is conducting research to determine the market capabilities of potential contractors to provide a spud barge and tugboat capable of operating within 4 to 30-feet of water in order to support drilling operations and necessary equipment for loading and unloading barges, and other services as specified herein. The purpose for using a spud barge is to provide a safe, stable, work platform for USACE drilling crews while drilling operations are underway. The spud barge and tugboat shall be fully manned and capable of supporting drilling operations within the Morehead City Channel and Money Island Bay.

The proposed work includes USACE drilling equipment being used on the drilling barge to drill eight (8) standard penetration test holes at locations specified within this statement of work, delivering subsurface investigation equipment to the Brandt Island dredged disposal facility located in Carteret County, North Carolina and retrieve the equipment upon the completion of subsurface investigation operations. It is estimated that drilling will take approximately 31 working days at Brandt Island.  Drilling will be performed by government furnished drill rigs, drill crew and drill supplies.

The estimated number of days may change depending on customer needs. The Contractor shall also supply a crew boat to transport the drilling crew and any supplemental supplies to and from the barge and/or Brandt Island; a crane capable of lifting up to 40,000lbs to load and unload a drill rig and supplies, if necessary. The Contractor will supply adequate dock space to load and unload necessary supplies and equipment for use in the proposed contract.

Estimate Dimensions and Weights for Equipment Needs:

CME Drill Rig - 24’L x 9’H x 8.’W 28,000lbs

Vertek CPT Rig - 19’L x 11’H x 8.5’W 43,000lbs

Skid steer - 12’L x 7.5’H x 7’W 9,000lbs

Bulldozer - 14’L x 9’H x 11’W 18,000lbs

UTV - 9.5’L x 6’H x 4.5’W 1,100lbs

3-4 Supply pallets (tools, grout, sample containers, bentonite) – 4’Lx4H’x4’W – 4,000lbs each.

See the attached draft Scope of Work for additional requirements.

All interested firms with 483212 as an approved NAICs code have until 04 April 2025 at 1500 EST to submit the following information:

- Name & Address of your Firm

- Point of Contact (Name/Phone/E-mail)

- Current SAM

- Business Size, to include designation as HUBZone, 8(a), Service-Disabled Veteran Owned Small Business, Small Disadvantaged Business, Woman-Owned Business, and Large Business. Any supporting documentation that confirms your socio-economic status should be provided, i.e., letter of certification from VA confirming SDVOSB status. The Government must be able to verify SBA certification of HubZone and 8(a) via SAM.

- Evidence of capabilities to perform comparable work of Barge Rentals. The contractor must provide evidence of comparable work on two (2) recent projects greater than $100,000.00 in value (not more than seven (7) years old.) Include the project name and description of the key/salient features of the project (completion date, total contract value, and your company's level of involvement in the project, i.e., subcontractor (type), prime, GC, etc. and your specific role. Additionally, if you were teaming with another firm, clearly identify your role on the project(s) submitted. Please provide at least one point of contact (with e-mail address and phone number) for project validation. The Government will not give credit to projects if the lack of information hinders the ability to determine relevancy and/or level or experience.

- Documentation of a barge that shall be self-propelled or attached to a tug boat, be capable of spudding in a maximum of 30-feet. Deck must have an 8” minimum diameter moon-pool to allow the drill string to be lowered through the deck to the seafloor. Onboard water pump, electrical generation, and crane capacity is required. The vessel shall be compliant with established US Coast Guard guidelines and regulations. Vessel must be able to support a drilling rig weighing up to 18 tons along with additional supplies and tooling.

- Firm's capability to perform, to include geographic span and project size.

- Information on Teaming Arrangement (if applicable). Although we are not looking for formal signed agreements at this time, if you intend to "team" with another firm, formally or informally, you must submit information, not more, than one (1) page, about your team's involvement. More specifically, you must submit sufficient information for the Government to determine the roles each team member will play and what your socio-economic status is or will be considering the proposed arrangement. Therefore, included in your one (1) page if you are a Small Business and you intend to mentor/protégé and/or JV with a large business both team members must sign agreeing that 40% of the labor will be performed by the 8(a) firm. Additionally, if the team is a mentor/protégé arrangement, identify the areas that will be mentored. Any supporting documentation that confirms your socio-economic status as a team should be provided.

The Government may not give credit to your socio-economic class if there is not sufficient documentation to support it or if the Government cannot verify through other means that your business is as such.

Responses to this Sources Sought Announcement will be used by the government to make appropriate acquisition decisions. All interested businesses, regardless of size should submit a narrative demonstrating their Specialized Experience in similar type contracts, Past Performance, Key Personnel. Capability statements should include size/classification of your firm, bonding capacity, details of similar projects, and the completion dates, references and contract amounts for the similar projects listed.

Narratives shall be no longer than 30 pages.  The requested information shall be submitted electronically to:

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers

Attn: Rosalind M. Shoemaker

E-mail: rosalind.m.shoemaker@usace.army.mil

The email should be titled: Barge Rental Services

THIS IS NOT A SOLICITATION AND SHOULD NOT BE CONSTRUED AS SUCH.

Do not send hard copies of advertising or promotional materials. Please ensure that all responses are comprehensive and provide a name and point-of-contact for your firm for follow-up by this office or the procuring contracting officer. If you have responded to any previous e-mail messages or had other communications with our office regarding preliminary market research for this project, please be advised that it will be necessary for you to respond to this e-mail and the questions contained therein. Any responses involving teaming agreements should delineate between the work that will be accomplished by the Prime Contractor and work accomplished by the teaming partner

All information is to be provided on a voluntary basis at no charge to the Government. There is no entitlement to payment of direct or indirect costs related to or arising out of responding to this request for information. All information provided becomes property of the Government. There is no guarantee, expressed or implied, that the market research for this acquisition will result in any guarantee of award or acquisition strategy.