Garrison Dam Spillway – West Abutment Lignite Drain

Pre-Solicitation Notice W9128F25BA010 The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) Omaha District intends to issue an unrestricted, Two-Step Invitation for Bid (IFB) that will result in one (1) Firm Fixed-Price contract for the Garrison Dam Spillway – West Abutment Lignite Drain in Riverdale, ND. The North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) Code is 237990, (Other Heavy and Civil Engineering Construction).

Estimated Magnitude of Construction: Between $1,000,000 and $5,000,000

PROJECT SCOPE:

This project is for the Garrison Dam West Abutment Lignite Drain construction effort. The project consists of installing an approximate 812-foot long, 12-inch slotted C900 PVC drain surrounded by a two-stage gravel and sand filter over the 3A lignite outcrop in the west abutment and north powerhouse slope at Garrison Dam. The purpose of the drain is to better control groundwater and reduce the driving force of a slope failure. If a slope failure were to occur, the west abutment sands drain would likely become damaged and create an unfiltered seepage exit where backwards erosion piping could initiate.

TWO-STEP PROCUREMENT:

This solicitation and resulting contract are using a Two-Step Sealed Bidding procurement method as described in FAR Part 14.5. The two-step procedure is a combination of competitive procedures designed to obtain the benefits of sealed bidding while ensuring only technically acceptable firms participate in the priced sealed bid. The process allows for the Step One technical proposal submission and evaluation to be performed concurrent with the development of the final 100% technical specifications and construction drawings.  Step One ensures that only technically acceptable firms participate in the Step Two sealed bid process.

The Step One solicitation, issued as a Request for Technical Proposal, is expected to be available on or about 02 June 2025 via Contract Opportunities at https://sam.gov/.

The submission requirements of Step One, Request for Technical Proposal, shall not include any prices or pricing information. Bid bonds / guarantees are not required to be submitted with the Step One technical proposal.

Under this bidding process, Step One consists of the request for submission, evaluation and (if necessary) discussion of a technical proposal. Only one (1) technical proposal may be submitted by each offeror. The proposals will be evaluated for technical acceptability. Again, the technical proposal must not include prices or pricing information.

A notice of “acceptable” or “unacceptable” will be forwarded to each Step One offeror upon completion of the technical proposal evaluation and final determination. The names of the offerors that submitted acceptable technical proposals will be listed on the Government’s https://sam.gov/ website for the benefit of prospective subcontractors.

In Step Two an amendment to the solicitation will be issued along with the final In Step Two, an amendment to the solicitation will be issued along with the final 100% technical specifications and construction drawings to only those offerors whose technical proposals are determined to be acceptable in Step One. The normal sealed bidding process in FAR Part 14 will be followed in Step Two. Only bids based upon technical proposals determined to be acceptable, either initially or as a result of discussions for Step One, will be considered for award. Each bid in Step Two must be based on the bidder's own technical proposal that was submitted, evaluated and determined to be acceptable in Step One. Bidders must comply with the 100% technical specifications and construction drawings and the bidder’s acceptable technical proposal.

Bid bonds will be required to be submitted with the Step Two bid submission.

Payment and Performance Bonds will be required for the full amount (100%) at the time of contract award before the Notice to Proceed (NTP) can be issued.

Interested prime contractors must have an active System for Award Management (SAM) registration. Firms can register via the SAM website at https://sam.gov/. If an offeror is a Joint Venture (JV), the JV entity must have valid SAM registration in the SAM database representing the JV as one (1) business/firm/entity.

The point of contact for all questions/inquiries is Contract Specialist Karen Caskey at email karen.L.caskey@usace.army.mil.