HQ Towboat Services

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Walla Walla District is issuing a solicitation for Towboat Services for the Juvenile Fish Transportation Program.  The work location is from Lower Granite Dam the Snake River to below Bonneville Dam on the Columbia River.  The Contractor shall provide four towboats, each staffed with crews for 24-hour per day operation, to transport Government-owned fish barges from Lower Granite Juvenile Fish Facility to fish release areas below Bonneville Dam.  Stops will be made at Little Goose and Lower Monumental dams to load additional fish or to pick up an additional fish barge for transport to the release site.  Daily transporting of fish by barge from Snake River dams will begin sometime between April 21, 2020 and May 2, 2020, and is expected to last through June 20th and possibly through August 15, 2020, dependent on fish collection numbers or as coordinated with regional fish managers.  The Contractor will be notified not less than 7 days (168 hours) notice for commencement and end of fish transport by barge operations.  Initially one Towboat will depart Lower Granite Dam daily with a round trip travel time to the release site and back of 80 hours.  Thus a total of 4 towboats are needed during daily transport operations.  When numbers of fish collected decrease in mid to late May, the program will transition to every-other-day operation requiring 2 towboats through the remainder of the transport operations.

In addition, prior to daily barge operations, the Corps may direct a Towboat to barge fish once a week from Lower Granite Dam in support of fish research until the start of daily transport beginning as early as April 1, 2000 and ending when daily barge operations commence. The Contractor will routinely transport a loaded fish barge from Lower Granite Dam, stop and pick up a loaded fish barge at Little Goose Dam, stop and load additional fish at Lower Monumental Dam and then continue on the trip downstream to the release site below Bonneville Dam. On return trips back to Lower Granite Dam, one of the empty barges will be left at Little Goose Dam. Direct loading of fish at Little Goose Dam may also take place during part of the every-other-day barging operation. 

The Contractor shall have all towboats inspected by a marine surveyor or marine architect prior to beginning work to verify seaworthiness, capability of meeting contract requirements, and that towboats provided are safe to operate under weather, wind, and flow conditions prevalent on the Columbia and Snake rivers during the contract period.  All towboat shall be capable of routinely moving two to four fully loaded Government owned fish-hauling barges, in any combination of sizes, downstream simultaneously as well as moving up to four empty barges upstream.  The Government owned barges specifications are:

Barge Series   Quantity      Fish Capacity (lbs.)      Length (ft.)     Width (ft.)   Weight empty (tons)

2000                      2                       23,000                           130                       30                          165

4000                      2                       50,000                           150                       35                           250

8000                      4                       75,000                           196                       40                           450

All of the barges draft approximately 2 feet when empty and 5 feet when loaded.  Pushing knees have been installed on the bow and sterns of all barges to facilitate hooking barges together and are furnished with wire rope on winches and mooring ropes (poly) for lashing barges to each other or to the towboat.  Any required walkways or handrails from the towboat(s) to barge(s) shall be furnished and installed by the Contractor. This shall include adequate provisions at the crossover point between the towboats and barges to afford safe passage for the Government barge rider at all hours of the day or nightand under all weather conditions.

Each towboat shall have fully equipped sleeping, cooking, and dining facilities adequate to house a full operating crew and one assigned representative of the Government (barge rider). Towboats shall be equipped with both hot and cold potable water for showering, washing hands in restrooms, cooking, drinking, and washing dishes. The Government representative (barge rider) shall have a private stateroom or bunk room to ensure privacy.  The Contractor shall also be responsible for providing all meals for the Government representatives (barge riders) on the towboats.

Towboats shall be equipped with adequate communications equipment, including cellular telephones, to ensure contact with the Government representative onboard, navigation locks, and emergency services at all points along the river in the contract area. Towboats are required to supply 120 volt AC power to the barges for running navigation lights, cabin lights, and engine alarms. Towboats shall provide compressed air to the barges on an as needed basis if required for operating the fish hold opening mechanisms.

A "Full-Operating Crew" for the towboats pushing fish barges is defined as the number of personnel necessary, under U.S. Coast Guard and other industry regulations, to operate the towboat on a 24-hour basis, including at a minimum two ship operators and two deck hands (four people).

The Contractor shall provide all diesel fuel for operation of the diesel-engine driven pumps on the Government-owned fish barges.

Solicitation documents for the Information for Bid No. W912EF20B0006 will be posted to the BetaSAM Contract Opportunities (formerly known as FedBizOpps (FBO)) website on or about the late December 2019. The proposal due date will be contained in the solicitation and any solicitation amendments that may be used.

The solicitation is to be competed as total small business set -aside. The small business size standard for NAICS Code 483211 is 500 employees.

Important Note: The FBO response date listed elsewhere in this synopsis is for the BetaSAM Contract Opportunities (formerly known as FedBizOpps (FBO)) archive purposes only. It has no relationship to the actual bid opening date. The bid opening date will be contained in the solicitation and any solicitation amendments that are issued.

The solicitation will be an Invitation for Bid with Definitive Responsibility Criteria (IFB with DRC). The apparent low will be requested to provide responsibility criteria IAW FAR Subpart 9.1

In addition to examining the criteria in FAR 9.104-1, the Contracting Officer will also examine whether the low bidder can meet the requirements of the definitive responsibility criteria. The apparent low bidder will be required to meet the following experience requirements:

1. Provide a minimum of two (2) projects completed* within the last ten (10) years** that collectively demonstrate experience***:

• Operating towboats with a minimum 1,350 horsepower powered by twin engines with duel propellers to push 1 to 4 barges which are at least 196 feet long by 40 feet wide and weigh at least 450 tons empty in rivers similar in size as the lower Snake and Columbia rivers over a distance of at least 200 river miles.
• Operating towboats as described above for at least 24 hours continuously with multiple crews (i.e., during both daylight and nighttime conditions) including passing dams via navigation locks

*Define "completed” at least 75% complete from the date solicitation is posted.

**Define "10-years" as 10-years from the date solicitation is posted.

***If submitting experience of a subcontractor, a letter of commitment must be included for their experience to be considered.

All work shall be performed in accordance with the Corps of Engineers Safety and Health Requirements

Manual (EM 385-1-1).

The project will involve the development and management of Contractor furnished submittals for items such as pre-work marine inspections of towboats as required by the technical specifications of the contract.

When issued, the solicitation documents for this project will be available via BetaSAM.gov or

https://beta.sam.gov/. NO CD's OR HARD COPIES WILL BE AVAILABLE. Bidders are responsible for checking the referenced page for any update(s) to the Notice. The Government is not responsible for any loss of Internet connectivity or for an offeror's inability to access the document(s) posted at the referenced website. To obtain automatic notifications of updates to this solicitation, you MUST log in to BetaSAM.gov and add the solicitation to your Watchlist. If you would like to list your firm so others can see you are an interested vendor, you must click the "Add Me To Interested Vendors" button in the listing for this solicitation on BetaSAM.gov.

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access to the project site.