IDIQ contract, A-E Svcs primarily for specialized risk mngmt supporting National Dam Safety Program, National Levee Safety Program, and Risk Management Center programs within SWT area and other districts and centers nationwide

Question 9:
Will there be any field reconnaissance work required to complement the risk management support work? Or is this solicitation strictly office generating reporting and no field work?
Answer 9:
It is expected that site visits/reconnaissance would be conducted as part of the expected services as described in Paragraph 2, Project Information, of the Synopsis.

Question 5:
Is discipline-specific, risk-based experience a required qualification for the Level 2 and Level 3 personnel that are included in the proposal? If yes, please be advised that finding qualified personnel with this type of risk experience at these levels in each discipline will be very difficult.
Answer 5:
In response to Question 5, the synopsis has been revised. Please see the attached revision dated 17 February 2011 for changes. Because the revision alters requirements that were originally included in the announcement, additional response time will be allowed. The response date is hereby changed from 11:00 a.m. Central Time on 1 March 2011 to 11:00 a.m. Central Time on 24 March 2011.

Please note: any firm with questions regarding the revised synopsis or any other aspect of this action are encouraged to submit the questions in writing as soon as possible in order to allow sufficient time for the questions to be answered and for firms to incorporate the answers as necessary into their submissions in sufficient time to comply with the response due date of 24 March 2011.

Question 6:
Item 4 - Submission Requirements of the Solicitation states that the submittal should be 8.5 x 11 pages and minimum font size of 10. May we use 11X17 for various tables? If yes, will it count as one or two pages? May we utilize a font smaller than 10 for our graphics and tables?
Answer 6:
Firms may use 11"x17" pages for tables and other graphics for which a larger page size is necessary. Each 11"x17" page will be counted as two pages for the purposes of the maximum allowable page limit. Graphics, tables, and charts may use a font size smaller than 10 as long as the text is readable.

Question 7:
Item 3, Selection Criteria, B - states that "projects submitted must have been completed within the past three years from the date qualifications submittals are due". We assume that this may include projects which are substantially complete or approximately 75% complete. Is our assumption correct?
Answer 7:
Yes.

Question 8:
Primary Criteria B, Specialized Experience - The RFP seeks experience of the firm in providing experts for dam and levee safety projects for Levels 1, 2 and 3, each with specific criteria and years of experience. It further states, that in order to be Level 3, the expert must meet the criteria for Level 1 and 2. Therefore, based on these criteria, for a Structural Engineer to be Level 3 eligible they would have to have direct experience with hydraulic modeling for dam break analysis, seepage and stability analysis, etc. These technical experiences would not be typical in industry of a Structural Engineer. So, would it be appropriate to assume that this could mean general or managerial experience of each criteria in a project managed or participated in by the Level 3 expert? Or is the intent that the Level 3 classification could be achieved by fulfilling the criteria for Level 1 and 2 only in the areas of your discipline expertise?
Answer 8:
The intent is that the level 3 classification could be achieved by fulfilling the criteria for Level 1 and 2 only in the area of the discipline expertise. Carefully review the revised synopsis dated 17 February 2011 for more clarification regarding criteria.

All questions should be submitted in writing ONLY to the Contract Specialist Ms. Lee Ann White at lee.ann.white@usace.army.mil.

Question 4:
Based on (Question and Answer number 3), I would like to inquire about the possibility of extending the Response Date an additional 2 weeks. We feel that this additional time is necessary to adequately expand our proposal from 50 to 80 pages, and to provide USACE with the best demonstrable experience and qualifications, in order for USACE to have quality information to make their determinations.

Answer 4:
The increase in the number of pages of Part I of the SF330 from fifty to eighty was not a result of increased requirements in the synopsis as originally posted. No additional requirements have been added to the synopsis. The increase in number of pages is solely to allow for more room in the SF330 for firms to include resumes and other required documentation. As this change did not add requirements for more information or documentation than was originally required by the announcement, no additional time will be added. The response date of 11:00 a.m. Central Time on 1 March 2011 remains unchanged.



All questions should be submitted in writing ONLY to the Contract Specialist Ms. Lee Ann White at lee.ann.white@usace.army.mil.

Question 3:
Under Criterion A "Professional Qualifications", the solicitation requires personnel in ... 11 disciplines. Under Criterion B "Special Experience and Technical Competence", the solicitation requires consultants and experts for dam and levee safety projects in three experience levels, Levels 1, 2, and 3, with Levels 2 and 3 having specific risk-based engineering experience. We can include resumes for all disciplines but including all 11 disciplines for all levels means a lot of resumes. Will our submittal be judged as meeting criteria if we include resumes in all 11 disciplines and resumes meeting all three experience levels, but not necessarily all three experience levels (specifically related to risk-based experience) in each of the 11 disciplines?
If you need resumes for all 11 disciplines in all levels can you increase the page limit?

Answer 3:
Any submission will need to conform to the requirements of the synopsis in full to be considered fully responsive, including the requirement to "Provide brief resumes of each proposed team member who will specifically perform the major tasks in these disciplines".
The page limit is hereby raised to a limit of eighty (80) pages for Part I.
The synopsis text is thus changed to "The SF 330 Part I is limited to eighty (80), 8.5"x11" pages, not including tabs/page dividers or table of contents.


All questions should be submitted in writing ONLY to the Contract Specialist Ms. Lee Ann White at lee.ann.white@usace.army.mil.

All questions should be submitted in writing ONLY to the Contract Specialist Ms. Lee Ann White at lee.ann.white@usace.army.mil.
Thank you

Question 1:
Which other Districts and Centers (in addition to the Risk Management Center) nationwide would potentially require services under this contract? I.e. are there Districts or Divisions that are anticipated to require support and others that are not?
Answer 1:
The contract is intended primarily for use by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Tulsa District (SWT), but will also be available to any Corps of Engineers District which requires the risk assessment support services in the scope of this contract. The risk assessment work could be performed for a project anywhere in the United States. It is not known at this time which districts outside of the Tulsa District might or might not utilize this contract.

Question 2:
Will there be weights or rankings for the elements of the primary selection criteria?
Answer 2:
Per AFARS 5115.304(b)(2)(D), numerical weighting (i.e., assigning points or percentages to evaluation factors) is not an authorized method of expressing the relative importance of factors. In accordance with DFARS 236.602-1(a), the selection criteria have been listed in their relative order of importance. No numerical weights or rankings will be applied. As stated in the announcement, the selection criteria for this synopsis are listed in descending order of importance, with Criteria A through D being the primary selection criteria, and Criteria E through F being secondary criteria. Secondary criteria will be used as "tie-breakers" ONLY if the application of criteria A through D result in firms being rated as technically equal. The primary selection criteria, listed in descending order of importance, are: A. Professional Qualifications, B. Specialized Experience and Technical Competence, C. Sufficient Capacity, D. Past Performance. See the original announcement for details about each of these factors.

All questions should be submitted in writing ONLY to the Contract Specialist Ms. Lee Ann White at lee.ann.white@usace.army.mil.

This is a combined synopsis/solicitation for commercial items prepared in accordance with the format in Subpart 12.6, as supplemented with additional information included in this notice. This announcement constitutes the only solicitation; proposals are being requested and a written solicitation will not be issued.

1. CONTRACT INFORMATION: Required services consist of specialized risk management supporting the National Dam Safety Program, the National Levee Safety Program, and the Risk Management Center for programs within the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Tulsa District (SWT), geographical area of responsibility, as well as other Districts and Centers nationwide as required. These services shall be pro cured under an Indefinite Delivery, Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ) contract in accordance with PL 92-582 (Brooks Architect-Engineer Act) and FAR Part 36. One IDIQ contract will be negotiated and awarded with a Base Period of one year and up to two Option Periods of one year each, with a total contract value of not more than $9.5 million. The contract shall continue as Option Periods are exercised at the sole discretion of the Government for a time period not to exceed 3 calendar years, or upon obligation of the total value of the contract, whichever occurs first. The minimum guaranteed amount is $5,000 for the Base Period only; there is no minimum guarantee for any subsequent Option Period. Work will be issued by negotiated Firm-Fixed-Price Task Orders. This is not a request for proposal, and there is no bid package. The applicable North American Industrial Classification System (NAICS) Code for this procurement is 541330, and its small business size standard is $4.5 million. This announcement is issued UNRESTRICTED and open to all businesses, regardless of size. Award of a contract is anticipated to be in May 2011. Contractors will be selected for negotiations based on their qualifi cations submitted in accordance with this announcement. If a large business is selected for contract negotiations, it must comply with FAR 52.219-9 regarding the requirement for a subcontracting plan on that part of the work it intends to subcontract. All businesses regardless of size must comply with FAR 52.204-10 regarding subcontract reporting. For your information, the subcontracting goals for the Tulsa District are: 50% for small business (SB), 17% for small disadvantaged business (SDB), 18% for woman-owned small business (WOSB), 10% for HUBZone small business, 8.5% for veteran-owned small business (VOSB), 4% service-disabled veteran-owned small business (SDVOSB), and 5% for historically black colleges/universities or minority institutions (HBCU/MI). To be eligible for contract award, a firm must be registered in the Central Contractor Registration (CCR) database. Register via the CCR Internet site at www.ccr.gov or by contacting the DoD Electronic Commerce Information Center at 800-334-3414.

2. PROJECT INFORMATION: The required services may include, but are not limited to, 1) Expert elicitation for Risk Analysis in support of Issue Evaluation Studies, Dam Safety Modification Studies, Construction activities and methodologies, and Periodic Assessments; 2) Peer review of Risk Management Center technical products and risk assessment reports for purposes of quality control and consistency with policy; and 3) Consulting services for formulation of dam and levee safety modification alternatives, construction sequencing, construction techniques and determination of total risk reduction benefits that can be realized from corrective actions. It is expected that expertise in geotechnical engineering, geology, seismology, hydrology and hydraulics, mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, structural engineering, economics, and environmental will be required to support dam and levee safety risk assessments. Project-specific requirements will be described in individual Task Order Statements of Work. Multiple task orders may be awarded with similar completion schedules and overlapping delivery dates.

3. SELECTION CRITERIA: The selection criteria for this synopsis are listed below in descending order of importance. Criteria A through D are primary, and Criteria E through F are secondary. Secondary criteria will only be used as "tie-breakers" should the application of criteria A through D result in firms being rated as technically equal. SF 330s will be evaluated to determine the most highly qualified firm. Evaluating Past Performance may include information provided by the firm, customer inquiries, Government databases, and publicly available sources. Failure to provide requested data, accessible points of contact, or valid phone numbers could result in a firm being considered less qualified.
PRIMARY CRITERIA:
A. Professional Qualifications: The criteria will include a review of proposed personnel in the following disciplines: Geotechnical, Mechanical, Electrical, Structural, Hydrology and Hydraulics, Environmental, Geology, Seismology, Economics, Cost Estimating, and Construction. Provide brief resumes of each proposed team member who will specifically perform the major tasks in each of these disciplines. Provide the highest level of education achieved and the number of years engaged in the discipline. Each resume shall include a maximum of five (5) specific, recently completed projects that best illustrate the individual member's qualifications for the position for which the key member is being proposed. Recent is defined as within the past five (5) years from the date qualifications submittals are due. Key personnel proposed are required to be licensed or certified professionals, as applicable. Any changes to the proposed key team members after submission of qualifications MUST be approved by the Contracting Officer.
B. Specialized Experience and Technical Competence: Breadth and depth of experience of the personnel and the A-E firm in providing consultants and experts for dam and levee safety projects for the Levels of Experience described below.
Level 1 experience includes five to ten (5-10) years of conventional engineering experience conducting dam and levee safety periodic inspections, subsurface investigations for dam modification, and performing seepage, stability, and seismic analyses in support of risk analysis of dams and levees. It also includes experience in risk-based design, construction consultations, analysis of geotechnical data, structural analysis, and hydraulic modeling for dam break analysis to support risk-based analysis of dams and levees.
Level 2 experience includes ten to fifteen (10-15) years of risk-based engineering experience in dam and levee systems. Experience should include all that within the Level 1, plus participation on risk analysis teams for dam and levee systems, facilitation or participation in potential failure mode analysis (PFMA), or estimation of conditional probabilities of failure for static, hydrologic, and seismic failure modes, and estimating loss of life and economic consequences.
Level 3 experience includes fifteen to twenty (15-20) years of risk-based engineering experience in dams and levee systems. Experience should include all that within Levels 1 and 2, plus leading risk analysis teams, conducting Expert Opinion Elicitation, and constructing event trees or using risk-based models to estimate risks for dam and levee projects. Experience conducting external peer review, quality control review, and consistency of decision and action review of Risk Analysis Reports and corrective action studies for dam and levee modifications is required. The criteria will include a review of projects submitted to determine relevant experience for both personnel and the firm, as well as Quality Management of engineering products.
For the proposed team, provide a maximum of ten (10) specific, completed projects that best illustrate overall team experience. Projects submitted must have been completed within the past three (3) years from the date qualifications submittals are due. Include a brief narrative for each project. Discuss conformance to scope, adherence to performance schedules, limiting changes and delivering a product that satisfies the requirements.
C. Sufficient Capacity: The firm must have sufficient capacity to simultaneously conduct two Potential Failure Mode Analyses, two Expert Elicitation panels, and three Quality Control and Consistency Reviews. Firms that demonstrate a comprehensive plan to manage several large and small Task Orders concurrently, and that show availability of resources for surge support, may be evaluated more favorably under this criterion.
D. Past Performance: Includes performance on DoD and other contracts in terms of quality of work, compliance with delivery schedules, history of working relationships with consultants, timely construction and technical support, and overall cooperativeness and responsiveness. Provide a brief narrative that demonstrates past performance and indicates effectiveness on contracts with government agencies and private industry in terms of the elements above. It is the responsibility of the firm to explain how the past performance information is relevant to the proposed contract. Firms may also provide information on problems encountered in prior contracts and discuss actions taken to remedy unsatisfactory performance. Identify recent awards, commendations, and other performance evaluations outside of ACASS.

SECONDARY CRITERIA:
E. Small Business participation: The extent of partici pation of Small Businesses and other socio-economically disadvantaged businesses or entities will be measured as a percentage of the total anticipated contract effort regardless of whether the Small Business or other socio-economically disadvantaged business or entity is a prime contractor, subcontractor, or joint venture part ner.
F. Equitable Distribution of Work: The volume of DoD contracts awarded in the past 12 months.

4. SUBMISSION REQUIREMENTS: Interested firms having the capabilities and qualifications to perform this work must their SF 330s Parts I and II to the attention of the Contract Specialist at the address identified below no later than 11:00 a.m. Central Time, Tuesday, 1 March 2011. This date and time are strictly enforced and late packages will not be considered. Accordingly, firms are advised to plan for potential delays in delivery including, but not limited to, weather, traffic, building security, etc. No e-mail or facsimile submittals will be accepted. The SF 330 Part 1 is limited to fifty (50), 8.5"x11" pages, not including tabs/page dividers or table of contents. Minimum font size is 10. Submit the following: a) One (1) original and four (4) copies of the SF 330, including a completed Part II for the firm and key sub-consultants. Please note that a separate SF 330, Part I is not required for each sub-consultant. The SF330 should be complete and specifically address the requirements of this announcement. Firms shall present a proposed organization chart and a narrative describing how the organization will function. Functions to be subcontracted shall be clearly identified by subcontractor or entity and their office location (specify the address of the office and key point of contact). Include in your submittal the DUNS number and CAGE CODE for each firm listed in SF 330. Address all Selection Criteria in descending order of importance (as defined in Section 3 of this announcement above) in SF 330, Section H. While a subcontracting plan is not required as part of the SF 330 package, both large and small firms responding to this announcement shall provide a brief narrative identifying the extent to which Small Businesses (SBs), Veteran-Owned Small Businesses (VOSBs), Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Businesses (SDVOSBs), HUBZone Small Businesses, Small Disadvantaged Businesses (SDBs), Woman-Owned Small Businesses (WOSBs), and Historically Black Colleges/Universities or Minority Institutions (HBCU/MIs) would be used in the performance of this proposed contract. This is not a request for proposal. Brief cover letters are permissible and should identify the firm's primary point of contact, telephone number and email address. Extraneous materials are not desired and will not be con sidered. Personal visits to discuss this acquisition will not be scheduled. As required by regulations, interviews for the purpose of discussing prospective contractors' qualifications will be conducted only after review of submittals by the selection board. Interviews will be conducted by telephone. Questions should be addressed ONLY to the Contract Specialist: Ms. Lee Ann White at 918-669-7277, USACE Tulsa District, 1645 S. 101st East Avenue, Tulsa, Oklahoma 74128-4609. This procurement is Unrestricted.