Maintenance Dredging of Newark Bay, NJ – -50ft. , -45ft. , -40ft. , and -35ft. Reaches

MARKET SURVEY / SOURCES SOUGHT

Maintenance Dredging of Newark Bay – -50ft., -45ft., -40ft., and -35ft. Reaches, New Jersey Federal Navigation Project

Background Information

The New York District of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) proposes to perform maintenance dredging of portions of the Newark Bay, New Jersey Federal Navigation Project.  The dredged material would be processed and subsequently transported to and placed at a contractor furnished, State permitted upland placement site(s). The proposed maintenance dredging would remove approximately 400,000 cubic yards (CY) of selected critical shoals from the Main, South Elizabeth, Port Newark, and Port Newark Pierhead Channels of Newark Bay.  Dredging in these channels would be required to depths of -50 feet, -45 feet, -40 feet, and -35 feet Mean Lower Low Water (MLLW) plus 1 foot allowable over-depth. The dredged material is expected to consist primarily of silt and clay.

Due to anticipated restrictions found in the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection Water Quality Certificate, the proposed work can only be performed by utilizing a mechanical dredge with a closed clamshell environmental bucket. Additionally, multiple barges and tugboats will be needed to perform the work during the dredging, dewatering and unloading operations. The dredged material would be required to meet all federal, state, and approved local criteria required by the government agencies having jurisdiction where the placement site is located. All necessary permits required for the dredged material placement will be provided by the contractor to the government.

The apparent low bidder shall, within 35 calendar days from the date the apparent low bidder is notified of being such, provide copies of all required permits and approvals for transportation, transfer, dewatering, processing, and final placement of dredged material, and shall submit evidence of such permits and approvals to the government. 

Once the contract is awarded, the contractor will be required to commence work within five (5) calendar days after the date of receipt of the notice to proceed (NTP), and maintain an integrated production rate of at least 2,500 cubic yards per calendar day for the dredging, transportation, transfer, dewatering, processing, and final placement of the material.  The presence of dredging equipment in the channel will impact ship traffic, and it is necessary to maintain this production rate while minimizing the duration of this impact.

The proposed work is anticipated to take place between July 2025 and February 2026.  The work is estimated to cost between $25,000,000 and $100,000,000.

SURVEY OF THE DREDGING INDUSTRY

The following is a confidential survey questionnaire designed to apprise USACE of prospective dredging contractors’ project execution capabilities. Please provide your response to the following questions. All questions are regarding the Newark Bay, NJ maintenance dredging project.

General

1. Have you ever worked on dredging jobs similar in nature to this project? If so, please describe the project and for whom the work was performed. Identify a point of contact and phone number.
2. What percentage of work (volume of material dredged, transported, dewatered, processed, and ultimately placed) can you perform with your own equipment?
3. Do you have experience with processing of dredged material? If so, please list your experience including the processing sites you’ve utilized. Have you utilized subcontractors to process dredged material, or do you have the capability to do so “in-house” with your own equipment? Also, please explain the typical means and methods you’ve used to process dredged material prior to sending it to a contractor furnished, state-permitted upland placement site(s). What factors have determined the means and methods you’ve used for processing/stabilization of dredged material? What alternate methods of processing might be utilized, and what factors prohibit or deter the use of those methods?
4. Do you have experience with placement of dredged material at a contractor-furnished, state-permitted upland placement site(s)? If so, please list your experience including the specific placement site(s) used for placement of the processed dredged material. Are you familiar with the type of information that is typically required as a part of the submittal to the upland placement site(s). If so, please describe. Also describe how this submittal may vary for different placement sites i.e. sites in different States or having different end-use sites? Additionally, please describe the typical “end uses” of the dredged material at its ultimate placement location. What factors would determine suitability for use of the dredged material on a construction site as fill? What experience do you have with the facilitation of processed dredged material being utilized as construction fill?
5. Have you performed dredging within the waters of the Port of New York and New Jersey?
6. Would you be willing to bid on the project previously described? If the answer is No, please explain why not.
7. Would you be bidding on this project as a sole contractor, prime contractor with subcontractor(s) or as a joint venture?
8. Is there a dollar limit on the size contract that you would bid? If so, what is that limit?
9. What is the largest dredging contract, in dollars, on which you were the prime contractor?
10. What is your bonding capacity per contract? What is your total bonding capacity?
11. Do you have experience using the USACE Resident Management System (RMS) 3.0 for delivering Submittals, Daily Dredging reports and Pay Estimates?
12. Do you have experience applying the USACE EM 385-1-1 (Mar 2024) and all requirements? Deficiencies observed on site will require immediate attention and action to meet all applicable safety codes.

Equipment

1. What type of dredge equipment do you own and / or operate that is suitable for the work described?  Do you own a mechanical dredge with a closed environmental clamshell bucket?  Please list each piece of equipment capable of performing each type of work described, i.e. dredging, transfer, transportation, dewatering and/or other processing, and final placement of the material.  For each dredge that you list, please specify its bucket size(s), and any other salient characteristics.
2. Identify which dredge(s), including support equipment (tug, crew boat, scows, etc), you would employ on this project. Also, for each dredge, identify the maximum dredging depth.
3. Do you own material scows? If so, how many do you have available for use? Please list the name of the scow, its type (ocean-going, sealed hull, etc) and the capacity.
4. Will you be able to meet a production rate of 2,500 cubic yards per calendar day, with placement at a contractor furnished, state permitted upland placement site(s), and complete all work?
5. Do you have experience with the use of an automated Dredged Material Monitoring System (Black Box/Silent Inspector) or employing a Dredged Material Inspector (DMI)?

All interested businesses should submit their responses in writing by e-mail or package delivery service. The due date for responses is 15 days from this announcement on March 14, 2025 at 2:00pm EST.

Send responses to:

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, New York District
Contracting Division, Room 16-300
26 Federal Plaza
New York, NY 10278-0090
Attn:  Nicholas P. Emanuel

OR e-mail both:

nicholas.p.emanuel@usace.army.mil  
and
kenneth.l.peterson@usace.army.mil

This is NOT a commitment on the part of the Government to award a contract as a result of this notice or to pay for any information received. This Market Survey neither constitutes a Request for Proposals nor an Invitation for Bids, nor does it restrict the Government to an ultimate acquisition approach. This Sources Sought should not be construed as a commitment by the Government for any purpose. The Government does not intend to rank submittals or provide any reply to interested firms. Submittals will be used for market survey information only.