Notice of Intent

NOTICE OF INTENT TO SOLE SOURCE

The US Section International Boundary and Water Commission (USIBWC), Acquisition Division, located at 4191 North Mesa Street, El Paso, TX 79902 is issuing this Notice of Intent (NOI) to inform industry contractors of the Government’s intent to execute a Sole Source Award under FAR Part 13 – Simplified Acquisition Procedures (SAP), specifically FAR Subpart 13.5 – Simplified Procedures for Certain Commercial Items.

The U.S. International Boundary and Water Commission (IBWC) discovered cracks and a partial slope failure on the newly refurbished levee section and adjacent floodplain along the Rio Grande in Brownsville, TX between project Stations 1892+00 and 1904+85 in early March 2014. The partial failure followed a significant drop of water level in the Rio Grande in early-April 2014. A geotechnical investigation was performed by the USACE to determine the causes for the partial levee failure and provide remediation alternatives

The intended Contractor is Arcadis . located at 630 Plaza DRIVE, Suite 200 Highlands Ranch, Colorado

80129-2379, United States.

This procurement is being conducted using commercial item procedures pursuant to FAR Part 12 and FAR Part 13, specifically FAR Subpart13.106-1(b)(1)(i) allowing the Contracting Officer (CO) to solicit from one source.

The North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) for this requirement is, 237990 Other Heavy and Civil Engineering  with a Product of Service Code of Y1PZ Construction of Other Non-Building Facilities.

This notice of intent is neither a formal solicitation nor a request for competitive proposals. No solicitation document is available and telephone requests will not be honored. No award will be made based on unsolicited quotations or offers received in response to this notice. Any response to this notice must show clear, compelling, and convincing evidence that competition will be advantageous to the Government. The intent of this synopsis is for informational purposes only. Information received will normally be considered solely for the purpose of determining whether to conduct a competitive procurement. A determination by the Government not to compete this action based on this notice is solely within the discretion of the Government.

All inquiries and concerns must be addressed in writing via e-mail to Suzette Smith at suzette.smith@ibwc.gov with the following information referenced in the subject line, Request for Proposal (RFP) 191BWC25R0001).

A determination by the Government not to compete this proposed procurement based on the responses to this notice is solely within the discretion of the Government. Information received will be considered solely for the purpose of determining whether to conduct a competitive procurement. All interested parties who are responsible, capable,  certified to meet the Synopsis , and authorized may identify their interest and may submit an offer or quotation which shall be considered by the agency no later than 2:00 PM Mountain Standard Time (MST) on Feb 12, 2025 to Suzette Smith at suzette.smith@ibwc.gov. The interested parties bear full responsibility to ensure complete transmission and timely receipt.

 Synopsis

The implementation of “Combination of the deep soil mix columns and stone columns” based upon the findings per the Geotechnical Report dated December 2, 2016, and the inclinometer readings data as presented in the monthly inclinometer reports dated from June 2016 to June 2017. The design for the rehabilitation of the floodplain shall not affect the adjacent levee’s compliance with criteria under the USACE document EM (Engineer Manual) 1110-2-1913, Design and Construction of Levees and the Federal Emergency Management Administration (FEMA) levee accreditation requirements found in 44 CFR Section 65.10 (Code of Federal Regulations, Title 44 - Emergency Management Administration, Section 65.10 - Mapping of Areas Protected by Levee Systems)

1. Description of Supplies/Services:

A new Contract with Arcadis as the Designer of Record (DOR) is to provide post-design services for the Remediation Design of Levee and Floodplain Failure within the Upper Brownsville Levee Reach construction project. Post-design services (including bidding services and construction services) are required from the original Designer for the project design because the Designer of Record holds the liability for their proprietary design.

1. Authority Cited:

The exceptions that apply are FAR 6.302-1 that only one reasonable source and no other supplies or services will satisfy agency requirements.

1. Reason for Authority Cited:

There is a need to perform the solicitation and construction of the levee rehabilitation in a timely manner to avoid additional levee failure in this location of the Rio Grande that could impact critical facilities such as the Gateway International Bridge and the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) facility. As the Designer of Record, with detailed knowledge of the project issues and design, Arcadis is uniquely positioned to help USIBWC with the solicitation and responses to RFIs, and possible design alterations in a timely manner.

1. Rationale for Sole Source Procurement:

Arcadis being the DOR for a specialized design makes them the most highly qualified. The procurement of their services will be necessary to finish the levee rehabilitation work in an expedited manner, because changing contractors in the middle of a complex project puts a community risk of significant damage from impacts to the physical integrity of facilities adjacent to the project location such as the Gateway International Bridge and the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) facility as shown in the following figure:

1. Efforts to Obtain Competition:

In accordance with federal law, the construction services identified above can only be provided by one source, the overall procurement for construction of the Upper Brownsville levee rehabilitation project will be competed using an unrestricted full and open competitive acquisition.