Preliminary/Contract Design of Motor Vessel Ranger IV

The U.S. Department of Transportation, Volpe Center, anticipates issuing a contract for Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering Services for the Preliminary and Contract design of Motor Vessel Ranger IV.  The completed contract design will be used by the Government in a separate future solicitation for the Detail Design and Construction of Ranger IV.  The NAICS code identified for this requirement is 541330 - Engineering Services. The Volpe Center is releasing this pre-solicitation and Industry Day notice to identify interested parties, provide an overview of the anticipated design requirements, and gather any feedback offered by industry. 

The Volpe Center will be hosting the industry day at Isle Royale National Park Headquarters in Houghton, MI for all interested vendors.  The industry day will be held on Thursday, June 16, 2022 between 10AM and 12PM ET.  The industry day will include discussion of the pre-solicitation notice, Basis of Design for Ranger IV, and tours of the current Ranger III and the Houghton dock area. 

Interested vendors may book travel out to Isle Royale to view other docking locations (Rock Harbor, Mott Island, and Wendigo) at their own expense.  There are three ways to reach Rock Harbor: onboard the Ranger III from Houghton, MI; onboard the Isle Royale Queen which leaves from Copper Harbor, Michigan; or by Isle Royale Seaplanes which leaves from Hancock, MI or Grand Marais, MN.  There are three ways to reach Wendigo: onboard the Ranger III (once per month); via Grand Portage Isle Royale Transportation Lines which leaves from Grand Portage, MN; or by Isle Royale Seaplanes which leaves from Hancock, MI or Grand Marais, MN.

All interested vendors for this industry day must respond by 4pm ET Friday, May 20, 2022 via email to Andrew Josephs at Andrew.Josephs@dot.gov with the positive interest, a list of personnel attending the site visit, and contact information. Each company will receive a confirmation email and instructions for the site visit by noon ET on Wednesday, June 1, 2022 or sooner if possible.

The solicitation is expected to be published in the late summer or early fall of 2022.  The solicitation is anticipated to include requirements for a complete preliminary design, professional engineering stamped contract drawings and construction specifications, and construction cost estimate for Ranger IV.

This pre-solicitation notice is for information only, and shall not be construed as a commitment by the Government to solicit contractual offers or award contracts.  Any information provided by industry to the Government as a result of this notice is voluntary.  Prior to release of the formal solicitation, the Government is not soliciting, nor will it accept, proposals as a result of this notice.  The Government will not reimburse the cost of any submission in response to this notice -- the entire cost of any submission will be at the sole expense of the source submitting the information.  Respondents are solely responsible for properly marking and clearly identifying any proprietary information or trade secrets contained within any written submission.  The Government will not be liable for, or suffer any consequential damages for any proprietary information not properly marked and clearly identified.  Proprietary information received in response to this notice will be safeguarded and handled in accordance with applicable authorities.  Responses will not be returned.  If a solicitation is issued in the future, it will be announced under Contract Opportunities via the System for Award Management (SAM) website (https://sam.gov/) and interested parties must comply with that announcement.  The Government will not reimburse respondents for any questions submitted or information provided as a result of this notice.  All questions received will be documented and published in an amendment to this Notice.

Responses to this notice are not offers and cannot be accepted by the Government to form a binding contract or agreement.  The Government will not be obligated to pursue any particular acquisition alternative because of this notice.  Not responding to this notice does not preclude participation in any future solicitation, if one is issued.