Shawnee National Forest Hidden Springs Dam Maintenance and Repair

The Department of Agriculture Forest Service is soliciting maintenance and repair services for six dams in the Shawnee National Forest's Hidden Springs Ranger District, located across Hardin, Johnson, and Pope Counties in Illinois. The work involves debris and tree removal from spillway risers and upstream dam faces at Teal Pond, Frank's Tract, One Horse Gap, Tecumseh, Dutchman Lake, and an optional site called Whoopie Cat that has no vehicular access. Contractors must perform work between 7:00 am and 6:00 pm, Monday through Friday, dispose of all materials off Forest Service lands, and restore disturbed areas with grading, seeding, and mulching. The agency will evaluate proposals using a best value determination based on past performance (30%), technical capabilities (30%), and price (40%), with award going to the most advantageous offeror. Questions are due by October 8, 2025, and complete proposals including technical and price components must be submitted electronically to lawrence.jackson@usad.gov by 4:00 pm Eastern on October 10, 2025.

This opportunity is 100% set aside for small businesses under NAICS code 237990 (Other Heavy and Civil Engineering Construction) with a size standard of $45 million. No incumbent contractors or current providers are identified in the solicitation documents, and no specific award values or budget ranges are disclosed. The performance period spans from November 1, 2025 to January 15, 2026, providing contractors with approximately 75 days to complete the maintenance work across all six dam locations. The primary place of performance is Harrisburg, Illinois, though the actual work sites are distributed across multiple counties within the Shawnee National Forest. The Whoopie Cat dam site presents unique logistical challenges due to its lack of vehicular access and is structured as an optional line item, suggesting contractors may need specialized equipment or manual transportation methods for this location.