Sources Sought - FY25 Savannah Inner Harbor Dredging Project

The Savannah District Corps of Engineers is requesting information regarding the market capabilities of potential contractors that can perform FY25 Savannah Inner Harbor Maintenance Dredging.

This request does not obligate the Government in any way to post a solicitation or award a contract. Information received will be considered for the purpose of market research and determining how to best move forward with the procurement. Applicable NAICS code is 237990 with a size standard of 27.5 million. The potential magnitude for this requirement is estimated at more than $10,000,000 dollars. Inquires will only be accepted via email to Contract Specialist, Mr. Rohan Bryan at rohan.a.bryan@usace.army.mil, or Contracting Officer, Ms. Glenda Canty at glenda.a.canty@usace.army.mil.  The request for Information Sheet should be completed and submitted no later than March 21, 2024, at 1:00 pm, Eastern Standard Time.

THIS IS NOT A SOLICITATION. THIS POSTING IS A SOURCES SOUGHT NOTICE ONLY.

SCOPE OF WORK:

The Savannah Inner Maintenance Harbor Dredging contract provides construction services including furnishing personnel, transportation, mobilization and demobilization, equipment and materials required in connection with maintenance dredging.  This contract is traditionally performed with a hydraulic cutterhead dredge, and the duration is expected to be one year from Notice to Proceed.  Approximately four million cubic yards of maintenance material is expected to be removed from the inner harbor.

The work is located in the Savannah Harbor deep draft navigation project in the vicinity of Chatham County, Georgia and Jasper County, South Carolina.  The Savannah Inner Harbor channel is authorized in general to 47 ft. deep MLLW and 500 ft. wide.  The channel narrows to 400 ft. wide above station 103+000 and to 200 ft. wide above station 105+500.  Varying additional advanced maintenance depths are authorized throughout the project.  A summary table of the project stations and depths (MLLW) is below.

Inner Harbor Stations & Turning Basins    Auth Depth(ft) Adv Maint. Depth(ft) Req Contract Depth(ft)

         0+000 to 24+000                                     47                               2                                      49

        24+000 to 35+000                                    47                               4                                      51

        35+000 to 37+000                                    47                               6                                      53

        37+000 to 70+000                                    47                               4                                      51

       70+000 to 102+000                                   47                               2                                      49

       102+000 to 103+000                                 47                               0                                      47

       103+000 to 105+500                                 36                               2                                      38

       105+500 to 112+500                                 30                               2                                      32

       Oyster-bed Island Turing Basin                40                                0                                      40

        Fig Island Turing Basin                           34                                 4                                      38

       Marsh Island Turing Basin                       34                                 0                                      34

       Kings Island Turing Basin                        47                                 8                                      55

       Argyle Island Turing Basin                      30                                 0                                      30

       Port Wentworth Turing Basin                 30                                  2                                      32    

Kings Island Turning Basin (KITB) is the primary turning basin for large ships, located adjacent to the Georgia Ports Authority docks.  KITB requires dredging to allow the loaded ships to freely turn when using the port.  About 1.6 million cubic yards of maintenance material is removed from the KITB annually.

Other contractors may be working for the Savannah District on the Savannah Harbor, to include within confined upland dredged material containment areas and designated staging areas.  If such work occurs, all dredging and placement activities shall be coordinated under the direction of the Contracting Officer.

The material dredged from the Savannah Inner Harbor shall be placed in confined upland disposal areas adjacent to the Savannah River. Savannah dredged material containment areas (DMCA) 1N, 2A, 12A, 13A, 13B, 14A, 14B and Jones Oyster bed Island are operated by the Corps for dredging purposes.  Access to these areas which are owned by a combination of the Georgia Department of Transportation and US Fish and Wildlife Service is coordinated through the Savannah District.

Environmental restrictions may limit the timing of dredging in the Savannah Inner Harbor.  The striped bass spawning window limits the timing of dredging above station 63+360 (river mile 12) for two weeks during period established annually by the Georgia Department of Natural Resources between 1 April and 15 May, and a dissolved oxygen window exists from 1 July through 30 September.  To protect sturgeon aggregation areas in the upper river, no dredging is allowed above station 105+500 from 1 May through 31 October. 

Maintenance material in certain reaches of the channel may contain cadmium (Cd) in levels significant enough require special placement in the DMCAs.  Sediments in those reaches will be tested by the Government prior to dredging.  If Cd is found in those sediments equal to or greater than established thresholds, options can be exercised to prescribe disposal of the sediments in specific DMCAs under special handling conditions.

Obstructions are objects or materials in the required side slope cross sections or in the existing ground surface which are unknown at the time of encounter by the dredge or identified by pre and post hydrographic surveys, and monthly condition surveys. Obstructions are objects which cannot be removed by a hydraulic pipeline dredge.  The Contractor may encounter obstructions during dredging operations and must remove the objects or materials to provide the required section as shown on the cross-section plates.  If the Contractor is performing maintenance dredging with a pipeline dredge, the dredge must act as a probe for obstructions.  The object removed will be the property of the Contractor unless it has been determined to be culturally significant. 

The base contract includes mobilization/demobilization, maintenance dredging, moves, and dive team personnel and equipment rental for obstruction removal.  Contract options include additional pumping considerations for placement of material in designated Cd disposal areas that may be dredged from reaches potentially containing levels of Cd that require special handling.