USDA Forest Service NORTH CAROLINA CATAWBA FALLS TRAIL IMPROVEMENTS 2023-Phase IC

Project Title: CATAWBA FALLS TRAIL IMPROVEMENTS 2023-Phase IC

Original Set Aside: Total Small Business Set-Aside (FAR 19.5)

NAICS Code: 237310  Highway, Street, and Bridge Construction

PSC: Z2PA Repair Or Alteration Of Recreation Facilities (non-building)

Type of Contract: This is a Request for Proposal (RFP) which will result in award of a firm-fixed price contract. Award will be made to the best value to the government.

Magnitude: In accordance with FAR 36.204, the magnitude of this project is: (d) Between $250,000 and $500,000.

Location:  The project area is located near the Catawba River in the Grandfather Ranger District of the Pisgah National Forest, in McDowell County, North Carolina, between the towns of Old Fort and Black Mountain.

Scope of Work:  There is a need to improve the trail to enhance user safety and reduce impacts to the Catawba River.  Some parts of the Catawba Falls Trail are excessively steep and pose a hazard to trail users.  Rerouting the trail at designated areas will improve user safety and reduce  erosion. Constructing viewing platforms at the upper and lower falls will also improve user safety.  It is anticipated this work will be broken into distinct phases (subject to change in the final solicitation package):

Phase 1C: This trail segment begins at the upper level of the stair tower which is currently under construction. From the stair tower, a series of boardwalks and stairs shall be constructed that traverse steep slopes and winds around rock outcrops upslope from the stair tower. Work in this segment includes clearing within the trail corridor, hazard tree removal outside the corridor, and construction of elevated stairs and boardwalks per attached plans and specifications.

Trail Resurfacing: This task includes providing materials, equipment time, and labor to resurface the existing trail with ABC gravel. The total length of trail to be resurfaced is 5,300 linear feet

Phase 0, Turnaround: A concrete retaining wall at this location is detailed on pages 32 and 33 of the plan set, but for this contract, construction of this retaining wall is modified from that design to utilize dry stacked rock instead of a concrete retaining wall

This project has multiple slide area repairs, utv turn around creations, retaining wall construction, boardwalk construction, and elevated viewing platform construction, etc.  THIS WORK LOCATION WILL REQUIRE THE CONTRACTOR TO HAVE SPECIAL SKILLS AT BUILDING IN REMOTE LOCATIONS (ACROSS STREAMS/RIVERS/SIDES OF MOUNTAINS, SLOPE REINFORCEMENT, BRIDGES, etc). 

Plans and specification are not available for viewing or distribution as of this posting and questions will not be answered until the RFP has been formally issued.

Solicitation and Documents: The solicitation and related documents will be available for download at http://beta.sam.gov on or about 06-16-2023. No hard copies of the solicitation will be mailed out.