Advanced Bridge Technology Clearinghouse (ABTC) Development

Rutgers University has been awarded a cooperative agreement to develop and implement for Bridge Technologies a clearing house which will act as a repository of design & technology data, best practices and be a system for disseminating the information

There is urgent need to share with practitioners, state and local regulators and other interested public advanced technologies and best practices available to operate and ensure safety of bridges in all modes of transportation (highway, rail, waterways, etc.). A repository for such information and its dissemination in different formats, based on the concept of information clearinghouse is needed. The public as well as seasoned practitioners and regulators will benefit from such a repository/clearinghouse. Rutgers University was chosen as the Highly Recommended proposal for this cooperative agreement and award was made on August 1, 2024.

This procurement is limited to proposals from University Transportation Centers and its sub-tier team consisting of one or more individuals, entities and/or professional organizations with either Not-for-Profit or For-Profit status.

(i) Conduct literature reviews, (ii) collect data on bridge technologies, (iii) design, construct and populate with data and information a clearinghouse on bridge technologies, (iv) provide training materials, (v) formulate information dissemination strategies to provide responses to different levels of queries.

The duration of performance and, hence, grant assistance under this procurement is for 60 months from the date of award.

The significant evaluation factors include, but not limited to, the UTC team's experience in (i) bridge technology(ies), (ii) research & transportation issues assessment, (iii) computerized database and AI architecture design, robotics, (iv) remote inspection technology capabilities, (v) evaluating environmental effects (on bridges), and (vi) other scientific disciplines of relevance to the bridge technology issues. Specifically, the technical proposal will be evaluated on: 1) The make-up of the team, expertise of the team members related to bridge technology & communication of complex information in understandable formats, and their past experience. 2) The explanation provided, in understandable terms, on the architecture of the proposed bridge technology clearing house, the types of information it will house, the robustness of the information and data that will populate the database, design of data storage systems, ease of data retrieval (i.e., the I/O features and ease of use), how the retrieved data or knowledge is presented, tailormade to the level of query, and information sought. 3) Past experience of the UTC managing contractor in leading such multi-disciplinary teams and outcomes of development projects similar to the one sought. The cost proposal will be evaluated on: 1) Cost reasonableness 2) Cost matching up to 50% of total cost 3) Budget controls to achieve the work objectives

OST-R staff will conduct an initial compliance review of applications to identify any that are incomplete, non-responsive to this Notice of Funding Opportunity, or ineligible to receive a ABTC Cooperative Agreement, followed by a Technical Merit and Project Readiness Review of each criterion. For each criterion, USDOT will consider whether the application narrative is responsive to the selection criterion focus areas which will result in a rating of 'High,' 'Medium,' 'Low,' or 'Non-Responsive.' Only applications rated as 'Highly Recommended' or 'Recommended' will be reviewed by a Senior Review Team (SRT). One relevant UTC will be awarded the grant based on the recommendations by the technical proposal evaluation team and Contracting Officer's assessment of cost and other compliance requirements. The award will be on a fixed price basis, up to a maximum of $ 5,000,000 federal funds. The awardee shall cost match for not less than 50% of the federal award amount.

Proposals are due 2023-MM-DD Project should be completed within 60 months from the date of award.