***THIS IS NOT A SOLICITATION. THIS IS A PRESOLICITATION***
The US Army Corps of Engineers, Walla Walla District will issue a solicitation for Towboat Services, commercial services (as prescribed in FAR Part 12), in accordance with Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Part 6, Competition Requirements, and awarded in accordance with FAR Part 15, Contracting by Negotiation, for the Juvenile Fish Transportation Program. The solicitation will be competed as unrestricted (full and open competition). The NAICS code applicable to this acquisition is 483211, with a Small Business Size Standard of 1050 employees as determined by 13 CFR 121.104.
The Performance Work Statement will be provided once the Solicitation has posted to SAM.gov. A brief synopsis of the PWS is outlined below:
The period of performance for this contract to include the base year and two option years, is 01 April 2025 - 31 March 2028. The work location is from Lower Granite Dam on the Snake River to below Bonneville Dam on the Columbia River. The Contractor shall provide four towboats, each staffed with crews for 24-hour per day operation, to transport Government-owned fish barges from Lower Granite Juvenile Fish Facility to fish release areas below Bonneville Dam. Stops will be made at Little Goose and Lower Monumental dams to load additional fish or to pick up an additional fish barge for transport to the release site. Daily transporting of fish by barge from Snake River dams will begin sometime between April 21 and May 2 and is expected to last through June 20but could end as late as August 15 , depending on fish collection numbers or as coordinated with regional fish managers. The Contractor will be notified no less than 7 days (168 hours) notice for commencement and end of fish transport by barge operations. Initially, one Towboat will depart Lower Granite Dam daily with a round trip travel time to the release site and back of 80 hours. Thus, a total of four towboats are needed during daily transport operations. When numbers of fish collected decrease in mid-to-late May, the program will transition to every-other-day operation requiring two towboats through the remainder of the transport operations. All work shall be performed in accordance with the Corps of Engineers Safety and Health Requirements Manual (EM 385-1-1).
In addition, prior to daily barge operations, the Corps may direct a Towboat to barge fish once from Lower Granite Dam in support of fish research until sometime between 1 April to the start of daily transport.. The Contractor will routinely transport a loaded fish barge from Lower Granite Dam, stop and pick up a loaded fish barge at Little Goose Dam, stop and load additional fish at Lower Monumental Dam, and continue the trip downstream to the release site below Bonneville Dam. On return trips to Lower Granite Dam, one of the empty barges will be left at Little Goose Dam. Direct loading of fish at Little Goose Dam may also take place during part of the every-other-day barging operation.
The project will involve the development and management of Contractor furnished submittals for items such as pre-work marine inspections of towboats as required by the technical specifications of the contract. The Contractor vessel must maintain a valid Certificate of Inspection (COI) according to 46 CFR Part 91, issued by the U.S. Coast Guard with appropriate vessel route and conditions to serve this contract. Post a copy of documentation in a public area on board the vessel. The Contractor must also submit a copy of the Certificate of Inspection (COI) to the Contracting Officer Representative (COR) annually before beginning work on this contract. A copy of any USCG Form CG-835F (Facility Inspection Requirements) issued to the vessel in the preceding year shall be provided to the COR before beginning work on this contract and a copy should be kept on board the vessel during the work on this contract. The Contractor is responsible for inspections on all towboats considered for use under this contract, including all towboats that may be used as spare towboats, prior to beginning work on this contract. The inspection shall determine seaworthiness, capability of meeting contract requirements, and that towboats provided are safe to operate under weather, wind, and flow conditions prevalent on the Columbia and Snake rivers during the contract period.
All towboats shall be capable of routinely moving two to four fully loaded Government-owned fish-hauling barges, in any combination of sizes, downstream simultaneously as well as moving up to four empty barges upstream. The Government-owned barges specifications are:
Barge Series Quantity Fish Capacity (lbs.) Length (ft.) Width (ft.) Weight empty (tons)
2000 2 23,000 130 30 165
4000 2 50,000 150 35 250
8000 4 75,000 196 40 450
All barges draft approximately two feet when empty and five feet when loaded. Pushing knees have been installed on the bow and sterns of all barges to facilitate hooking barges together and are furnished with wire rope on winches and mooring ropes (poly) for lashing barges to each other or to the towboat. Any required walkways or handrails from the towboat(s) to barge(s) shall be furnished and installed by the Contractor. This shall include adequate provisions at the crossover point between the towboats and barges to afford safe passage for the Government barge rider at all hours of the day or night and under all weather conditions.
Each towboat shall have fully equipped sleeping, cooking, and dining facilities adequate to house a full operating crew and one assigned representative of the Government (barge rider). Towboats shall be equipped with both hot and cold potable water for showering, washing hands in restrooms, cooking, drinking, and washing dishes. The Government representative (barge rider) shall have a private stateroom or bunk room to ensure privacy. The Contractor shall also be responsible for providing all meals for the Government representatives (barge riders) on the towboats.
Towboats shall be equipped with adequate communications equipment, including cellular telephones, to ensure contact with the Government representative onboard, navigation locks, and emergency services at all points along the river in the contract area. Towboats are required to supply 120 volt AC power to the barges for running navigation lights, cabin lights, and engine alarms. Towboats shall provide compressed air to the barges on an as needed basis if required for operating the fish hold opening mechanisms.
A "Full-Operating Crew" for the towboats pushing fish barges is defined as the number of personnel necessary, under U.S. Coast Guard and other industry regulations, to operate the towboat on a 24-hour basis, including at a minimum two ship operators and two deck hands (four people). The Contractor shall provide all diesel fuel for operation of the diesel-engine driven pumps on the Government-owned fish barges.
Important Note: The response date listed elsewhere in this synopsis is for the SAM.gov Contract Opportunities (formerly known as FedBizOpps (FBO)) archive purposes only. It has no relationship to the actual proposal opening/closing dates. The proposal opening/closing dates will be contained in the solicitation and any solicitation amendments that are issued.
When issued, the solicitation documents for the Request for Proposal (RFP) No. W912EF25R0016 will be available via SAM.gov or https://sam.gov/. NO CD's OR HARD COPIES WILL BE AVAILABLE. The proposal due date will be contained in the solicitation and any solicitation amendments that may be used. Offerors are responsible for checking the referenced page for any update(s) to the Notice. The Government is not responsible for any loss of Internet connectivity or for an offeror's inability to access the document(s) posted at the referenced website. To obtain automatic notifications of updates to this solicitation, you MUST log in to SAM.gov and add the solicitation to your Watchlist. If you would like to list your firm so others can see you are an interested vendor, you must click the "Add Me To Interested Vendors" button in the listing for this solicitation on SAM.gov.
