The Seattle Department of Transportation Request for Qualifications that went out June 2, makes for interesting reading.

The full text can be read HERE. 

The solicitation has another couple of weeks before it closes and thus far 151 respondents (including SDOT itself) have gotten registered on the procurement site. Most of those responding are from Washington State with a sprinkling from New York, Oregon, California, and one from the Tunnel building experts in the Netherlands TEC-tunnel. WSP, SDOT's current consultant also responded.

The RFQ was modified with an addendum after interest in a potential Immersed Tube Tunnel grew following the publishing of the concept by WestsideSeattle. Other media outlets and Councilmember Lisa Herbold asked if it was possible and SDOT made the change. 

Despite the addendum the first requirement in the RFQ states "The prime consultant firm must have a minimum of 10 years of experience in bridge planning, design and construction in a seismic zone 4 urban, marine environment." 

Requests for clarification are due Thursday, June 18, 2020 12:00:00 PM [(UTC-08:00) Pacific Time (US & Canada)].

Bids are due Tuesday, June 30, 2020 2:00:00 PM [(UTC-08:00) Pacific Time (US & Canada)].

Here's the first page of the RFQ.

Purpose and Background.

On March 23, 2020, the West Seattle High-Rise Bridge was closed to vehicle traffic. This bridge is the City’s top arterial by volume, typically carrying an average of over 100,000 cars, trucks and buses every week. The bridge’s deterioration at an accelerated rate required a full closure for the safety of all users. Since that time, SDOT has continued to inspect and monitor the structure. There is a currently a design and construction team working on the necessary steps to stabilize the structure and reduce the risk of failure. Next steps are to separately investigate a repair to the bridge for opening to traffic and to develop a replacement design. This contract is intended to provide a comprehensive engineering team to design a replacement of the West Seattle High-Rise Bridge.

This contract is estimated to be approximately $50 Million to $150 Million.  It is anticipated that this contract will receive federal funds and therefore will proceed under this assumption.

1. Performance Schedule.

This is anticipated to be a multi-year phased contract, for approximately ten years, as needed to deliver a partial or full replacement of the bridge. More detail to the schedule will be developed during the course of 2020 as scope direction is confirmed and, in an attempt, to accelerate the design and construction to the greatest extent practicable.

2. Solicitation Objectives.

The City expects to achieve the following outcomes through this consultant solicitation:

Procure an experienced, comprehensive team to deliver a replacement design and possibly provide construction services in partnership with the City of Seattle.

3. Minimum Qualifications.

Minimum qualifications are required for a Consultant to be eligible to submit a proposal response.  Your submittal response must show compliance to these minimum qualifications.  Those that are not responsive to these qualifications shall be rejected by the City without further consideration:

1. The prime consultant firm must have a minimum of 10 years of experience in bridge planning, design and construction in a seismic zone 4 urban, marine environment.
2. The proposed team shall include leads for each key discipline who are licensed Professional Engineers in the State of Washington, and the lead structural engineer shall also be a licensed Structural Engineer.
3. The prime firm shall  have 3 similar bridge projects ($200M or above in total project cost) in the last 10 years with a government agency, or an equivalent combination of  large and/or complex bridge projects in the last 10 years.
4. The team shall have experience in delivering federally funded projects (FHWAUS DOT), projects with complex funding structures and alternative delivery methods.

5. Scope of Work.

This contract is intended to provide a comprehensive engineering team to design a replacement of the West Seattle High-Rise Bridge. This team will work in conjunction with SDOT’s West Seattle High-Rise Bridge delivery team, led by SDOT’s project manager. The scope of work includes structural, civil, marine, geotechnical and demolition design, environmental/permitting, planning, traffic engineering and analysis, grant writing services, construction phasing and constructability, real property, architectural, mechanical & electrical, communications, and project management expertise necessary to lead the team through all phases of delivery. This project is expected to be delivered under an accelerated schedule and an alternate delivery method construction contract (that has yet to be selected). This team will be expected to help identify the preferred delivery strategy and will be central to delivering this method, in conjunction with a contractor to be procured at a later date. This work will require extensive communication and coordination with stakeholders, partners (such as the Sound Transit and the Port), and elected officials, including a project specific Technical Advisory Panel, and other consultants and contractors. It is anticipated that the work under this contract will be phased through multiple phases, and may include but is not limited to phases for planning type, size and location (TS&L), design, and design support during construction at SDOT’s discretion. The scope of work as listed here is not exhaustive, additional scopes of work may be needed to support the full spectrum of design and construction needs.

Core functions include:

• Alternatives/Analysis/Planning
• Structural Bridge
• Civil Engineering
• Electrical Engineering
• Mechanical Engineering
• Architecture
• Marine Design
• Environmental and Permitting including Army Corps of Engineer, US Coast Guard, Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, Tribes, Freight Community, and Sound Transit.
• Right-of-Way services
• Survey
• Planning
• Traffic Analysis
• Geotechnical Engineering
• Project Management
• Communications (note lead Outreach services will be procured under a separate RFQ)
• Grant Writing Services
• Construction Phasing
• Constructability
• Real Property Services

6. Contract Modifications.

The City consultant contract is attached (See Attachments Section).   

The City has attached its boilerplate contract terms to allow Proposers to be familiar with boilerplate, and the non-negotiable terms before submitting a proposal. The City may negotiate with the highest ranked apparent successful Proposer. The City cannot modify contract provisions mandated by Federal, State or City law: to:  Equal Benefits, Audit (Review of Vendor Records), DBE / WMBE and EEO, Confidentiality, and Debarment or mutual indemnification. Exceptions to those provisions will be summarily disregarded.

7. Procedures and Requirements.

This section details City instructions and requirements for your submittal.  The City reserves the right in its sole discretion to reject any Consultant response that fails to comply with the instructions.

7.1 Registration into the Online Business Directory

If you have not previously done so, register at: http://www.seattle.gov/obd  The City expects all firms to register. Women- and minority- owned firms are asked to self-identify (see section 7.25).  For assistance, call Julie Salinas at 206-684-0383.

7.2 Pre-Submittal Conference

The City offers an optional pre-submittal conference at the time, date, and location on page 1.  Proposers are highly encouraged to attend but not required to attend to be eligible to propose.  The meeting answers questions about the solicitation and clarify issues.  This also allows Proposers to raise concerns.  Failure to raise concerns over any issues at this opportunity will be a consideration in any protest filed regarding such items known as of this pre-proposal conference.

7.3 Questions.

Proposers may submit questions to Procureware  - https://www.seattle.procureware.com

until the deadline stated on page 1.  Failure to request clarification of any inadequacy, omission, or conflict will not relieve the Consultant of responsibilities under any subsequent contract.  It is the responsibility of the interested Consultant to assure they receive responses to Questions if any are issued.

7.4 Changes to the RFQ.

The City may make changes to this RFQ if, in the sole judgment of the City, the change will not compromise the City’s objectives in this solicitation.  Any change to this RFQ will be made by formal written addendum issued by the City and shall become part of this RFQ.

7.5 Receiving Addenda and/or Question and Answers.

It is the obligation and responsibility of the Consultant to learn of addenda, responses, or notices issued by the City as posted on Procureware.  Some third-party services independently post City of Seattle solicitations on their websites. The City does not guarantee that such services have accurately provided all the information published by the City.

All submittals sent to the City may be considered compliant with or without specific confirmation from the Consultant that any and all addenda was received and incorporated into your response.  However, the Project Manager reserves the right to reject any submittal that does not fully incorporate Addenda that is critical to the project.

7.6 Proposal Submittal.

1. Proposals must be received by the City no later than the date and time on page 1 except as revised by Addenda.

2. All pages are to be numbered sequentially, and closely follow the requested formats.

3. The City has page limits specified in the Response Format section 8.  Any pages that exceed the page limit will be excised from the document for purposes of evaluation.

4. The submitter has full responsibility to ensure the response arrives at the City within the deadline. A response delivered after the deadline may be rejected unless waived as immaterial by the City given specific fact-based circumstances.

Download the full document here to read the rest.