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Volume 41 - Issue 42 - October 20, 2022

(Published in the Kansas Register October 20, 2022.)

Cimarron Valley Railroad

Request for Proposals

The Kansas Department of Transportation (KDOT) was awarded an $11 million federal Consolidated Rail Infrastructure and Safety Improvements Program (CRISI) grant in May 2022. In addition to this federal grant, KDOT has partnered financially with the Cimarron Valley Railroad (CVR), resulting in a project budget of $14,991,971.

CVR in coordination with KDOT is seeking Request for Proposals (RFPs) from qualified engineering firms to work with the KDOT project management team and in coordination with the CVR project management team to provide project coordination and oversite for this short line railroad infrastructure improvement project. Firms submitting proposals are encouraged to include Disadvantaged Business Enterprises (DBEs) as part of their project team.

Scope of Work

The Southwest Kansas Infrastructure Upgrade Project will encompass the following project components on CVR infrastructure in southwest Kansas:

  • Replacing 50,904 crossties:
    • 700 crossties per mile (Dodge City, Kansas to Satanta, Kansas – 62 miles)
    • 350 crossties per mile (Satanta, Kansas to Hugoton, Kansas – 23 miles)
  • Performing 3,577 flash butt welds to rail (east of Ensign, Kansas to Sublette, Kansas – 13.2 miles)
  • Relaying 3.7 miles of rail in curves (spread throughout seven curves from Satanta, Kansas to just west of Hugoton, Kansas)
  • Applying new ballast to 67 miles of track (Dodge City, Kansas to Moscow, Kansas)
  • Surfacing 85 miles of track (Dodge City, Kansas to Hugoton, Kansas)

The objective of the project is to be able to continue to provide freight rail service, and improve it, to customers along the Satanta and Keys Subdivisions. CVR cannot provide adequate freight rail service along the 85 miles of line between Dodge City, Kansas and Hugoton, Kansas because train speeds are limited to 10 mph. The current track conditions require a two-day round trip increasing costs and limiting asset productivity. When complete, this project will increase the speed of the project area on railroad from 10 mph to 25 mph.

The project will commence upon KDOT receiving a signed and executed agreement from the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA), as well as signed and executed agreements between KDOT and CVR. The anticipated project start date is April 2023. It is expected that the project will take approximately 12 months to complete. Federal reporting will continue for three years from project completion.

Requirements

Firms interested in submitting a proposal must possess the following experience and knowledge:

  • A minimum of five years of experience managing large scale freight rail rehabilitation/construction projects with multiple project components including, but not limited to: mainlines, crossings, and bridges.
  • Coordination with FRA on rail projects involving federal grant funds.
  • Knowledge of FRA regulations, guidance, reporting requirements, etc. involving rail projects involving federal grant funds.
  • Knowledge of federal CFRs as they relate to all aspects of freight rail infrastructure projects including, but not limited to: tie installation, rail installation, flash butt welding, ballast distribution, and track surfacing.
  • Knowledge of federal regulations, including, but not limited to, “Buy America,” Davis-Bacon, and Disadvantaged Business Enterprise (DBE).
  • Knowledge of federal environmental review process as it relates to NEPA categorical exclusions and other environmental matters.
  • Knowledge of federal CFRs as they relate to all reporting requirements.
  • Knowledge of federal GrantSolutions for submission of all required federal reports.
  • Freight rail project oversight.
  • Freight rail project engineering (PE and CE).
  • Development and management of project schedules.
  • Rail project budgeting and invoice review.
  • FRA reporting requirements shall include, but not be limited to:
    • Quarterly progress reports during the duration of the project performance period for the periods of January 1 – March 31; April 1 – June 30; July 1 – September 30; and October 1 – December 31, to be submitted to the FRA Grant Manager on or before the 30th calendar day of the month following the end of the quarter for which the report is submitted.
    • Quarterly federal financial reports (Federal Standard Form 425) with reimbursement requests and/or outlay figures for the reported quarter. This report shall be submitted on the same schedule as the quarterly progress report. The final Standard Form 425 is due within 90 days after the end of the project performance period but may be submitted as soon as all outstanding expenditures have been completed.
    • Final performance report.
    • Project performance measures reporting.

Submission of a Proposal

Consultant proposals should include general and specific qualifications with large scale freight rail project management. A brief narrative, not to exceed seven pages, detailing the consultant’s ability to carry out this project – including, but not limited to: special assets, areas of expertise, and analytical tools should be included in the narrative. Proposals shall also include:

  • A listing, including a brief project scope and budget, of similar projects undertaken within the last five (5) years by consultant and/or subconsultants, showing contract amounts, description of work performed and project results.
  • Staff that would be assigned to this project along with their qualifications to manage this project.
  • Description of the workload of staff assigned to this project during the term of the project (any reassignment of designated key staff will not occur without consultation and consent by KDOT).
  • A copy of the firm’s DBE Plan.
  • Listing of any DBE firms that will serve as subconsultants on the project.
  • A project schedule that includes, but is not limited to, demonstration of expected task completion timelines, deliverables, conference calls, meetings, on site project reviews/inspections, and project milestones.
  • A detailed budget and consultant personnel time to complete the project.
  • Quality Assurance/Quality Control (QA/QC) plan that will cover the entire scope of the project. The QA/QC activities should include preparation of monthly status reports, invoices, and attendance at project meetings as requested by the KDOT Project Manager. The consultant shall record and submit typed minutes, in electronic format, for all meetings to the KDOT Project Monitor within two weeks of each meeting. The consultant shall also distribute minutes to all project partners. On the first of each month, the consultant shall submit a monthly status report to the KDOT Project Monitor.
  • Five references.

Letters of Interest, along with documentation detailing qualifications should be emailed to Jeff Van Schaick, Cimarron Valley Railroad at jvan@jag-transport.com by November 28, 2022. Qualifying firms will be contacted via email to schedule interviews.

Anthony Cox
SVP Engineering
Jaguar Transport Holdings

Doc. No. 050598

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