Volume 42 - Issue 38 - September 21, 2023

State of Kansas

Department of Transportation

Notice to Consulting Firms

The Kansas Department of Transportation (KDOT) is seeking a qualified consulting firm or team of firms to perform professional services for the project(s) described in Table 1 below. Interested consultants must email a proposal to KDOT.KDOT.DesignContracts@ks.gov by 12:00 p.m. (Central Time) October 4, 2023, to be considered for selection.

Consultant Prequalification

Interested consulting firms must be prequalified by KDOT or otherwise demonstrate qualification in category:

• 323 Underwater Bridge Inspection

If a firm is not currently prequalified by KDOT, a proposal may still be submitted. Firms not prequalified must also provide documentation that demonstrates the firm is qualified for each specified category listed in this notice for the project. Firms must use the KDOT prequalification form to provide this documentation. KDOT 1050 Prequalification Category Definitions (Blue Book) can be found at http://www.ksdot.org/descons.asp. Consultants may create a team to meet the prequalification requirements. All firms doing business with KDOT must be registered and in good standing under the laws of the State of Kansas at the time of contracting and must comply with applicable state and federal laws, rules, and regulations.

Table 1: Background and Scope of Project
Project Number	Background and Scope of Project
C-4906-04	The consultant will perform underwater bridge inspections on the local system and prepare individually sealed reports for each bridge.

Anticipated Consultant Scope

KDOT anticipates the following to be included in the consultant’s scope:

This inspection program will include bridges in multiple locations across the state. The full list of bridges which need to be inspected will be broken into annual lists, completed over the course of four years. The list of bridges to be inspected in a given calendar year will be provided at the beginning of each year. See the attachments (available at https://www.bidexpress.com/businesses/70801/home) for a full list of the bridges KDOT currently anticipates including in this program. Bridges affected and timings of inspections are subject to change.

The KMZ file provides a quick picture of the locations and timing KDOT anticipates for each inspection.

Legend for the KMZ file:

• Purple indicates a 2024 inspection with a 60-month frequency.
• Yellow indicates a 2024 inspection that, due to CFR interim guidance, is currently listed as a 24-month inspection frequency but is likely to change after collection of additional data.
• Orange indicates a 2025 inspection with a 24-month frequency.
• Cyan indicates a 2025 inspection with a 60-month frequency.
• Lime indicates a 2026 inspection with a 60-month frequency.

The consultant will follow the Scope of Services for Local Underwater Inspections, found in Appendix C of the KDOT–Bureau of Local Projects Local Bridge Inspection Manual. The consultant may also need to perform scour analysis for some bridges.

Anticipated Schedule and Key Dates

1. Proposals are due by or before 12:00 p.m. (Central Time) October 4, 2023.
2. Ranking of proposals is expected to occur on or around October 24, 2023. Negotiations with the most highly ranked firm are expected to begin on or around October 31, 2023. An executed agreement is anticipated around November 30, 2023.
3. This program will begin in fiscal year 2024 (FY2024 = July 2023–June 2024).

Upon distribution of this Request for Proposals, KDOT anticipates the following numbers of inspections each year:

• 2024: 19 bridges inspected
• 2025: 24 bridges inspected
• 2026: 25 bridges inspected
• 2027: 3 bridges inspected

Inspections for each annual list of bridges shall be performed prior to September 30 and reports shall be finalized and submitted before December 31.

Instructions for Proposal

1. No cost or pricing information shall be submitted with the proposal. Proposals including cost or pricing information will be considered non-responsive and withdrawn from further consideration.
2. The consultant’s proposal must not exceed 4 pages total (including any cover letter, index, etc.). All pages shall be standard letter size (8.5” x 11”). Any page larger than standard letter size will be counted as two or more pages depending on size.
3. A single PDF (2MB maximum size) of the proposal including all attachments must be emailed to KDOT.DesignContracts@ks.gov by the proposal due date and time.
4. The subject line of the email and the PDF file name must read:
   1. “C-4906-04_Local Statewide Underwater Brdg. Inspt._FIRM NAME”
5. The proposal must be accompanied by Special Attachments No. 8 (“Tax Clearance Certificate”) and No. 10 (“Policy Regarding Sexual Harassment”). If you need a Tax Clearance Certificate, you can request one here at https://www.ksrevenue.gov/taxclearance.html). Allow 2-3 business days for processing. Both attachments are required for every firm involved in a multi-consultant team.
6. The outline in Table 2 below describes the expected proposal organization and content sections.
7. Table 3 lists the evaluation criteria and associated weights which will be used to make a selection.

Table 2: Proposal Content
Section	Description of Intent	Page Limit
Cover Letter		1 Page
Project Approach	Demonstrate a unique approach to accomplish the design efficiently and to a high standard. Include cost-effective and optimized solutions to address the anticipated improvements in the design. Include unique qualifications or experience related to the project approach.
Approach to Schedule	Describe the approach to accomplish the scope of services within the schedule requirements. Include anticipated key milestone dates and availability of staff.
Approach to Quality Control	Describe methods or procedures your firm will use to provide all drawings, reports and other services with professional quality and technical accuracy.
Qualifications and Experience	For key personnel to be assigned to the project provide names, office location, qualifications, education, training, and expertise. Identify their area(s) of responsibility and percent of their time dedicated to the project. List work for which you do not have in-house capability and name the firm you propose to subcontract with.
Past Performance	Describe team’s past performance with respect to ability to meet project schedules; quality of work; and ability to control costs on similar transportation projects, especially those performed for KDOT. Include three references and contact information.
Familiarity with KDOT and Project Area	Describe team’s familiarity with KDOT’s design process and standards. Describe familiarity with the project area and any identified special site conditions.

Table 3: Evaluation Factors
Evaluation Factor	Weight
Qualifications and experience of project manager and other key project team members proposed for services	25%
Demonstrated understanding of nature and scope of project	20%
Past performance history for similar projects/services for KDOT	15%
Quality and completeness of the response	15%
Project approach	10%
Unique qualifications	10%
Approach and commitment to meet advertised schedule	5%

Contract Terms and Conditions

A standard KDOT agreement for engineering and technical services will be used for professional services projects. The following special attachments will need to be provided by the selected consultant and all subconsultants with the signed work order following negotiations and will become attachments to the contract.

• Special Attachment No. 8 (“Tax Clearance Certificate”)
• Special Attachment No. 10 (“Policy Regarding Sexual Harassment”)

Questions

All questions regarding this Request for Proposals shall be emailed to KDOT.DesignContracts@ks.gov.

Questions can be submitted until September 21, 2023; answers will be provided to all prequalified consultants on September 28, 2023.

Calvin Reed
Secretary
Department of Transportation

Doc. No. 051471