Volume 42 - Issue 45 - November 9, 2023

State of Kansas

Department of Transportation

Notice to Consulting Firms

The Kansas Department of Transportation (KDOT) is seeking qualified consulting firms or teams of firms to perform professional services for the projects described below. Interested consultants must submit a proposal as laid out herein by 12:00 p.m. (Central Time) December 6, 2023, to be considered for selection. One or more consultants will be selected for the projects.

Consultant Prequalification

Interested consulting firms must be pre-qualified by KDOT or otherwise demonstrate qualification in categories:

• 212 Highway Design – Minor Facility
• 222 Standard Span Bridge Design
• 231 Traffic Control Analysis and Design
• 301 Land Surveying
• 302 Engineering Surveying
• 336 Right of Way Services

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.

Background and Scope of Projects

KDOT has identified bridges in various locations throughout the state which currently have concrete bridge railings that were built based on outdated, blunt-end designs. The FY25-27 Blunt Bridge Rail Upgrade Projects will address these outdated blunt bridge rails with appropriate safety measures in the counties noted in Table 1. Safety measure concepts have been developed and will be applied in design on a case-by-case basis in consultation with KDOT, its PMC, and the selected design consultant(s).

KDOT may elect to award all projects to one consultant or split the scope out to two or three consultants, at its sole discretion. If split to multiple consultants, the anticipated project groupings are designated below, based on a geographical split. Consultants may express interest in all groups, some, or one group. There is no guarantee that interested consultants will be selected for any groups.

Table 1: Locations of Projects
Group	Project #	Route	County	# of Bridges	FY
Group 1 thirteen bridges	KA-7215-01	K-004	Rush	1	2025
	KA-7217-01	K-004	Barton	1	2025
	KA-7221-01	US-024	Thomas	1	2026
	KA-7222-01	K-111	Ellsworth	1	2026
	KA-7223-01	K-153	McPherson	1	2026
	KA-7225-01	K-004	Ness	2	2027
	KA-7226-01	K-004	Ness	6	2027
Group 2 seven bridges	KA-7216-01	K-002	Barber	4	2025
	KA-7218-01	K-014	Kingman	1	2025
	KA-7224-01	K-098	Meade	1	2027
	KA-7228-01	US-160	Clark	1	2027
Group 3 five bridges	KA-7219-01	K-062	Jackson	2	2026
	KA-7220-01	K-092	Jefferson	1	2026
	KA-7227-01	K-052	Linn	1	2026
	KA-7229-01	US-77	Marshall	1	2026

Additional project information including bridge numbers, size/type, and locations can be found in “Ref.Interest.File_25-27BluntBridgeRailProgram.xlsx” (available for download from Bid Express).

Anticipated Consultant Scope

KDOT anticipates the following to be included in the consultant’s scope: Land and Engineering Survey Services (as necessary), Preliminary Design Services, Final Design Services, and Environmental Documentation Preparation (Permitting). Deliverables shall include preliminary and final design plans to upgrade existing, outdated bridge rail.

The scope of services may also include traffic engineering and designer construction services. The consultant is to provide a full survey including structures in the existing right of way. The deliverables shall incorporate the full project including the roadway and bridge surveys and will be provided in the Kansas Regional Coordinate System.

Current expectations for consultant scope are detailed below. The scope included herein may not be all-inclusive. A scoping meeting will take place after consultant selection is made.

Project Management

• Develop and communicate Project Management Plan and Quality Assurance Plan.
• Perform Quality Control Checks according to Quality Assurance Plan.
• Provide electronic plan files compliant with KDOT Graphic Standards Manual (CAD conformance and ControlCAD not needed).
• Provide bi-annual construction cost estimates and at major project milestones.

Bridge Design

• Develop Preliminary Plans.
• Develop Final Plans for Construction.
• Visit the project site locations.
• Field Review.
• Final Design.

Traffic Engineering

• Traffic Control Plans: This project will require traffic to be carried through construction.

Activities to be performed by KDOT include:

• Environmental Services:
  • Asbestos and Lead paint testing.
  • Permit application.
  • Technical data to support these activities will be required from the consultant immediately after preliminary plans are complete.
• Permits will include NPDES – Storm Water Runoff Permit in which KDOT will require from consultant:
  • Total project site area in acres.
  • Total disturbed area in acres (from Seeding Plans).
  • Impervious area in square feet (existing and proposed).
  • Above information needs to be provided by consultant (90) days prior to letting.
• Utility Coordination, if required.
• Geotechnical Services including soil investigations, bridge foundation geology, pavement field investigation and design, and surfacing recommendations.

Anticipated Schedule and Key Dates

1. Proposals are due by or before 12:00 p.m. (Central Time) December 6, 2023.
2. Ranking of proposals is expected to occur on or around December 20, 2023. Negotiations with the most highly ranked firm are expected to begin on or around January 2, 2024. An executed agreement is anticipated around February 1, 2024.
3. Depending on the number of responses received, KDOT may elect to shortlist (based on proposals) to no more than 3-5 firms and hold in-person interviews prior to final selection (which may be based on both proposal and interview content). If KDOT deems them necessary, interview evaluation criteria will be distributed to shortlisted consultant teams in advance. Also, interviews may extend the schedule described above.
4. The program fiscal years for these projects are shown in Table 1.

Some projects may not require right of way or easement and those projects should be accelerated. All projects must be completed by 2030.

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.). This is a firm limit with no need to submit additional pages for multiple groups. 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 (10 MB maximum size) of the proposal must be uploaded to the appropriate bid form on Bid Express by the proposal due date and time.
4. The proposal PDF file name must read:
   1. “FY25-27 Blunt Bridge Rail Upgrades_FIRM NAME”
5. In addition to noting such in your proposal file, indicate which group(s) of projects your firm is interested in performing in the reference and interest spreadsheet provided. Enter your firm’s name in the cell indicated and follow the instructions to indicate interest (both highlighted in the spreadsheet). Upload this file as indicated on Bid Express.
6. The spreadsheet file name must read:
   1. “Ref.Interest.File_ 25-27BluntBridgeRailProgram_FIRM NAME”
7. Every submission 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 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. Upload these files as instructed in Bid Express.
8. The outline in Table 2 below describes the expected proposal organization and content sections.
9. 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
Project approach	25%
Qualifications and experience of project manager and other key project team members proposed for services	20%
Identification of special conditions to be considered for the project	20%
Past performance history for similar projects/services for KDOT	15%
Approach and commitment to meet advertised schedule	10%
Approach to quality control	10%

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”)

Special Contract Conditions

This project will be managed by JEO as PMC on KDOT’s behalf.

Questions

All questions regarding this Request for Proposals shall be submitted via Q&A section of bid form in Bid Express.

Questions can be submitted until November 16, 2023; answers will be provided to all prequalified consultants on or before November 29, 2023.

Calvin Reed
Secretary
Department of Transportation

Doc. No. 051642