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 a qualified consulting firm or team 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.

Consultant Prequalification

Interested consulting firms must be prequalified 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 Service

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

The KDOT guardrail set-aside program is a program to remove/replace all blunt end guardrail terminals on the National Highway System (NHS) in Kansas. The final deliverables associated with this Request for Proposals are construction drawings and summary memos for 2025-26 FY construction lettings for the projects shown in Table 1.

Note: KDOT anticipates selecting ONE (1) consultant for the projects detailed in Table 1.

Table 1: Project Information
Project #	Fiscal Year	Route	County (#)	Project Location & Details
KA-7241-01	2025	US-166	Labette (50)	US-166 in Labette County at four locations, beginning approximately 0.09 miles east of the Montgomery/Labette County line, east to 0.47 miles west of Ness Road.
KA-7242-01	2025	US-166	Cherokee (11)	US-166 in Cherokee County at three locations, beginning 0.38 miles east of 107th Terrace, east to 0.19 miles west of 10th Street.
KA-7243-01	2026	US-75	Montgomery (63)	US-75 in Montgomery County at four locations, beginning 0.47 southwest of 3200 Road, north to 0.61 miles north of 4200 Road.
KA-7244-01	2026	US-77	Cowley (18)	US-77 in Cowley County at one location, 0.17 miles north of 306th Road.
KA-7245-01	2026	K-15	Cowley (18)	K-15 in Cowley County at seven locations, beginning 0.4 miles east of 31st Road, east to 0.27 miles west of the north K-15/US-77 junction.
KA-7246-01	2026	US-56	Johnson (46)	US-56 in Johnson County at one location, 0.91 miles east of the Douglas/Johnson County line.

Anticipated Consultant Scope

KDOT anticipates the following to be included in the consultant’s scope: Engineering and Land Survey Services (as required), Preliminary Design Services, Final Design Services, and Environmental Documentation Preparation (Permitting).

These are maintenance projects so the goal is to not need right of way or structure improvements however KDOT recognizes that this may not be possible at all locations.

The consultant is to provide a full survey including structures in the existing right of way. Deliverables shall incorporate the full project including roadway and bridge surveys and will be provided in the Kansas Regional Coordinate System.

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.

Project schedules are flexible however KDOT has an annual budget of $2 million per year for this program so project schedule adjustment may be needed later.

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 (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. “2025-26 Guardrail Set-Aside Program_FIRM NAME”
5. The proposal must be accompanied by Special Attachment No. 7 (“Certificate of Final Indirect Costs”), 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. All attachments are required for every firm involved in a multi-consultant team. Upload these files as instructed in Bid Express.
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
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. 051643