Volume 40 - Issue 21 - May 27, 2021
State of Kansas
Department of Transportation
Notice to Consulting Firms
The Kansas Department of Transportation (KDOT) is seeking a consulting firm for the project below. Interested consulting firms must be prequalified by KDOT or otherwise demonstrate qualification in category 211 Highway Design – Major Facility and 231 Traffic Study. A PDF (2Mb maximum size) of the response must be emailed to kdot.designcontracts@ks.gov. Proposal responses are limited to six pages; the subject line of the reply email and the pdf file name must read “KA-6018-01 Interchange Improvements_FIRM NAME.” The proposal is required and must be received by noon, 6/11/2021 for the consulting firm to be considered.
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 may use the KDOT prequalification form to provide this documentation. Forms and KDOT 1050 Prequalification category definitions (Blue Book) can be found at http://www.ksdot.org/descons.asp. 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 Project
The I-70/K-18 Interchange Improvements project in Geary County has been identified in the Eisenhower Legacy Transportation Program Expansion Delivery Pipeline. This project is scheduled for letting in FY 2024 (July 2023 – June 2024). KDOT intends to select the most highly qualified firm to perform professional services associated with the design of this expansion project. A project summary is provided in Table 1.
Available as-built plans, previous studies, and discovery report, along with the guardrail survey guidance can be downloaded at https://secftp.ksdot.org/public/file/9I037B4PekWRiXkijRs-fw/070-031%20KA-6018-01%20RFP%20Documents_1.zip. Link expires on June 7, 2021 and will not be made available after that.
| Table 1: I-70 and K-18 Interchange Improvements | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Project Number | Route and Scope | Length | Project Termini |
| 070-030 KA-6018-01 | I-70/K-18 Geary County Interchange Improvements | 1.9 mi | I-70/Henry Dr. Interchange east to I-70/K-18 Interchange |
| Structures | Structure Scope | BR# | Structure Size (Type) |
| Includes | No Bridge Scope anticipated; Potential Guardrail connection | Br No. 70-31-13.48 (022) | 46’-2 @ 68’-46’ (Composite Rolled Beam Spans) |
KDOT is seeking consultant services to prepare construction drawings for the I-70/K-18 Interchange Improvements project. A single-lane roundabout is planned at the southern terminal of the I-70/K-18 Interchange to address safety and operational issues due to increasing traffic volumes. Design of an eastbound auxiliary lane between I-70/Henry Dr. and I-70/K-18 will also be required. Additionally, the consultant will need to evaluate the northern terminal of the I-70/K-18 interchange to develop improvements for handling high-speed southbound traffic turning west onto I70. Also included with this project will be full project survey and existing right-of-way survey. The designer shall provide design and plans for horizontal and vertical alignments for auxiliary lanes, sideroads, and entrance locations. The scope of the service may include culvert extensions or replacements, traffic engineering, hydrology/hydraulics, air space studies for the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), and permitting assistance. Stakeholder engagement support activities and development of a PI Plan are anticipated. In addition to the I-70/K-18 interchange improvements, the selected consultant will be responsible for survey of guardrail and guardrail height measurements along I-70 and under I-70 bridges at K-57 and US-40 Business. A traffic study will also need to be completed for the J Hill Rd./US-40 Business/K-57 intersection consisting of an operational analysis including signal warrant analysis of existing and future traffic to determine if any capacity improvements are required to accommodate future traffic volume. Guardrail survey/measurement and the traffic study will be provided to KDOT in support of the 070-031 KA-6062-01 heavy rehabilitation project and will include no design.
The project scopes include:
- Full survey and existing right-of-way survey
- Perform preliminary design for plans to field check
- Develop final plans
- Provide electronic plan files compliant with KDOT Graphic Standards Manual, including CAD conformance checks and ControlCAD indexed DGN files with ProjectWise attributes
- Provide construction cost estimates bi-annually as well as at each major project milestone
- Guardrail survey and height measurements on I-70 between 1 mile east of the US-77/I-70 junction east to the east city limits of Grandview Plaza, on K-57 and Business 40 under I-70 bridges
- Traffic study for J Hill Rd. including a signal warrant analysis of existing and future traffic to determine if additional capacity improvements are necessary to accommodate future traffic volume
Special Conditions
PMC
This project is being managed by a Project Manager Consultant (PMC) on behalf of KDOT. The PMC will be the primary contact for the selected firm. The PMC will not be on the KDOT Consultant Selection Committee.
Schedule Reporting
Project schedules will be developed during project negotiation. A basic schedule template, prepared by the PMC, will be reviewed and specific dates will be defined by the consultant in order to achieve the critical milestones. Monthly schedule progress reports and updates will be required throughout the project from the consultants and reviewed with the PMC to track progress for KDOT.
Quality Control
Consultants will be required to provide a Quality Control (QC) plan at project kick-off. QC audits will be conducted by the PMC throughout the project. The audits will check compliance with the consultant’s QC plan.
Schedule
This project is scheduled for letting in FY 2024 (July 2023 – June 2024). Therefore, the design activities must be scheduled to deliver complete plans between July 2023 and December 2023. This project may follow an accelerated delivery schedule with some of the submittals required earlier than a typical KDOT design project to meet letting requirements.
Instructions for Proposal
The main text of the consultant’s proposal must not exceed six (6) pages (not including the cover letter) to address the topics listed in Table 2 below. The following outline is the expected submittal organization, content, and page length for the technical proposals. Duplication of content in technical proposals is expected.
| Table 2: Proposal Content and Evaluation Factors | ||
|---|---|---|
| Content | Pages | |
| Cover Letter | 1 page | |
| Overview |
|
4 pages |
| Project Approach | Highlight concepts for cost-effective and optimized solutions for the project. Include unique qualifications or experience that may inform the selection of firms. | 1-2 pages |
Selection Process
KDOT intends to select the most highly qualified firms to perform professional services associated with the design of this project. No cost or pricing information shall be submitted with the proposal. Proposals including cost or pricing information will not be considered in the selection process to rank proposals. Per standard KDOT Consultant selection process, consultant will be selected from the technical proposal submitted for the Project. Technical proposals will be evaluated based on the factors listed in Table 3 below to select the most qualified firms. All evaluation factors are weighted equally.
| Table 3: Evaluation Factors |
|---|
| Evaluation Factor |
| Qualifications and Experience |
| Past Performance |
| Delivery Process: Approach to Schedule |
| Delivery Process: Approach to Quality Control |
| Project Approach: Unique Qualifications and Solutions |
| Familiarity with KDOT Design Standards and Project Area |
The selected firm will be asked to enter into negotiations with KDOT for an agreement. Negotiations will proceed quickly through scoping, manhour/fee negotiation, and NTP. In the event KDOT cannot reach agreement with the selected firm, it will terminate negotiations and commence negotiations with the next highest ranked firm, and so on, until either agreement is reached for a satisfactory scope of services for a fair and reasonable price, or KDOT decides to pursue other alternatives.
Contract Terms and Conditions
A standard KDOT agreement for engineering and technical services will be used for this project. Special Attachments for the Kansas “Tax Clearance Certificate,” the “Certification of Final Indirect Costs,” and the Special Attachment No. 10 (“Policy Regarding Sexual Harassment”) will need to be provided by the selected consultant with the signed work order following negotiations.
The firm’s accounting systems must have the following capabilities before the firm may be awarded a contract.
- Valid, reliable, and current costs must be available within the system to support actual costs and pricing data
- Capability to provide a means of measuring the reasonableness of incurred costs
- Capability to identify and accumulate allowable costs by contract or project records which will reconcile with the general ledger
- Ability to provide supporting documentation of actual expenditures for each billing, based on costs
Questions shall be sent by email to KDOT at kdot.designcontracts@ks.gov.
Kris Norton, P.E., PMC Coordinating Engineer
Division of Program and Project Management
Doc. No. 049178
