Army Corps Extends Bid Deadline Again; Opening Now Expected June 22
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers extended the bid deadline again for its West Fork Emergency Dredging Project. The new bid deadline is Friday, June 22, 2018.
Discussions with potential vendors caused the delay for the FEMA funded project as both vendors and the Corps tried to nail down the exact volume of sediment to be removed. The Corps emphasized that it is restoring a 2+ mile stretch of the West Fork to pre-Harvey conditions. The pre-Harvey requirement comes with FEMA dollars which can only be used to return an area to the condition it was in before the storm.
Projected Volume More than Doubles
Forecasted dredging material calculations increased from 748,000 to 1.8 million cubic yards of material that has shoaled. Shoaling is an area of shallow water, especially one that is a navigational hazard. In this case, shoals blocked the main channel of the San Jacinto as well as drainage ditches, such as the one at River Grove Park.
Completion Date Extended 90 Days to Accommodate Extra Volume
Because the volume of sediment to be removed has more than doubled, the Corps has also extended the completion date of the project from 180 to 270 days.
“We’ve encouraged bidders to submit questions and this allowed us to revise dredging quantities,” said Gary Stangeland, Interim Chief of Emergency Management at USACE Galveston District. “We were able to recalculate the volume of material needed and therefore extended the bid deadline and project finish date.”
Extending the project 90 days should allow the winning contractor enough additional time to remove the increased volume of materials.
The Corps’ contracting officers reposted the bid deadline date to a site used by vendors to receive notice on government opportunities. The site is accessible to the public at: Federal Business Opportunities website: https://www.fbo.gov
New Opening Date: Friday at 10 a.m.
“Our process is equitable and efficient as it allows for Corps’ Engineers to interact with vendors that will help us to restore the area to pre-Harvey conditions and help reduce future flooding risks,” said Jeff Neill, USACE Galveston District Contracting Chief, “We’ve publicly posted responses to bidders’ questions to www.projnet.org.” Neill said bids will be opened on June 22, 2018 at 10:00 a.m., local time.
No New Placement Areas for Spoils Anticipated
The physical length of the emergency dredging did not change, just the estimates of the volume of materials within the original area of interest. No additional placement areas for the spoils should be needed, according to the Corps. Stangeland said the two placement areas already identified should be sufficient to store the recalculated increase in forecasted dredged material.
The opening was initially scheduled for May 29, 2018. Even with the delays, this project will be one of the first coming out of Hurricane Harvey that the Corps will complete.
Posted June 21, 2018, by Bob Rehak
296 Days since Hurricane Harvey