JAMES RIVER MAINTENANCE DREDGING IDIQ

W9123626BA007: James River Maintenance Dredging between Rocklanding Shoal and Richmond Harbor Channel.

THIS IS A PRE-SOLICITATION NOTICE. THIS IS NOT A SOLICITATION. DO NOT SUBMIT BIDS OR QUESTIONS IN RESPONSE TO THIS NOTICE.  

The IFB and accompanying documents will be issued electronically and will be uploaded to the Procurement Integrated Enterprise Environment (PIEE) suite at https://piee.eb.mil/ in the third quarter of fiscal year 2026. The solicitation is anticipated to be posted for 30 calendar days.

THIS ACQUISITION IS A 100% TOTAL SMALL BUSINESS SET-ASIDE SOLICITATION

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Norfolk District intends to issue an Invitation for Bids (IFB) for the acquisition of new work and maintenance dredging for the James River between Rocklanding Shoal and Richmond Harbor Channel. This procurement will be conducted in accordance with FAR Part 14, Sealed Bidding Procedures.

DESCRIPTION OF WORK

Required work includes performing maintenance dredging by hydraulic cutter-head dredge, in various shoals between Rocklanding Shoal and Richmond Harbor Channel. The James River Federal Navigation project is broken into three-segments that include Lower, Middle and Upper James River Shoals. The Lower James River segment includes Rocklanding and Tribell Shoals. The Middle James River segment includes Goose Hill, Dancing Point to Swann Point, Jordan Point-Harrison Bar Channel to Windmill Point, and City Point channel. The Upper James River segment includes Richmond Deepwater Terminal (RDWT) to Hopewell, RDWT Channel & Berthing Area, Richmond Harbor to RDWT, and Richmond Harbor channels. Richmond Harbor to RDWT and Richmond Harbor channels are not included in the Scope of Work for the FY2026 maintenance dredging contract since there is no active placement site suitable for receiving dredged material in the vicinity of these shoals.

From Rocklanding Shoal to RDWT Channel and Berthing area, the Channel is maintained to a required depth of -25 feet Mean Lower Low Water (MLLW). From RDWT Channel and Berthing to Richmond Harbor, the Project is maintained to a required depth of -18 feet MLLW. No widening or other channel framework modifications are proposed at this time. For the entire James River Project, one foot of advance maintenance and one foot of allowable over-depth dredging will be considered as part of the contract dredging pay prism. The maximum dredging pay depth is – 27 feet MLLW.

The Lower and Middle James River shoals utilize overboard placement sites in the vicinity of the channels to place dredged material. The Upper James River shoals utilize upland placement sites to place dredged material generated by the project. The dredged material removed from the Upper James River shoals is expected to be placed in one of the designated upland placement sites that include RDWT, Willis Road, Hatcher’s Island, Curles Neck, and Jones Neck. Annual maintenance dredging activities are estimated to generate up to approximately 2 MCY of pay volume for the Federal and non-Federal navigation project work.

The Contractor shall be responsible for the following: dredging within the designated areas to the proposed required and allowable pay depths, maintaining an average daily plant production rate of 7,500 cubic yards per day, achieve pumping distances exceeding 10,000 linear feet for material placement, earthwork (spur and containment dike construction and management), discharging the material in the designated Government-furnished placement site. In accordance with the most recent version of Engineering Manual 385-1-1, the proposed IDIQ SATOC will include the requirement to replace spillway structures at several designated Government furnished upland placement sites. In addition, the upland placement sites identified in the statement of work will require earthwork, grubbing, seeding, grading, and other preparatory work to ensure effluent water leaving the designated upland placement site meets State water quality requirements. Communicating with the Port of Virginia maritime users to minimize impacts to vessel traffic, adjacent utilities, and dredging operations will be required.

CONSTRUCTION TIME

The Norfolk District is considering award of a 5-year SATOC IDIQ, with the entire contract award amount not to exceed $75,000,000 over the life of the contract.  This office anticipates award of a contract for these services in the fourth quarter of fiscal year 2026.

BIDDER INSTRUCTIONS

The requirement will be a 100% Total Small Business Set-aside Solicitation. In accordance with DFARS Part 236.204, the estimated Magnitude of Construction for this project is between $25,000,000.00 and $100,000,000.00. The applicable North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) Code is 237990 “Dredging and Surface Cleanup Activities,” with a Small Business size standard of $37,000,000.00 Million.

Contractors will be required to submit bid bonds with submittals.

In accordance with FAR Part 9.104, RFO 9.104, and RFO 9.105 contractor responsibility will be determined prior to award by the Contracting Officer through the performance of a Pre-Award Survey or utilizing information from a previous pre-award survey and/or any performance data available. The apparent low bidder may be required to show that he has the necessary capital, experience, and owns or can procure the necessary plant or other resources to commence the work at the time prescribed in the specifications and thereafter to prosecute and complete the work safely and satisfactorily within the time specified. The below Pre-Award Survey Information will be requested of the apparent low offeror. This information is not required to be responsive to the Invitation for Bid.

1. Current commitments and expected dates of completion.
2. One (1) signed bank reference demonstrating adequate financial resources. If bidder’s firm has a line of credit – provide information on how many figures bidder can borrow against the line of credit (i.e. medium 6 figures – exact line of credit is not required).
3. The bidder shall provide the latest three (3) complete fiscal year financial statements for the prime contractor, certified by an independent accounting firm, if practicable, or signed by an authorized officer of the organization. Submit evidence of availability of working/operating capital, which will be used for the performance of the resultant contract. For Joint Venture arrangements, submit the latest three complete fiscal year financial statements for each company in the Joint Venture and discuss the financial responsibilities among the companies. The Government may also utilize Dun & Bradstreet reports to evaluate the financial capacity of the bidder.

The Government intends to award a Single Award Task Order Contract (SATOC) to the responsible bidder whose bid conforms to the terms of the solicitation, is determined fair and reasonable, and offers the best overall value to the Government as determined through the IFB, Sealed Bid process. 

This notice does not constitute an invitation for bid. The IFB and accompanying documents will be issued electronically and will be uploaded to the Procurement Integrated Enterprise Environment (PIEE) website at https://piee.eb.mil/ in the third quarter of fiscal year 2026. Notification of any changes to this pre-solicitation will only be made on this website. Therefore, it is the offerors responsibility to check the website regularly for any posted changes to the pre-solicitation notice, release of the solicitation, specification, drawings, and all subsequent amendments. Telephone calls or written requests for the IFB package will NOT be accepted. Prospective bidders are responsible for monitoring at https://piee.eb.mil/ to respond to the solicitation and any amendments or other information regarding this acquisition.

A project site visit is anticipated for this project. The details for the anticipated site visit will be included in the upcoming solicitation.

IT IS THE SOLE RESPONSIBILITY OF THE BIDDER TO CONTINUALLY VIEW THE WEBSITE FOR CHANGES.  No hard copies will be available.

Prospective bidders are responsible for monitoring SAM.gov to respond to the solicitation and any amendments or other information regarding this acquisition. Prospective bidders are required to be registered in SAM when submitting an offer and shall continue to be registered until time of award, during performance, and through final payment of any contract

Inquires must be directed to Projnet in accordance with the forthcoming Solicitation document.