Active SLED Opportunity · MASSACHUSETTS · CITY OF CAMBRIDGE
AI Summary
City of Cambridge seeks bids for supplying landscape materials including mulch, loam, infield mix, and sand for DPW 2026-2028. Materials must meet ASTM and detailed specifications with timely delivery. Bids due July 30, 2026, via the Procurement Portal.
The City of Cambridge would like to invite you to submit a bid for Landscape Materials for DPW 2026-2028. If submitting electronically, Bids are to be submitted through the Procurement Portal at https://procurement.opengov.com/portal/cambridgema. Bids are to be submitted no later than 11:00 am on Thursday, July 30, 2026.
The scope of work shall consist of supplying landscape materials including mulch, playground mulch, loam, infield mix and sand to the City of Cambridge. The Contractor shall pay close attention to the provisions of the Specifications described herein. All specified materials shall be supplied to the City within 2 days after the request to supply the material. Infield material shall be supplied within 7-10 days after request to supply the material. Contractor must have the ability to supply material in a quantity range of 10-100 tons.
Delivery shall be between 7:00am and 12:00pm, Monday through Friday unless expressly authorized by the City.
1. Mulch: Mulch shall be natural hemlock. Mulch shall consist of fibrous pliable slices, not exceeding ½ inch in width or 2 inches in length. It shall be free of all dyes and artificial coloring, construction debris and other foreign debris. Chunk, chip, and granular mulches are not acceptable. A one-pound mulch sample shall be provided by the Contractor to the City for approval prior to ordering.
2. Certified Playground Chips: Playground chips shall at least comply with the ASTM F1292 (Standard specifications for impact attenuation of surfacing materials within the use zone of playground equipment), ASTM F1951-99 (Handicapped Accessibility) and the ASTM F2075 section 7 and 8 (standard specification for engineered wood fiber for use as a playground safety surface under and around playground equipment) standards and specifications.
Sieve Size | Minimum % pass through | Maximum % pass through |
3/4” | 99 | 100 |
3/8” | 75 | 100 |
No. 16 | 0 | 5 |
3. Loam: Loam shall be not less than 60%, nor more than 70% sand with 100% passing through a ¼ inch sieve. Soil acidity shall range between 5.8 and 7.0 PH. The soil shall contain not less than 4%, nor more than 10%, organic matter. The loam shall not contain more than 10% clay by weight. A one-pound loam sample shall be provided by the Contractor to the City for approval prior to installation.
4. Baseball and softball infield material: Infield material shall be a reddish orange color to ensure a high aesthetic quality. Material shall provide adequate moisture retention for pliable surface texture. Material shall provide good drainage with minimal accumulation of surface water. Material shall not contain any artificial colorants. Material shall have a uniform silica sand which is generally 0.25mm – 1.0mm.
5. Topdressing Sand: Sand shall be consistent with the mechanical analysis of soils with the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Sand shall have a coefficient of uniformity of 2.5 to 3.5. Gravel shall be no larger than 4mm. Sand shall be of the subdivision very course sand and shall comply with the following particle size recommendations:
Sand Fraction/Soil Separate | Sieve Number | Diameter (mm) | Percent Retained |
Gravel | No. 10 | >2 | <3% <20% combined |
Very course sand | No. 18 | 2.00-1.00 | |
Course sand | No. 35 | 1.00-0.50 |
>60% |
Medium sand | No. 60 | 0.5-0.25 | |
Fine sand | No. 100 | 0.25-0.10 | <15% |
Very fine sand | No. 270 | 0.10-0.05 | <5% |
Silt |
| 0.05-0.002 | <5% |
Clay |
| <0.002 | <3% |
6. Washed Playground Sand: The material shall be free of silt, clay, dust, powder and harmful soluble salts. A sample will be given to the City for review. A chemical analysis and MSDS sheet of the product will be supplied to the City. The washed sand shall meet the following particle size recommendations:
Sieve Number | Percent Retained |
No. 12 | 100% |
No. 20 | >95% |
No. 30 | >95% |
No. 40 | 80% - 90% |
No. 50 | 54% - 58% |
No. 70 | 20% - 25% |
No. 100 | 4% - 7% |
No. 140 | 0.5% - 1% |
No. 200 | 0.1% - 0.5% |
7. Infield Conditioner: Turface MVP or equivalent.
8. Infield Conditioner: Turface quick dry or equivalent
9. Athletic Field Marker: Guide line Athletic Field Marker or equivalent.
Bidders may offer equivalent products to brand name items listed in this Scope of Services by providing full specification documents in the Vendor Submissions section. The specifications of substitution items will be evaluated by the Cambridge Information Technology Department to determine if they are "equal" products.
Please select one
If a corporation, include the State in which you are incorporated in.
If a partnership, include the names of partners.
If an individual, include relevant information.
Please include the name, title, telephone and email address of the authorized representative
The Vendor/Contractor certifies that it has not been and currently is not debarred or suspended by any federal, state, or municipal governmental agency under G. L. c. 29, § 29F or other applicable law, nor will it contract with a debarred or suspended subcontractor on any public contract.
The Awarded Vendor must comply with the City’s request for a current Certificate of Good Standing or current Certificate of Registration from the Commonwealth of Massachusetts provided by the Secretary of the Commonwealth’s Office. Foreign Corporations not registered in the Commonwealth must comply with the City’s request for the Certificate of Good Standing from the state of incorporation.
An unchecked response, a failure to respond, or a failure to meet to any of the following Quality Requirements will result in a rejection of your bid. Please check each of the following Quality Requirements as confirmations.
Bidder has a minimum of two years’ experience in the supply of aggregate landscape materials.
Bidders shall submit a list of three references for which the bidder has supplied similar services. References shall include contact information including contact name, addresses and telephone numbers for each to inquire as to their satisfaction with the bidders’ product and service. In addition, the City reserves the right to use itself as a reference, to contact references not listed and to otherwise perform its own due diligence when making a responsibility determination. A bid may be rejected on the basis of one or more references reporting less than excellent past performance.
Include contact name, address and telephone #
Include contact name, address and telephone #
Include contact name, address and telephone #
Please electronically sign and upload the following documents using this URL: https://cambridgema.na4.adobesign.com/public/esignWidget?wid=CBFCIBAA3AAABLblqZhCD4UnZSN3XyfqZi9ZxGyvlhSnIlYThymiofiiHN4CtIXU4t2tYM27cVaMk7bVx6AI*
Bidder certifies that this bid is made without collusion with any other person, firm or corporation making any other bid or who otherwise would make a bid.
Bidder shall indicate if they are providing items that are substitutions to brand name items listed in the Price Proposal.
If yes, bidder shall upload the specifications of all said items in the below Section 4.1.1 to be reviewed by CDOT to determine if they are equivalent to the listed brand name items.
Bidder shall upload the specifications for all items being offered for this bid as 'equal' substitutions to brand name items listed in the Price Proposal.
Bidders may ignore this section if they offering all items listed in the Price Proposal without substitution.
Example: Office Supplies
Example: Janitorial Services
SLED stands for State, Local, and Education. These are solicitations issued by state governments, counties, cities, school districts, utilities, and higher education institutions — as opposed to federal agencies.
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