SOURCES SOUGHT
B -- Improving the Core Elements of Highway Quality Assurance Programs
- Notice Date
- 5/3/2013
- Notice Type
- Sources Sought
- NAICS
- 541990
— All Other Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services
- Contracting Office
- Department of Transportation, Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), Office of Acquisition Management, HAAM, Mail Stop E65-101, 1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE, Washington, District of Columbia, 20590
- ZIP Code
- 20590
- Solicitation Number
- DTFH61-RFI-13-HQAP
- Archive Date
- 5/25/2013
- Point of Contact
- Adams I JeanPierre, Phone: 202-366-2044
- E-Mail Address
-
adams.jeanpierre@dot.gov
(adams.jeanpierre@dot.gov)
- Small Business Set-Aside
- N/A
- Description
- Improving the Core Elements of Highway Quality Assurance Programs INTRODUCTION The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) developed an Infrastructure Research and Technology Strategic Plan and Roadmap to provide direction to its Infrastructure research, development, and technology program and guide the RD&T activities to be undertaken. Objective 4 of the Roadmap is to "Improve the ability of transportation agencies to deliver projects that meet expectations for scope, timeliness, quality and cost." Several initiatives were developed to help achieve Objective 4. One of these initiatives is to " Develop guidance and tools, conduct program reviews, and deploy effective Quality Assurance plans and best practices." This strategy can be regarded as consisting of several RD&T activities, i.e., research task orders, each having specific well-defined objectives. Some examples of the type of potential early quality assurance-related activities that may be undertaken include: •· Evaluation of improved application of F & t-testing for comparing QC and Verification test data (e.g. Excel or simple standalone software program). •· Verification and validation procedures for contractor QC tests used in the acceptance decision for Pavement Smoothness. •· Guidelines for selecting optimum sample size, alpha error, and decision rules for validation of contractor test data. •· Recommended procedures for visual inspection of completed precast concrete elements and potentially Pre-stress inspection guide as part 2. •· Dispute Resolution Best Practices for Materials Testing •· Guidelines for Verification procedures for small quantity items of work. Effective HMA acceptance testing for smaller quantities (e.g. 10,000 tons, 5000 tons, 1000 tons, 500 tons) by optimizing the risk of future performance with the cost of the acceptance. •· Guidelines for recommended procedures for nondestructive testing of completed precast concrete elements. •· Guidelines for conducting data validation on results from test procedures (e.g. Gmm from AASHTO T 209 and Gmb from AASHTO T 166) versus material properties computed from two or more test procedures (e.g., hot mix asphalt air voids, VTM from lab compacted samples and the field density % Gmm.) •· Webinars/Workshops for improved QA practices. OBJECTIVE The objective of this contract is to conduct research and provide technology transfer as needed to advance the state-of-the-practice in construction and materials quality assurance. SCOPE OF WORK Under this contract, the Contractor shall perform research and services as necessary to support the activities of the FHWA related to construction and material quality assurance. Work under the contract shall include the conduct of research; the development and conduct of webinars; the development of educational and training materials; and the delivery of presentations. All work under this contract shall be performed through the issuance of specific Task Orders. (Reference Section G) DELINEATION OF CONTRACTOR TASKS In order to meet the objectives of this contract and as directed by the Government through the issuance of specific task orders, the Contractor shall perform the following tasks: Task A: Quality Assurance Research Provide research services to address specific needs identified by FHWA in construction and material quality assurance. The overall goals of the research are to: (1) create science-based quality assurance systems, (2) provide guidance for more effective contractor and agency quality control/verification practices, (3) instill greater uniformity among construction specifications and acceptance plans, (4) attain a better understanding of construction quality. 2. Task B: Quality Assurance Webinars/Workshops •1. Plan, develop, organize, schedule, and deliver webinars/workshops to: (1) identify research and development needs related to construction and material quality assurance, (2) examine and discuss agency and contractor quality control/quality assurance practices, and (3) obtain feedback on research products and concepts established under this contract. The Contractor shall provide all technical and administrative functions associated with arranging and coordinating a webinars, including arranging web connections, contacting participants, developing online scheduling. For workshops the Contractor shall provide all technical and administrative functions associated with arranging and coordinating, including arranging meeting location, contacting participants, securing lodging and meeting space, developing schedules, obtaining miscellaneous equipment and expendable supplies, and other workshop support functions. Workshops may range in length from 4 to 12 hours of contact time and be presented at one or more times and/or places. Make all travel arrangements for non-Federal workshop participants. Arrangements will include transportation reservations and tickets; hotel reservations; local transportation between transportation terminals and hotel and, if relevant, between hotel and meeting site; and other arrangements necessary to the successful travel and room and board for participants. The Contractor shall be responsible for the travel costs associated with non-federal workshop participants who qualify for invitational travel. (Invitation travel means non-federal individuals who are providing a direct service to the agency, such as making a presentation or advising in an area of expertise.). Task C: Quality Assurance Training and Assistance Provide training and assistance as needed to help State highway agency and construction contractor personnel with the development and effective use of specifications and/or with other products resulting from this contract. The training and assistance shall be on site, either at the construction project or the agency headquarters or field offices. •2. Prior to each visit, coordinate with the COR and the State highway agency to establish a plan and schedule for the training and assistance to be provided. Each visit shall be individualized to meet the specific needs of the requesting State highway agency. The visits may be conducted as a team consisting of the Contractor and FHWA and other personnel. Task Orders under Task C may require only one visit or a series of no more than 5 visits. Visits of up to 5 days can be expected. Task D: Quality Assurance Software •1. Evaluate, make recommendations for, and improve or expand existing software programs related to construction quality assurance. Examples of existing programs that may be addressed through Task Orders are programs used for buyer/seller risk analysis, selection of optimum construction target values, and development of performance-related specifications (PRS). Each Task Order under Task D will be for one software program only. Develop new software programs related to construction and material quality assurance. Examples of new programs that may be addressed is the development of a standalone program that uses industry standard software. All software deliveries, preliminary and final, shall include as a minimum, in addition to the executable version, well-documented source code in electronic readable format, overall software architecture documentation, overall and individual module interface documentation, other support and library files, and a user's operations manual. The source code and support files included shall be in its entirety so that they can be compiled and linked using off the shelf software to recreate the executable version of software in its entirety. All hardware deliveries will include all documentation necessary to reproduce (assemble) and operate the delivered hardware system(s). Task E: Quality Assurance Presentations •1. Prepare and deliver PowerPoint presentations as requested by COR at any point during work on a task order. Presentations shall cover Task Order objectives, progress, results, findings, conclusions, and recommendations up to the date of the presentation. The principal investigator shall conduct the presentation. The COR will notify the Contractor no less than 30 days in advance of the date of presentation. This is a Sources Sought Notice. The FHWA is providing this posting to determine firms capable of performing the work as specified here, and specifically to determine whether there are any Small Businesses capable of performing this work. This is not a Request For Proposals and no award will be made as a result of this Sources Sought Notice. Interested entities who have the capabilities to perform the work as described herin shall provide a Statement of Capabilities to the Primary Point of Contact, Mr. Adams JeanPierre by e-mail, to reach him by the date specified in this notice. The size of the file should be no more than 7MB. The Technical Point of Contact for this notice is Mr. Richard Duval.. He can be reached on all technical matters by e-mail at richard.duval@dot.gov.
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