U. S. Department of Commerce, Attn: Penny S. Parker, National Data Buoy Center, Stennis Space Center, MS 39529-6000

20 -- BUOYANT BEACON SOL 40-QANW-7-00222 DUE 082297 POC Penny S. Parker (601) 688-1705 SEE Note 22 -- The National Data Buoy Center (NDBC) intends to negotiate only with Automatic Power, Inc. of Houston, TX 77223-0738 for the purchase of a buoyant beacon modified to be a meteorological and oceanographic articulating platform (MOAP). The platform will be deployed in the Gulf of Mexico approximately 37 kilometers south of Gulfport, Mississippi. Vendor will be required to deploy the buoyant platform in a water depth of approximately 12.2 meters. The platform must be positively buoyant, have a small water plane area, and be attached directly to the sea floor at a single point in order to prevent rotation and reduce heeling. Government furnished equipment will be installed near the top of the platform at a height of 10 meters above the water line and will weigh approximately 400 kilograms. The platform must have a deck and access ladder to allow servicing of the equipment. Minimum requirements for the buoy platform are: 80 kilometers/hour winds, 1.5 meter waves, 3.7 kilometers/hour currentand a tidal range of 0.6 meters. The platform must remain within four degrees of the vertical under these combined design conditions. The platform must be able to survive 200 kilometers/hour winds and 6 meter waves. A minimum service life of ten years is required without any replacement of the platform components. The design life of the platform must be at least 20 years. (0195)

Loren Data Corp. http://www.ld.com (SYN# 0322 19970716\20-0002.SOL)