DOT/RSPA/VOLPE National Transportation Systems Center, 55 Broadway, Kendall Square, Cambridge, MA 02142

A -- INSTALL, MONITOR AND MAINTAIN REMOTE RAIL LONGITUDINAL FORCE MEASUREMENT SYSTEM SOL DTRS57-98-Q-80035 DUE 123097 POC Karen Marino, Purchasing Agent, (617) 494-2437 WEB: Volpe Center Acquisition Division Home Page, http://www.volpe.dot.gov/procure/index.html. E-MAIL: Purchasing Agent, marinok@volpe1.dot.gov. The Volpe Center plans to procure sole source, through Simplified Acquisition procedures, to Salient Systems Inc., Dublin, Ohio, to purchase and install remote stress monitors (RSM) over a quarter mile of heavily used prone track on the Union Pacific Railroad (UP) near Omaha, Nebraska and integrate the instrumentation into the railroads normal operation. The contractor will be responsible for the purchase and fabrication of all components of the RSMs, planning the installation and data acquisition, installing instruments, making sure the proper procedures are followed by the track personnel or zeroing the instrumentation, data acquisition, develop and provide software for data analysis and a detailed report of the process. Small Business firms classified under SIC Code 8731 interested in proposing on this requirement must respond in writing, within 15 days from the date of publication, that they have developed and tested the remote stress monitors (RSM) system which is used for measuring and communicating accurate rail neutral temperature back to the railroad so that critical areas of the track can monitored for hotspots before they develop into track buckles. Small Business firms will be required to submit documentation in support of the above for evaluation prior to receiving a solicitation. No telephone requests will be accepted -- only written requests for this solicitation will be accepted -- however, we will accept requests via facsimile at 617/494-3649, ATTN: Karen Marino, DTS-853. The solicitation and any document related to this procurement will be available on the Internet, these documents will be available on a WWW server which may be accessed using Web browsers. The WWW address, or URL, of the Volpe Center Acquisition Division home page is: "http://www.volpe.dot.gov/procure/index.html". Offerors desiring to receive electronic notification of the solicitation's posting and availability for downloading may register at the Volpe Center site. Contractors are warned that when they register to receive solicitations, amendments and other notices, the responsibility for providing the Government with an accurate and complete e-mail address lies with the contractor. The Government will make no additional efforts to deliver information when the system indicates that transmissions cannot be delivered to the e-mail address provided. Requests for a hardcopy of the solicitation may be mailed or sent via e-mail to marinok@volpe1.dot.gov. Telephone requests will not be honored. This notice is for informational purposes for Minority, Women-Owned and Disadvantaged Business Enterprises: The Department of Transportation (DOT), Office of Small and Business and Disadvantaged Business Utilization (OSDBU), has a program to assist minority, women-owned and disadvantaged business enterprises to acquire short-term working capital assistance for transportation-related contracts. Loans are available under the DOT Short Term Lending Program (STLP) at prime interest rates to provide accounts receivable financing. The maximum line of credit is $500,000. For further information and applicable forms concerning the STLP, please call the OSDBU at (800) 532-1169. For information concerning the acquisition, contact the contracting official listed above. (0349)

Loren Data Corp. http://www.ld.com (SYN# 0001 19971217\A-0001.SOL)