I. INTRODUCTION

The Town of Cary is seeking proposals from qualified firms to perform soil and material testing services for various capital projects. The project is to establish testing that is required by the Town of Cary for small to medium sized construction projects. The geotechnical testing will establish information for various construction projects in the planning, design, preconstruction, or construction phase. The anticipated contract duration is approximately two years.

II. SCOPE OF SERVICES

The selected Consultants shall be capable of providing the following specific services as outlined:

• Perform testing of foundation excavations to verify design bearing pressure.
• Perform field density testing of backfill material compaction.
• Provide field inspections of reinforced concrete structures.
• Provide concrete and grout material testing services to ensure compliance of materials and placement methods with the contract documents.
• Provide proof-rolling observations and corrective recommendations/measures if necessary.
• Ground water presence and corrective action recommendations if necessary.
• Soil boring for soil type identification and rock.
• Other related soil and material inspections, other specialty inspection services (masonry, steel reinforcement, etc.) and testing services as may arise during construction.

General Requirements and Deliverables

• Provide all necessary equipment and support personnel to secure the data in the prescribed format appropriate to the associated quality level.
• Consultant shall provide all traffic control and maintenance required to perform the work. Traffic control and maintenance shall be performed in accordance with Federal Highway Administration’s Manual of Uniform Traffic Control Devices (MUTCD), the North Carolina supplement thereto as prepared by the North Carolina Department of Transportation (NCDOT), and the requirements of the jurisdiction having authority. Consultant shall notify the Town of Cary Traffic Management Center and Public Works Department in advance of lane closures.
• Consultant shall obtain all necessary permits from the NCDOT and/or local jurisdictions prior to commencing work within the public rights-of-way. Copies of such permits shall be provided to the Town of Cary. Any permit fees shall be a reimbursable cost included in the Consultant’s invoice to the Town.
• For any work required on private property, Consultant shall obtain written permission from the property owner for the Consultant and Town of Cary to enter the premises.
• All work shall be performed in accordance with appropriate and applicable standards.
• All technical memoranda, reports, and certifications shall be submitted in electronic form to the Town in read-only MS-Windows compatible format (including both .pdf and HTML formats),
• Work to be performed will be authorized by task orders issued by the Town of Cary specific to the applicable project, and shall be invoiced accordingly, such that it can be tied to a specific Town of Cary project. The contract will not guarantee the amount of work, if any, available under the contract.
• The Town of Cary requires that all work conducted for and on behalf of its residents be performed in a courteous and professional manner and that the rights and needs of its residents be recognized at all times.

III. CONTENT AND FORMAT OF PROPOSALS

Proposals shall be bound such that they lay flat when opened. All proposals shall adhere to the following format and include, as a minimum, the noted adjunct information:

Introduction

• Introductory letter
• Table of Contents
• Firm name, contact person, address and telephone number

A clear and concise response as to why the Town of Cary should select your firm for this work.

Firm experience and workload

• Firm statement of qualifications
• Related experience on similar projects (cite specific projects of a similar nature to the project described herein). List a contact for each project.
• Listing of all projects completed for The Town of Cary within the past five years.
• Listing of current projects and percent complete.

Firm personnel experience

• Name, location and brief summary of key staff members available to work on this project.
• Experience of all key firm personnel directly working on this project including, years of experience, education and availability to work on this project.
• Relevant experience of the individuals who will be assigned to the project.
• Listing of all equipment available for use to support the work on this project including sampling and analysis equipment.

Sub-consultant personnel experience

• A list of subcontractors and consultants to be used, if any, and their expertise as described above for firm’s personnel.
• Experience of all sub-consultant and other associated key personnel directly working on this project including years of experience and education.

Project Approach

• A detailed description and discussion of how the firm proposes to approach this project.
• A description of methodology, techniques, and procedures for each of the scope of work items listed above.
• Breakdown and description of major tasks assigned per person and firm.
• Hierarchy of project management.
• Suggestions for additional services which may enhance the value of the project.

Project Schedule

• Discuss your team’s ability to provide soil and material testing services for the Town in a timely manner and quantify the amount of testing that can be performed in a one month period.
• The method to assure that time schedules will be met.
• The person responsible for assuring the schedule.

Project Cost – The Town of Cary will consider cost in its overall evaluation of the proposals. The Town of Cary has exempted this project from the provisions of North Carolina General Statute 143-64.31 as it is in the best interests of the Town of Cary and its citizens to procure these services through a process of open competition.

Proposals should include the basis of cost for the respective items of work requested as well as associated descriptions and sample deliverables. The cost proposal will provide a basis for establishing the fee schedule for the respective contract.

Standard Engineering Services Contract – A professional services contract will be negotiated with the selected consultant based on the proposed scope of work. Attach an example of the firm’s standard engineering services contract. This may serve as a basis for any contract with the selected consultant. The agreement must include the following provision:

Proposals shall include information certifying that the consultant will provide the following minimum insurance coverage prior to execution of the engineering services contract:

Dissemination of Information: "It is expressly agreed and understood that the Consultant shall not at any time publicly disseminate any information concerning the Project without prior approval from the Client. Such approval will not be unreasonably withheld but may be given with certain stipulations, such as Client participation in the creation of the public product or Client review and the option to refuse ultimate release of the final product should it fail to meet the Client's standards and goals. Public dissemination includes but is not limited to electronic, video, audio, photographic or hard copy materials serving as, in whole or part, professional papers or presentations, news releases, articles, or other media products, and/or Consultant’s business collateral pieces.”

IV. METHOD OF EVALUATION

A panel composed of Town staff members will review the submitted proposals based on the evaluation factors noted. This panel will then make a recommendation to the Town Council for the selection of one or two firms. After approval of the recommendation, the selected firm(s) will be contacted to draw up a contract based upon the scope and cost proposal submitted. Proposals will be evaluated based on the following criteria:

Firm experience/reputation/workload

• Related project experience.
• Firm reputation.
• The firm’s financial and operational stability.
• Ability of firm to take on additional work.
• Demonstrated success with the performing of similar projects.
• Understanding of the Town’s Goals, project parameters, the need for and purpose of this work, based on the information provided by the Town.
• Qualifications of key personnel to be assigned to the project.
• Familiarity with the Town of Cary.
• Proximity of the firm’s permanent offices to Triangle area.
• Specific Management Approach and how the firm proposes to provide services in a timely and cost-effective manner.
• How well the firm’s organizational structure shows sufficient depth for its present workload.
• The firm’s ability to offer the breadth and quality of services required for this project.

Personnel experience

• Number and location of personnel included on project team.
• Project team member’s individual experience and other qualifications.
• Project team’s number of individual Town projects and other qualifications.
• Project manager’s experience, number of Town projects managed and other qualifications.
• Sub-consultant’s individual experience and other qualifications.

Scope, schedule, cost

• Demonstrated understanding of scope of project.
• Demonstrated ability to develop innovative approaches to optimizing system performance and increase the value of this project.
• Demonstrated ability to present a report, technical data, and recommendations in a user-friendly format with appropriate use of graphics.
• Adherence to proposal format.
• Time schedule.

Price Proposal

• The Town of Cary will consider cost in overall evaluation of the proposals. This project will not necessarily be awarded to the lowest priced proposal(s), but cost is one criterion and will be considered among the other factors.

The Town of Cary reserves the right to reject any and all proposals.

V. SUBMITTAL OF PROPOSALS

Each firm shall submit eight suitably bound copies of their proposal to:

Ms. E. Alexandra Jones, P.E.
Town of Cary, Engineering Department
316 N. Academy Street
Cary, North Carolina 27513

Proposals are due no later than 3 p.m. on Friday, January 29, 2010 in order to be considered.

VI. INQUIRIES

Questions should be directed to Alexandra Jones at (919) 462-3836 or e-mail at alexandra.jones@townofcary.org.