Inactive

This notice constitutes a REQUEST FOR INFORMATION (RFI). This announcement seeks information from industry and will ONLY be used for preliminary planning purposes. THIS IS NOT A SOLICITATION FOR PROPO... This notice constitutes a REQUEST FOR INFORMATION (RFI). This announcement seeks information from industry and will ONLY be used for preliminary planning purposes. THIS IS NOT A SOLICITATION FOR PROPOSALS AND NO CONTRACT SHALL BE AWARDED FROM THIS RFI. Respondents will not be notified of the results of the evaluation. The Government will not pay for any response expenses. Interested parties are responsible for adequately marking proprietary or competition sensitive information contained in their response. The Government is specifically interested in technologies, methodologies, ideas, and innovation for the filling, construction, and maintenance of geotubes to be used to construct an island in a tidally influenced area located in Duval County Florida. The information received will be used to support a market analysis for the project with the general goal to: 1. Safely and economically fill geotubes with both sand and fine sediment, 2. Filling geotubes with sediment that may be contaminated, with emphasis on control of contaminated runoff/elutriate/turbidity, 3. Filling geotubes with limited or no staging areas available within confined creek channels, 4. Constructing a sustainable island using geotubes technology in a riverine environment (with continual flows and boat wakes), possibly on an incline, and 5. Provide a feasible and economical way to provide long term protection to the filled geotubes (i.e. protection from vandalism, etc.) 6. Technology to protect the constructed geotubes from major storm events and surge 7. Ideas to make the island aesthetically pleasing to nearby residents and businesses 8. Options for riverine grasses that would adequately grow within the island in a saline Florida climate Background: Big Fishweir Creek (BFWC) is a small tributary on the west side of the St. Johns River approximately 4 miles south of downtown Jacksonville. BFWC enters the St. Johns River just north of the Ortega River. This tidal portion of the St. Johns River ranges from nearly freshwater (oligohaline) to brackish (mesohaline) depending on the river flow levels. BFWC is a tidal, primarily freshwater creek that may experience low levels of salinity during low-flow conditions in the river. Little Fishweir Creek discharges to the north side of the Big Fishweir Creek approximately 1,500 feet from the mouth of BFWC. Figure 1 (See Attachment) shows the location map for the project site. Current Conditions: Big Fishweir Creek is a degraded waterbody and has a history of water-quality violations for fecal coliform and dissolved oxygen and is also listed by the Florida Department of Environmental Protection as an impaired waterbody, per Section 303(d) of the U.S Clean Water Act. Big Fishweir Creek has become shallow and flow has been restricted by accumulated sediments coming from urban development and runoff in the watershed over the past 50 years. As a result of this sediment accumulation, the creek bottom has been covered and raised by fine silt; emergent and submerged aquatic vegetation have not flourished, access for endangered West Indian manatees has been reduced, and fish habitat value has decreased in comparison to historic conditions. Sediments now covering the Creek bottom need to be removed and immobilized and tidal flushing needs to be re-established to bring the waters back to meet habitat requirements for the mammals, fish, birds and vegetation formerly found there. Summary of Work: BFWC is broken into four areas; Areas A, B, C, and D as shown in Figure 2 and Figure 3 (See Attachment). Dredged material from the channels in area's A, B, C, and D would constitute the foundation of the geotube island, and is expected to encompass some 2.3 acres at the mouth of Big Fishweir Creek. The material will be encased in geo-textile tubes that will be configured to form the foundation of the island. In addition, sand substrate from the upper portion of the stream will be used to cap the newly formed island, and will provide the proper medium for vegetation plantings. Work for the Big Fishweir Creek Project will include the following: • Removal of sediments from all areas within the project limits, • Creation of a brackish marsh island, • Planting of emergent vegetation (EV), • Planting of submerged aquatic vegetation (SAV), • Removal of nuisance/invasive vegetation, and • Wetland reconnection via "cut thru berm" construction Geotube Island: The composition of the material to be dredged throughout the channel varies from each of the Areas. The breakdown of the materials is provided in Table 1 (See Attachment). The majority of the material to be excavated to fill the geotubes is from Area D, a primarily silt makeup. There are known pollutants that need to be contained within the geotubes that will be used to create the marsh island (the Big Fishweir Creek Engineering Appendix from the Final Integrated Detailed Project Report and Environmental Assessment containing a detailed list of pollutants along with other project information will be provided separately for reference). The anticpated island is set to have a tear drop shape, in order to maximize sediment flushing in the project area. The exact island location has not yet beend determined but an approximation of the location can bee seen in Figure 4 (See Attachment). Responses Industry is asked to provide a written response addressing the following objectives or questions: 1) What technologies exist to fill geotubes with silt/fines? 2) Is dewatering required? 3) If so, what technologies exist for that? Are flocculants required? 4) How do you handle contaminated sediment? 5) Is it possible to fill the contaminated sediment into geotubes and bury them in the middle of the island with clean material without the contaminants leaching out? 6) Is there a way to fill geotubes with contaminated sediments without re-suspension of contaminants? 7) How big of a staging area and or barge would be required for this? 8) What are good ways to protect geotubes from damage caused by waves or strong currents during storm events? 9) What would be the process to deposit material from Areas A and B upstream of Hershel Bridge (7.5 ft vertical clearance below bridge) into geotubes located in Area D? Would there be any problem navigating under the Hershel Bridge? 10) Specify how you have created aesthetically pleasing islands in urban areas to eliminate public controversy. 11) Specify what types of plants you would consider including on top of the island that are suitable for Florida climates with tidal saline water Additionally There will be an Industry Conference Call on 15 January 19 at 2:00pm (more information to follow) Provide Firm's name, address, point of contact, phone number, website, and email address. Responses to this RFI must be received no later than 31 January 2019 and shall be sent to William Wallace at william.j.wallace@usace.army.mil NOTE - DO NOT SUBMIT PROPRIETARY AND/OR BUSINESS CONFIDENTIAL DATA. The official Synopsis citing the solicitation will be issued on Federal Business Opportunities WWW.FBO.GOV and inviting firms to register electronically to receive a copy of the solicitation when it is issued. All interested firms must be registered in SAM.gov to be eligible for award of Government contracts. A CONFERENCE CALL IS SCHEDULED FOR: DATE: 15 January 2019 TIME: 2:00 pm This is your opportunity to ask questions and to make sure that you have an understanding of what this requirement entails prior to your response submittal. The Conference Call In Numbers are listed below: USA Toll Free: (877) 336-1280 USA Caller Paid/International Toll Access Code: 7256138