Inactive

The Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) intends to award a sole source contract to University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign for “Spike Fastener Fatigue Failure Mitigation via Maintaining Tie Plate... The Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) intends to award a sole source contract to University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign for “Spike Fastener Fatigue Failure Mitigation via Maintaining Tie Plate to Tie Friction.” UIUC has unique and valuable experience with this research are having complete a multi-year investigation into the root causes of spike failures on wood tie track equipped with elastic fasteners, having developed a set of mitigation measures for this failure condition, and having published extensively on the subject in both FRA and industry forums. This work is a continuation of the spike failure investigation begun under 693JJ618C000005 (University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC)). The objective of this project is to research methods to actively maintain friction between railroad tie plates and ties during dynamic train movements. By building upon this prior work conducted by University of Illinois, this will significantly expedite the research by alleviating the need for additional funding and time to re-develop the research. The proposed contract action, for which the Government intends to solicit and negotiate with only one source, is under the authority of FAR 6.302-1 and 41 U.S.C. 253(c)(1). This notice of intent is not a request for competitive proposals; however, interested parties may identify their interest and capability to respond to the requirement. Interested parties with the capability of meeting the proposed requirements are requested to provide an email to the FRA point of contact, Koren Wheeler at koren.wheeler@dot.gov no later than 1:00 p.m. ET, Wednesday, May 12, 2022, expressing interest and outlining their capabilities and qualifications to perform the effort. Such capabilities/qualifications will be evaluated solely for the purpose of determining whether or not to conduct this procurement on a competitive basis. A determination by the Government not to compete this proposed effort on a full and open competition basis, based upon responses to this notice, is solely within the discretion of the Government.