Dead Man’s Hollow Trail Development, Souther Allegheny County, PA

Jan 27

Written By Professional Trailbuilders

Request for Bids

for

Dead Man’s Hollow Trail Development

Allegheny County, Pennsylvania

Purpose

This requests bids for professional trail building services to construct and/or upgrade about 4.2 miles of natural surface, wooded trails at the Dead Man’s Hollow Conservation Area (DMH) in southern Allegheny County. This process is an open call for qualified contractors.

Goal

Build and or make upgrades to 4.2 miles (give or take 10%) of trails to complete the DMH Trail Master Plan developed in 2014 by Pashek and Associates. These trails will connect the Cool Spirit Trail to Calhoun Road and Table Rock. The primary trail development will be completely new trail construction on wooded slopes with some trail upgrades to existing trails. Trails are to be built using the PA Trail Design and Development Principle Guide. This contract is for trail development only. Visithttps://alleghenylandtrust.org/green-space/dead-mans-hollow/ for more information.

Scope of Work and Deliverables (see BELOW map of trails)

Construct the Howling Hollow Trail (Formerly Backwoods Justice): The last major trail to complete the plan, this 1.2 mile trail connects the Cool Spirit Trail to Calhoun Road and the Witch Hazel Trail. Portions of the trail will have significant terrain changes and requires many switchbacks.
Construct the Dead Man’s Run (0.6 mile): The second half of this trail needed constructed along Dead Man’s Run – a year round flowing stream that runs through the center of Dead Man’s Hollow. Portions of the trail currently exist, but the elimination of unnecessary stream crossings is needed to keep the trail to one side of the stream.
Construct the Table Rock Trail (0.7 mile): The second half of this trail is needed to connect the bottom of the table Rock Trail to the newly constructed Howling Hollow Trail.
Upgrades to Black Oak Trail (0.3 mile) – Major water issues have eroded the trail and material needs to be placed and drainage installed to secure the trail.
Upgrades to Cool Spirit Trail (0.9 mile) – Drainage and old trail deconstruction.

Contractor Qualifications, Requirements and Responsibilities

1. The contractor shall have demonstrable experience in building sustainable trails similar to those found at Dead Man’s Hollow. Contractor shall provide references from past projects that qualify them for building this project.

2. Tools – contractor shall perform the required work using hand tools and/or small mechanized equipment that is a maximum of 50 feet in width. Some locations may not be suitable for any mechanized equipment regardless of size due to terrain constraints. All equipment shall be in good mechanical conditions, free of any fluid leaks. All equipment will be clean and free of debris before introduced to work site.

3. Meetings and progress reports – A pre bid submission meeting is required for any contractor looking to submit for the job. A meeting is scheduled for Monday Feb 3rd at 1:00PM at the Calhoun entrance of Dead Man’s Hollow. If unable to meet this time, you must contact Emilie Rzotkiewicz. The Contractor shall meet with the client at the beginning of each week or other agreed upon date by both parties to review progress and project expectations for the job.

4. As this project is fully funded through the PA Recreational Trails Program and the Federal Highway Administration, for this reason the following must be met.

a. Prevailing Wage Act - all workmen employed on the project must be paid the prevailing minimum wage under the Prevailing Wage Act. Information on the PWA may be found at www.dil.state.pa.us/laborlaw by clicking on the link to Prevailing Wage Act. See appendix A.

i. The PWA does apply to all contractors and sub-contractors. Please contact the Department of Labor and Industry – Bureau of Labor Law compliance at 717-705-7256 with questions about the PWA.

b. Buy America Program- The federal Buy America Program requires that all projects that permanently incorporate iron and steel must use products manufactured domestically. The grantee should review the U.S. Department of Transportation Buy America webpage athttps://www.fhwa.dot.gov/construction/cqit/buyam.cfm for more information. The grantee must notify their design consultant of these requirements. Design consultants must consider these requirements in the development of the specifications and designs. Specifically, the federal requirements state:

i. “All manufacturing processes of steel or iron materials in a product, including coating; and any subsequent process that alters the steel or iron material’s physical form or shape, or changes its chemical composition; are to occur within the United States. This includes rolling, extruding, machining, bending, grinding, drilling, and coating. Coating includes all processes that protect or enhance the value of the material, such as epoxy coatings, galvanizing or painting.”

The grantee must include notification of the Buy America provisions in their bid or RFP specifications for procurement of steel, iron or manufactured goods. See appendix B – We don’t anticipate any purchases that would require this Program for this bid, but all contractors must submit the form located in Appendix C.

c. DCNR Disadvantaged business enterprise (DBE) and small business enterprise (SBE) requirements for the RECREATIONAL TRAILS PROGRAM - see appendix D

· Policy for Federally-Funded Projects. It is the policy of the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) and the Department that DBEs, as defined in 49 CFR Part 26, as amended, (Part 26) and thisspecification, be given the opportunity to participate in the performance of contracts financed in whole or in part with Federal funds under this contract. Consequently, the DBE requirements of Part 26, as amended, apply to this contract.

· DBE Obligation. Take all necessary and reasonable steps to ensure that all DBEs have the opportunity to compete for and perform contracts. The grantee shall not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, or sex in the award and performance of this contract.

· Failure to Comply with DBE Requirements. Failure by the grantee to carry out theserequirements is a material breach of this contract, which may result in termination of this grant agreement or such other remedy as the Department deems appropriate, which may include,but is not limited to:

a. Withholding progress payments;

b. Assessing sanctions;

c. Liquidated damages; and/or

d. Disqualifying the contractor from future bidding as non-responsible.

· Small Business Enterprise (SBE) Participation. Recruitment and utilization of certified SBEs is in addition to all other equal opportunity requirements of the contract. There is no SBEgoal.

Schedule

ALT anticipates the project will take no more than 9 months from time of Notice to Proceed to providing final deliverables. Exact date of start of project is not known. Schedule of project will be similar to below.

Prior to commencement of work, contractors must provide a Certificate of Insurance naming Allegheny Land Trust as additionally insured.

Bids Due to ALT—Feb 28, 2020 – All bids will be opened on Monday March 2nd at the Allegheny Land Trust office in Sewickley, PA. A pre bid submission meeting is required for any contractor looking to submit for the job. A meeting is scheduled for Monday Feb 3rdat 1:00PM at the Calhoun entrance.
Committee Reviews of written proposals and Interviews completed by March
Contract Awarded—May (upon acceptance of the work program, schedule, and cost estimate, the ALT will prepare formal contract for execution)
Project Development
Midway Update with evaluations and discussions.
Final Project Completed – Month 9

Compensation

Payment will be made in three phases:

1/3 of the total contract amount will be dispersed upon commencement of signed contract

1/3 will be given after approval of the midway of construction evaluations

1/3 dispersed upon completion and approval by the ALT

Proposal Submission Requirements (not to exceed 3 pages excluding the listed forms)

All bids must be submitted in a sealed envelope

Cover letter: State your understanding of the goals for the project, your approach to meeting those goals, and special qualifications of your firm.
Project organization and staffing: Summarize the qualifications of key personnel assigned to the project. Include recent experience that is directly applicable to this project.
Cost Estimate: Prepare a fee proposal
Related Experiences: Discuss your experience in developing and implementing a project (s) related to this one.

Schedule: Estimate schedule breakdown to ALT.
Commonwealth Public Works Employment Verification Form – See attachment B.
Return the BUY AMERICA COMPLIANCE STATEMENT in attachment C.
Return the DBE and SBE form - See attachment D.

Submit copy via email to the following by 5:00PM EST, February 28, 2019. The ALT reserves the right to reject any and all proposals received. Any deviations from this submission request or to schedule a site walk through please contact Emilie at the number below.

Contact: Emilie Rzotkiewicz

VP of Land Resources

Allegheny Land Trust,

416 Thorn St.

Sewickley PA 15143,

412-741-2750 ext. 201

erzotkiewicz@alleghenylandtrust.org

Download the RFP

The map below highlights the three major new trail development. Current trail map can be seen on our website at https://alleghenylandtrust.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/November-2018-Dead-Mans-Hollow-Trail-Map.pdf