Volume 42 - Issue 37 - September 14, 2023

State of Kansas

Department of Transportation

Notice to Consulting Firms

The Kansas Department of Transportation (KDOT) is seeking a qualified consulting firm or team of firms to perform professional services for the project(s) described in Table 1 below. Interested consultants must email a proposal to KDOT.DesignContracts@ks.gov by 12:00 p.m. (Central Time) October 4, 2023, to be considered for selection.

Consultant Prequalification

Interested consulting firms must be prequalified by KDOT or otherwise demonstrate qualification in category(s):

• 211 Highway Design–Major Facility
• 222 Standard Span Bridge Design
• 231 Traffic Control Analysis and Design
• 301 Land Surveying
• 302 Engineering Surveying

If a firm is not currently prequalified by KDOT, a proposal may still be submitted. Firms not prequalified must also provide documentation that demonstrates the firm is qualified for each specified category listed in this notice for the project. Firms must use the KDOT prequalification form to provide this documentation. KDOT 1050 Prequalification Category Definitions (Blue Book) can be found at http://www.ksdot.org/descons.asp. Consultants may create a team to meet the prequalification requirements. All firms doing business with KDOT must be registered and in good standing under the laws of the State of Kansas at the time of contracting and must comply with applicable state and federal laws, rules, and regulations.

Background and Scope of Projects

Table 1: Background and Scope of Project
Project Number	Background and Scope of Project
KA-6022-01	Existing conditions–2-lane highway. Purpose–Reconstruct to a 4-lane expressway. Phase–PLNMR is complete. Consultant project scope will include development of final plans.

Table 2: Project Summary
Project Number	Route and Scope	Length (mi)	Project Termini
KA-6022-01	056-005 Reconstruct US-56 to a 4-lane Expressway	2.3 Miles	East city limits of Great Bend (Kiowa Road) to K-156/US-56/K-96 junction
Project Number	Structure BR#, Structure Scope, Structure Size and Type
KA-6022-01	BR#0077–44 ft. RCSH (1 @ 33, 1 @ 44, and 1 @ 33) over Walnut Creek Drainage BR#0078–44 ft. SMCC -6 (1 @ 50, 1 @ 70, and 1 @ 50) over Walnut Creek Additional bridges to accommodate the 4-lane expressway.

Anticipated Consultant Scope

KDOT anticipates the following to be included in the consultant’s scope: Survey Services, Preliminary Design Services, RR Involvement, Final Design Services, Public Involvement Services, Environmental Documentation Preparation (Permitting).

Additional scope which may be added later (at the Secretary’s discretion) and may include Right of Way; Letting and Construction Phase Services; and 3D Electronic Deliverables Preparation.

Current expectations for consultant scope are detailed below. The scope included herein may not be all-inclusive. A scoping meeting will take place after consultant selection is made.

Survey Services

• KDOT will provide existing design survey.
• KDOT will provide existing right of way.
• If additional design survey coverage is needed, then this will be discussed and determined during the scoping meeting.

Project Management

• Identify ways to accelerate the design process:
  • Example: KDOT is considering employing a phased approach to develop and produce multiple plan packages at various times in the project lifecycle to potentially accelerate construction letting on a portion of the project.
• Quickly develop scope and hour estimates.
• Anticipate receiving an early, limited notice to proceed.
• Develop a comprehensive schedule that will be tracked on a bi-monthly basis.
• Coordinate closely with the cities and counties involved.
• Develop and communicate Project Management Plan and Quality Assurance Plan.
• Perform quality control checks according to Quality Assurance Plan.
• Provide electronic plan files compliant with the latest electronic deliverables including CAD conformance checks and ControlCAD indexed DGN files with ProjectWise attributes.
• Provide bi-annual construction cost estimates and at major project milestones.

Road Design

• Review alignments and typical sections.
• Analyze and Recommend intersection options at Kiowa Road and Fort Zarah:
  • It was determined that the intersection at US-56 and K-156 will be designed as a Continuous Green-T.
• Perform roadway geometric design, drainage design, and roadside safety analysis.
• Develop Preliminary Plans to Field Check.
• Develop Right of Way Plans.
• Develop final plans for Construction.
• Stormwater control measures (SCM) are required on this project:
  • KDOT will provide the SCM report completed as a part of the NEPA process.
• Visit the project site location.
• Coordination with property owners for relocated driveways.

Bridge Design

• Field Check:
  • Preliminary layouts for bridges, 10 to 20-foot culverts, and retaining walls.
  • The consultant shall propose and evaluate different (curved and possibly skewed) framing layouts for review and acceptance by the KDOT Bridge Office; focus shall be to minimize disruption to the traveling public and facilitate efficient construction to minimize closure.
  • Preliminary hydraulic assessment checklists, construction layouts, contour maps, and bridge sections.
  • Hydraulic analysis including supporting information for no-rise conditions.
• Final Design:
  • Provide final plans for construction for all bridge-sized and 10 to 20-foot structures.
  • Final hydraulic assessment checklists, construction layouts, contour maps, and bridge sections.
  • Provide final plans for construction for all retaining walls.

Traffic Engineering

• Field Check:
  • Construction sequencing.
  • Guide sign, lighting.
  • Traffic signal schematic layouts.
• Final Design:
  • Traffic Control Plans:
    • Project Requirement: Traffic shall be carried by this corridor throughout construction.
  • Permanent signing and pavement marking plans.
  • Foundations and truss design (as necessary).
  • Traffic signal plans.
  • Preliminary and final lighting plans.

Public Involvement Services

• The successful consultant will be required to provide project updates and other information as needed to support communication thereby; involvement in meetings may also be required.
• The public engagement goals are to maintain effective communication with identified stakeholder groups.

KDOT Provided Services

• Public Involvement:
  • The consultant is responsible for developing and implementing a communication plan for the project. The document will include goals, objectives, strategies, channels, and messages and will be inclusive with all outreach and engagement efforts. This will be a living document maintained over the course of the project through the end of construction.
• Right of Way Services:
  • KDOT will provide the existing right of way files and property owners stripmap:
    • KDOT will manage right of way acquisition.

Anticipated Schedule and Key Dates

1. Proposals are due by or before 12:00 p.m. (Central Time) October 4, 2023.
2. Ranking of proposals is expected to occur on or around October 24, 2023. Negotiations with the most highly ranked firm are expected to begin on or around October 31, 2023. An executed agreement is anticipated around November 30, 2023.
3. The program fiscal year for this project is FY2027 (July 2026–June 2027).

Upon distribution of this Request for Proposals, KDOT anticipates the following activity dates:

• Field Check – March 14, 2024
• PLROW – May 29, 2024
• Envcl – March 31, 2025
• PLCOM – July 21, 2026

Instructions for Proposal

1. No cost or pricing information shall be submitted with the proposal. Proposals including cost or pricing information will be considered non-responsive and withdrawn from further consideration.
2. The consultant’s proposal must not exceed 4 pages total (including any cover letter, index, etc.). All pages shall be standard letter size (8.5” x 11”). Any page larger than standard letter size will be counted as two or more pages depending on size.
3. A single PDF (2MB maximum size) of the proposal including all attachments must be emailed to KDOT.DesignContracts@ks.gov by the proposal due date and time.
4. The subject line of the email and the PDF file name must read:
   1. “KA-6022-01_Great Bend Expansion Project FIRM NAME”
5. The proposal must be accompanied by Special Attachments No. 8 (“Tax Clearance Certificate”) and No. 10 (“Policy Regarding Sexual Harassment”). If you need a Tax Clearance Certificate, you can request one at https://www.ksrevenue.gov/taxclearance.html. Allow 2-3 business days for processing. Both attachments are required for every firm involved in a multi-consultant team.
6. The outline in Table 3 below describes the expected proposal organization and content sections.
7. Table 4 lists the evaluation criteria and associated weights which will be used to make a selection.
8. Depending on the number and quality of responses received, KDOT anticipates shortlisting (based on proposals) and holding interviews prior to final selection (which may be based on both proposals and interview content). If KDOT deems them necessary, evaluation criteria for interviews will be distributed to shortlisted consultant teams in advance.

Table 3: Proposal Content
Section	Description of Intent	Page Limit
Cover Letter		1 Page
Project Approach	Demonstrate a unique approach to accomplish the design efficiently and to a high standard. Include cost-effective and optimized solutions to address the anticipated improvements in the design. Include unique qualifications or experience related to the project approach.
Approach to Schedule	Describe the approach to accomplish the scope of services within the schedule requirements. Include anticipated key milestone dates and availability of staff.
Approach to Quality Control	Describe methods or procedures your firm will use to provide all drawings, reports and other services with professional quality and technical accuracy.
Qualifications and Experience	For key personnel to be assigned to the project provide names, office location, qualifications, education, training, and expertise. Identify their area(s) of responsibility and percent of their time dedicated to the project. List work for which you do not have in-house capability and name the firm you propose to subcontract with.
Past Performance	Describe team’s past performance with respect to ability to meet project schedules; quality of work; and ability to control costs on similar transportation projects, especially those performed for KDOT. Include three references and contact information.
Familiarity with KDOT and Project Area	Describe team’s familiarity with KDOT’s design process and standards. Describe familiarity with the project area and any identified special site conditions.

Table 4: Evaluation Factors
Evaluation Factor	Weight
Qualifications and experience of project manager and other key project team members proposed for services	15%
Project approach	25%
Approach and commitment to meet advertised schedule	20%
Past performance history for similar projects/services for KDOT	10%
Approach to quality control	15%
Knowledge of the NEPA process	5%
Demonstrated understanding of nature and scope of project	10%

Contract Terms and Conditions

A standard KDOT agreement for engineering and technical services will be used for professional services projects. The following special attachments will need to be provided by the selected consultant and all subconsultants with the signed work order following negotiations and will become attachments to the contract.

• Special Attachment No. 8 (“Tax Clearance Certificate”)
• Special Attachment No. 10 (“Policy Regarding Sexual Harassment”)

Special Contract Conditions

The project will be managed by KDOT; Design will be complete according to 883 completion dates.

Questions

All questions regarding this Request for Proposals shall be emailed to KDOT.DesignContracts@ks.gov.

Questions can be submitted until September 21, 2023; answers will be provided to all prequalified consultants on September 28, 2023.

Calvin Reed
Secretary
Department of Transportation

Doc. No. 051474