January 14, 2022

To: Interested Shipyards in the United States

General Project Description

The Department of Transportation & Public Facilities, Alaska Marine Highway System (AMHS or Department) has issued this notice to inform interested shipyards in the United States that it will be seeking proposals from qualified entities to provide preconstruction and construction services under the Construction Manager/General Contractor (CM/GC) project delivery method, resulting in the construction of a new roll-on/roll-off vehicle passenger ferry. The TRV will transit the Gulf of Alaska and service communities between Homer and Unalaska, Alaska. Due to operational and environmental constraints, the vessel will possess a unique vehicle elevator/turntable design similar to the one on the existing Tustumena.

As planned, the TRV will have the following characteristics and capacities:

Length Over All (LOA)                               330 Feet

Depth                                                          24.5 Feet

Breadth Over All (BOA)                              74 Feet

Design Draft                                               15’ – 10” to 16’ – 6” (End of Service Life)

Air Draft                                                     90 Feet

Cruise/Service Speed                                   15 Knots

Vans & Cars                                                14 Vans & 23 Cars

Cars Only                                                    55

Vehicle Loading Ability                               Stern & Side (Port & Starboard), Vehicle Elevator

Vehicle Lane Length                                    1,220 Feet

Passengers                                                  250 (Berths for 126)

Vehicle Elevator

Length X Width                                           52’x17’

Safe Working Load                                      80,000 lb

Safe Working Load w/Passengers                 64,000 lb

Max Number of Cars                                   4

Max Number of Passengers                          25

AMHS will class the vessel with the American Bureau of Shipping.

Operational Characteristics and Classification

Vessel Type                                                Roll-On/Roll-Off (ro-ro) Passenger Vessel

Service Type                                               Domestic Only (non-SOLAS), USCG Subchapter H Service

Route Type                                                 Oceans (No more than 50 nautical miles from shore)

Range/Endurance                                        4,000 nm (20 days)

General CM/GC Information

CM/GC is a project delivery method authorized by AMHS’ federal funding agency, the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA). See 23 U.S.C. §112(b)(4); 23 C.F.R. §635.501 et seq. A CM/GC project comprises two distinct contract/operational phases:  preconstruction and construction.

During the preconstruction phase, the Department, its Design Consultant, and the Contractor form a collaborative team, whose objectives include the following items:

• Share and transfer knowledge;
• Identify, mitigate, and minimize project risks;
• Support innovation that furthers project goals
• Improve design constructability;
• Optimize the project schedule; and
• Meet budget goals.

In the CM/GC project delivery method, the Department relies on the Contractor to provide expertise on constructability, sequencing, means and methods, material costs and availability, etc. to better enable the project team to deliver a quality product - within budget and on schedule - in a manner that would be more efficient than that of a design-bid-build project of similar size and scope.

The selected Contractor will be awarded a preconstruction services contract for the initial phase of the project. The Contractor will participate in the development of the project’s design with various project responsibilities such as design validation, constructability review, cost estimating and others. Yet, to be clear, the Contractor’s preconstruction responsibilities do not include provision of architectural and professional engineering services. 

Regarding the Contractor’s construction cost estimating, the CM/GC project delivery method requires an open book estimating process where the Contractor provides a detailed breakout of the cost of the work, i.e., direct costs, required to construct the project. As the preconstruction phase progresses and the design is more fully developed, the Contractor will refine its cost estimate.

Under the CM/GC model the Department also procures the services of a third-party, Independent Cost Estimator (ICE), who will review project documents and develop a separate construction cost estimate. Members of the project team will meet at scheduled intervals. Among other things, the Department and the ICE will review the Contractor’s current cost estimate and supporting documentation. If material differences exist between the Contractor’s cost estimate and the Department/ICE’s, the team members will attempt to resolve the differences at a reconciliation meeting, where the team members engage in constructive, collaborative effort to understand the basis for material differences and work to resolve them.

As the preconstruction phase draws to a close, the Contractor will develop its Guaranteed Maximum Price (GMP) proposal, which represents its total price to construct the project. The proposal includes the Contractor’ cost of the work proposal (in essence, the final iteration of its earlier estimates that the team has reviewed), a Contractor contingency sum, and Contractor’s fee, which includes its indirect costs and profit. If the Department and the Contractor cannot come to terms on a GMP, the preconstruction services contract will come to an end and the Department will not award the Contractor a construction services contract. Rather, the Department reserves the right to pursue other project delivery methods not involving Contractor or to simply terminate the project.

Additional Information

This is a federal-aid project. As such, it is subject to requirements imposed by FHWA. Compliance with the Buy America Act is mandatory. See 23 U.S.C. §313 and 23 C.F.R. §635.410 for provisions of the Act and its implementing regulations.

AMHS intends to provide a general presentation concerning the project and post the solicitation and accompanying documents in March 2022.

The information contained in this Pre-Solicitation Notice is preliminary and is subject to change. An offeror may not rely on information in this Notice when preparing its proposal. The solicitation package, once issued, will contain the relevant bidding information.

All contracting questions related to the upcoming solicitation may be directed in writing to Jeff Jenkins, Contracts Officer via email at: jeff.jenkins@alaska.gov.

Project questions can also be sent to dot.trv@alaska.gov

For additional information and updates please visit the TRV project website at:

https://dot.alaska.gov/amhs/fleet/trv.shtml.