Solicitation
EAST CANAL EFFICIENCY IMPROVEMENTS
Department of the Interior · Bureau of Reclamation · Sol. 140R4026R0025
Due in 41 daysSmall business
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AI summary Beta
Some details weren't available to this summary, so it may miss requirements. Check the attachments on SAM.gov.
The Bureau of Reclamation (Upper Colorado Region) wants a construction contractor to build new pipeline and canal structures on the East Canal of the Uncompahgre Project near Olathe, Colorado. The work is about 4,200 feet of 36-inch pipe plus concrete inlet and outlet structures, a double barrel siphon, a side channel spillway, a ramp flume, a check structure and flow measuring equipment. It is a firm-fixed-price job set aside for small businesses, stated at $5 to $10 million, running 25 January 2027 to 1 November 2028, with offers due 20 November 2026.
Watch out for
- Bonding and project size. A $5 to $10 million job needs bid, performance and payment bonds and proof of aggregate bonding capacity, which many small businesses cannot get.
Aggregate bond capacity shall also be submitted for evaluation.
- Work tied to the canal's dry season. Key in-canal structures can only be built while the canal is dry (1 November to 1 April), and the project must be substantially complete by 1 April 2028, so weather or delays can push you into irrigation season.
deliveries, the components listed below are required to complete between
- Strict surveying and payment paperwork. Progress payments depend on quantity survey notes, as-builts and detailed submittals, and the Government warns that many contractors have missed these requirements and had payment disputes.
under the direction of a registered professional land surveyor licensed in the state where the work is being completed
- Environmental compliance and protected species. You need to manage stormwater permitting yourself, and work stops if a protected species is found, which can delay you.
construction activities will be halted until consultation with the U.S. Fish and
- Liquidated damages for late finish. The contract includes a construction liquidated damages clause, so late completion can cost money each day; the daily amount was not in the text provided.
52.211-12 LIQUIDATED DAMAGES-CONSTRUCTION SEPTEMBER 2000
- Fixed price cannot be changed. Prices are firm fixed and the Government will not negotiate the contract type, so you carry the risk if your estimate is off.
The basic contract type (FFP) cannot be changed
- Site visit on 13 October 2026. An organized site visit is scheduled and you must contact the Reclamation contact to be added to the list; the notice does not say whether attendance is required.
An organized site visit is scheduled for
Read from the notice and 10 attachments. 1 not read in full.
- Sol_140R4026R0025.pdf
- 140R4026R0025.pdf
- 140R4026R0025_Attachment_1_-_Specifications.pdf
- 140R4026R0025_Attachment_5_-_Construction_Contract_Administration.pdf
- 140R4026R0025_Attachment_6_-_Past_Performance_Questionnaire.pdf
- 140R4026R0025_Attachment_7_-_Experience_Form.docx
- 140R4026R0025_Attachment_8_-_Key_Personnel_Form.docx
- 140R4026R0025_Attachment_2_-_Drawings.pdf
- 140R4026R0025_Attachment_3_-_WD_CO20260003_Heavy_-_Montrose_County__CO.pdf
- 140R4026R0025_Attachment_4_-_WD_CO20260001_Building_-_Montrose_County__CO.pdf
- Attachment_9_-_Price_Schedule.xlsx: spreadsheet: not read yet
Full brief
What they want
- Build the West Loutzy diversion pipeline: about 4,200 feet of 36-inch HDPE pipe with concrete inlet and outlet structures
- Build the East Canal side channel spillway: concrete structure, modify an existing concrete outlet, and about 65 feet of 48-inch and 100 feet of 42-inch polypropylene pipe
- Build the double barrel siphon: concrete inlet and outlet structures and about 170 feet of two parallel 54-inch HDPE pipes
- Build the East Canal ramp flume structure and the GK check structure
- Install flow measuring equipment, canal and slide gates, valves, PVC pipe and other fittings
- Fabricate and install miscellaneous metalwork such as trash racks, guardrails, grating, vault covers and safety cable
- Site work: mobilization, removal and disposal of existing features, earthwork, water control, clearing and grubbing, riprap, gravel and seeding
- Provide the required quality control, quantity surveys, submittals, safety and environmental compliance, and as-built drawings
- Contract type
- Firm Fixed Price construction contract (52 priced lines, a mix of lump sums and estimated unit quantities)
- Period of performance
- 25 Jan 2027 to 1 Nov 2028; substantial completion by 1 Apr 2028, with seeding, cleanup and demobilization by 1 Nov 2028
- Place of performance
- East Canal, Uncompahgre Project, near Olathe, Delta County, Colorado (several work sites along the canal)
- Estimated value
- $5,000,000 to $10,000,000 (the solicitation's stated project magnitude)
- How they'll choose
- Best value tradeoff: the four non-price factors combined are about equal in importance to price. Proposals that are technically unacceptable may be rejected.
- Offers due
- 20 November 2026, 1:00 PM Mountain Time
- Page limits
- Experience worksheets are limited to 2 pages per project; other page limits are in Section L, which was only partly readable
What they'll judge offers on
- Factor 1: Technical Approach
- Factor 2: Construction Schedule
- Factor 3: Project Team Composition
- Factor 4: Past Performance (Factors 1 to 4 are equally important)
- Factor 5: Cost/Price (equal in importance to Factors 1 to 4 combined)
What to include when you submit
- Send a three-part proposal: Volume I (business proposal, reps and certs), Volume II (technical: approach, construction schedule, project team, past performance) and Volume III (pricing)
- Fill in every line of the Schedule B price schedule; offers missing any line are treated as non-responsive. Include it as a scanned PDF in Volume III
- An incomplete Volume I can get the proposal excluded
- Past Performance Questionnaires (Attachment 6) are filled in by your clients and submitted with the proposal; use the Experience Worksheet (Attachment 7) and Key Personnel Form (Attachment 8)
- Include letters of commitment for key personnel and subcontractors, or they will not be evaluated
- Keep cost information out of the other volumes, number the cost proposal pages, and mark proprietary information with the required legend
- Offer a bid guarantee and show aggregate bonding capacity as required in Section L
- Subcontractors must propose to the prime contractor, not directly to the Government
You must have
- Small business (total small business set-aside) with the required small business representations
SMALL BUSINESS PROGRAM REPRESENTATIONS RFO DEVIATION JANUARY 2026
- Bid guarantee, plus performance and payment bonds; aggregate bonding capacity is evaluated
Aggregate bond capacity shall also be submitted for evaluation.
- Full-time survey support directed by a registered professional land surveyor licensed in Colorado
under the direction of a registered professional land surveyor licensed in the state where the work is being completed
- Strong environmental compliance capability, including Clean Water Act permitting experience and a Storm Water Pollution Prevention Plan (SWPPP)
Environmental Compliance is a very strictly enforced item.
- Davis-Bacon Act prevailing wage rates apply (Montrose County, CO wage determinations are attached) and subcontract labor standards forms must be sent to the Contracting Officer
ensure SF-1413
- Buy American rules for construction materials
52.225-9 BUY AMERICAN-CONSTRUCTION MATERIALS NOVEMBER 2023
Not in the notice text
- How and where to send the proposal (email, portal) is not shown in the readable text
- Exact bid guarantee, performance bond and payment bond amounts (the $11.5M bonding reference is cut off, and the SF 1442 bond boxes are blank)
- Daily liquidated damages amount
- Whether attending the 13 October 2026 site visit (10:00 AM MT, Olathe, Colorado) is mandatory
- Details of the Technical Proposal instructions in Section L (parts were left out of the text provided)
- Contents of the Price Schedule spreadsheet (Attachment 9) and the middle sections of the specifications, which were not provided
- Applicable Davis-Bacon wage rates (the wage determination files could not be read)
- The size standard that applies to NAICS 237110
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Key facts
- Response due
- Nov 20, 2026, 8:00 PM UTC
- Posted
- Sep 25, 2026
- Notice type
- Solicitation
- Solicitation
- 140R4026R0025
- Agency
- Department of the Interior · Bureau of Reclamation
- Office
- Upper Colorado Regional Office
- Set-aside
- Small Business Set Aside - Total
- NAICS
- 237110
- Product/service code
- Y1NE
- Business type
- Energy, fuel & utilities
- Contracting contact
- Spencer, Tylertyler_spencer@ios.doi.gov8015243653
What similar contracts paid
28 contracts at this agency for the same NAICS and product/service codes had activity in the last 5 years, according to USAspending.gov. Small businesses won 16% of the dollars in this market over the last 3 fiscal years.
Typical contract$30MMiddle half: $2.2M to $69M
Typical per year$13.3MValue divided by years of performance
Before you respond
Full notice text from SAM.gov
EAST CANAL EFFICIENCY IMPROVEMENTS
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