Presolicitation
Natchez Trace Parkway Project MS NP NATR 3F26
Department of Transportation · Federal Highway Administration
AI summaryThe Federal Highway Administration's Eastern Federal Lands Highway Division, for the National Park Service, wants the Natchez Trace Parkway in Chickasaw County, Mississippi resurfaced. The work includes milling, asphalt overlay, shoulder widening and pavement markings, and the whole project is expected to cost $10,000,000 to $12,000,000. Any business size can bid. A bid bond (a surety company's promise to back the bid) is required, and the response due date is November 3, 2026, 2:00 PM Eastern (an amendment moved it to Nov 10, 2026, 2:00 PM EST). More in the summary
Advance notice of a coming solicitation, not a bid yet. If it asks for capability statements, sending one is free and puts you on Federal Highway Administration's list before the solicitation is posted. See the contact
A newer version of this notice was posted Oct 27, 2026. It moves the due date from Oct 20, 2026 to Nov 10, 2026, which is the date shown on this page. See the latest version.
AI summary Beta
Summary of the version posted Oct 19, 2026. The notice was amended Oct 27, 2026. The due date moved from Nov 3, 2026 to Nov 10, 2026. Check what else changed on SAM.gov. This summary may miss requirements: 2 of 11 attachments weren't read (Plans - MS NP NATR 3F26.pdf, ADV_Bidders Qualifications Form.doc). Check the attachments on SAM.gov.
The Federal Highway Administration's Eastern Federal Lands Highway Division, for the National Park Service, wants the Natchez Trace Parkway in Chickasaw County, Mississippi resurfaced. The work includes milling, asphalt overlay, shoulder widening and pavement markings, and the whole project is expected to cost $10,000,000 to $12,000,000. Any business size can bid. A bid bond (a surety company's promise to back the bid) is required, and the response due date is November 3, 2026, 2:00 PM Eastern.
Who can bid (4)
- Active SAM registration when the bid is submitted and at the time of award, with online representations and certifications completed.
- A bid guarantee (bid bond) of not less than 20 percent of the bid price or $3 million, whichever is less, with a valid power of attorney.
- Annual Form VETS-4212 (a veterans' employment report) completed online; the IFB says it is required to be eligible for award.
Show all 4Show fewer
- Large businesses only: a small business subcontracting plan from the apparent low bidder before award.
How to submit: Email only to EFLHD.Contracts@dot.gov, or a sealed envelope to the Eastern Federal Lands Highway Division office in Ashburn, VA (hand delivery is not recommended), due November 3, 2026, 2:00 PM Eastern. What to include is under Full summary below. Check the solicitation's instructions on SAM.gov.
Things to watch (11)
- Serious: Bid bond and power of attorney required. A bid bond of at least 20 percent of the bid price or $3 million, whichever is less, must come with the bid, and a bid without a valid bond is rejected.
- Worth checking: Performance and payment bonds required after award. The winner must furnish performance and payment bonds (guarantees that the work will be finished and subcontractors paid), which needs a surety relationship.
- Worth checking: Email bids only, no file-sharing links. Electronic bids go only to one email address, and links to cloud storage will not be opened, so attach every file.
Show all 11Show fewer
- Worth checking: Schedules B to E are Government options. Schedule A is the base work, and Schedules B, C, D and E can be exercised after award, so the work and its timing may vary.
- Worth checking: 10% price preference for HUBZone firms. Eligible Historically Underutilized Business Zone (HUBZone) small businesses (firms certified by the Small Business Administration, SBA, and on its listing) get a 10 percent price evaluation preference, so other bidders compete against prices adjusted in their favor.
- Worth checking: Must self-perform at least 50% of the work. The contractor must do work equal to at least 50% on site with its own organization, which limits how much a prime can subcontract.
- Worth checking: Davis-Bacon wages likely apply. Federal construction over $2,000 in the U.S. pays at least the Davis-Bacon wage rates in the wage determination attached to the solicitation. This summary doesn't name one: find it on SAM.gov and price your labor from it.
- Minor: Bid opening date moved by Amendment 0002. Amendment 0002 moves the bid opening to November 3, 2026, 2:00 PM Eastern from October 20, 2026, the date on the original Standard Form 1442 (the solicitation and offer form). Responses to bidders' questions are to come in a later amendment.
- Minor: Bidder must watch for further amendments. The bidder alone is responsible for checking the posting for changes, and each amendment must be acknowledged on the bid.
- Minor: Bidder's Qualification Form and VETS-4212 needed. The Bidder's Qualification Form goes in with the bid, and the annual veterans' employment report (Form VETS-4212) must be filed to be eligible for award.
- Minor: Hazard data sheets from the apparent low bidder. The apparent low bidder should send Material Safety Data Sheets (MSDSs: safety sheets for hazardous materials) for hazardous materials within two weeks after bid opening, or may be ineligible for award.
Read from the notice and 9 attachments. 2 of 11 not read. Show which files.
- IFB Solicitation - MS NP NATR 3F26.pdf (read)
- Amendment 0002 - MS NP NATR 3F26.pdf (read)
- Amendment 0001 - MS NP NATR 3F26.pdf (read)
- ADV_Subcontracting Plan - MS NP NATR 3F26.docx (read)
- MS NP NATR 3F26 Pavement Memo_adv.pdf (read)
- FP24_Eng.pdf (read)
- VETS-4212 Form.pdf (read)
- Categorical Exclusion Form (NEPA) (FHWA).pdf (read)
- Categorical Exclusion Form (NEPA) (NPS).pdf (read)
- Plans - MS NP NATR 3F26.pdf: not read (it couldn't be opened): open it on SAM.gov
- ADV_Bidders Qualifications Form.doc: not read (the AI doesn't read this file type yet): open it on SAM.gov
Full summary
What they want
- Resurface the Natchez Trace Parkway, including ramps, bridges, intersections and parking and pull-off areas, in Chickasaw County, Mississippi.
- Do the milling (grinding off the old surface) and asphalt overlay, shoulder widening and spot reconstruction.
- Install pavement markings and raised profile striping at bridge approaches, plus other miscellaneous work.
- Work is split into Schedules A to E by milepost; the bid schedule has the pay items, and payment is for quantities of work actually performed at the bid unit prices.
- Furnish performance and payment bonds after award and begin work after the notice to proceed (NTP: the written order to start work).
- Provide traffic control during the work; the plans say to get lane closures approved by the Contracting Officer at least two weeks before closing.
- Contract type
- Sealed-bid construction contract (invitation for bids), paid at unit prices for quantities of work actually performed
- Period of performance
- 469 calendar days if Schedules A through E are awarded together. By schedule: A 199 days, B 147 days, C 136 days, D 57 days, E 77 days; A+C+E is 254 days and B+D+E is 295 days. NTP is issued within 30 days after acceptable bonds are received.
- Place of performance
- Natchez Trace Parkway, Chickasaw County, Mississippi
- Estimated value
- $10,000,000 to $12,000,000 expected price range for the entire project
- How they'll choose
- Sealed bid (invitation for bids): bids are opened publicly and priced by unit. Eligible Historically Underutilized Business Zone (HUBZone) small businesses get a 10 percent price evaluation preference. How the schedules combine for award is not in the text read.
- Offers due
- November 3, 2026, 2:00 PM Eastern (from the version posted Oct 19, 2026; amended since)
- How to submit
- Email only to EFLHD.Contracts@dot.gov, or a sealed envelope to the Eastern Federal Lands Highway Division office in Ashburn, VA (hand delivery is not recommended)
What they'll judge offers on
- Price: unit price and amount for every pay item in the bid schedule, with a 10 percent price evaluation preference for eligible HUBZone small businesses
What to include when you submit
- Email subject line: the solicitation number, the project number and ATTN: Monique Lynch.
- Include a scanned copy of the official bid bond (Standard Form 24) and its power of attorney (the paper showing the surety agent may sign for the surety company) with an emailed bid.
- Complete Standard Form 1442 (SF 1442: the solicitation and offer form): bidder name and address, telephone number, remittance address if different, all amendments acknowledged with dates (Amendments 0001 and 0002), and a signed and dated offer.
- Give a unit bid price and bid amount in numbers for each pay item in the bid schedule, initial any corrections, and mark price evaluation eligibility on the Bid Summary page.
- Submit the completed and signed Bidder's Qualification Form with the bid.
- HUBZone firms that choose to waive the 10 percent preference check the block in Provision 52.219-4, paragraph (b).
- Large businesses are encouraged to send the subcontracting plan with the bid; it is not mandatory with the bid.
- Do not send bid files as links to OneDrive or other cloud storage; the Government will not open them.
- Be registered in SAM (System for Award Management, the federal contractor registry) when the bid is sent; if the registration is not public, send a copy with the bid.
- Finish the online representations and certifications in SAM and the annual veterans' employment report (Form VETS-4212) before bidding.
After award, you must have
- Ability to furnish performance and payment bonds after award. From IFB Solicitation - MS NP NATR 3F26.pdf:
Furnish performance and payment bonds in accordance with FAR Clause 52.228-15.
Not in the notice text
- Most of the IFB booklet's middle sections were attached but not read: the bid schedule pay items and quantities, inspection and delivery terms, instructions to bidders, the minimum wage schedule (pages F-7 through F-13) and the special contract requirements. The 102 plan sheets and the Bidder's Qualification Form were attached but not read.
- Which wage rule applies is not stated in the text read; the IFB contents list a Minimum Wage Schedule on pages F-7 through F-13.
- A site visit is not required in the text read; a Government representative can be available to show the project, and requests follow Section E of the solicitation, which was not read.
- The deadline for bidders' questions is not stated in the text read; Amendment 0002 says responses to questions will come in a forthcoming amendment.
- How the Government picks the winning combination of Schedules A to E is not stated in the text read.
- No incumbent or earlier contract is named.
Eligibility and how to respond
- No set-aside: any business, large or small, can bid unless the notice says otherwise.
- How to submit, from the AI summary: Email only to EFLHD.Contracts@dot.gov, or a sealed envelope to the Eastern Federal Lands Highway Division office in Ashburn, VA (hand delivery is not recommended). Check it in the notice before you send anything.
- Construction contracts over $2,000 pay at least the local Davis-Bacon wage rates, from the wage determination in the solicitation. Price your labor from it: How to price a government contract, and how Davis-Bacon differs from the Service Contract Act.
Notice details
- Posted
- Sep 1, 2026
- Notice type
- Presolicitation
- Office
- 693C73 Eastern Fed Lands Division, Ashburn, VA
- Product/service code
- Y1LB · Construction of Highways, Roads, Streets, Bridges, and Railways
- Business type
- Construction & renovation (FedReady's grouping, from NAICS 237310)
- Versions
5 versions have been posted, newest first.
- Oct 27, 2026 · Amendment 0003Due Nov 10, 2026 (changed)
- Oct 19, 2026 · Amendment 0002Due Nov 3, 2026 (changed)
- Oct 8, 2026 · Amendment 0001Due Oct 20, 2026
- Sep 17, 2026 · SolicitationDue Oct 20, 2026
- Sep 1, 2026 · Presolicitation (this version)Date Oct 20, 2026
- Attachments
Past awards and competition
Who has won work like this before, the likely incumbent, and what similar contracts paid, from USAspending.gov.
Before you respond
Terms on this notice: Solicitation
Full notice text from SAM.gov
Sealed bids from all business concerns will be accepted for the Natchez Trace Parkway, Project MS NP NATR 3F26, Solicitation Number 693C73-27-B-000001, located in Chickasaw County, Mississippi. The project consists of resurfacing the Parkway, including ramps, bridges, intersections and parking/pull-off areas. The work includes milling, asphalt overlay, shoulder widening, spot reconstruction, pavement markings, raised profile striping at bridge approaches, and other miscellaneous work. The project will be split into multiple work schedules/contract options, with the cost of the entire project expected to fall within the price range of $10,000,000 to $12,000,000. Bid documents should be issued on or about September 17, 2026. Bid due date and location will be specified on the SF 1442, Block 13a of the Solicitation. Use Internet address https://www.sam.gov (click on Contract Opportunities, then type “693C73” in the Search Contract Opportunities box and click the search button and all available projects will be listed) to check for the availability of advertisement documents. All documents can be directly downloaded from this website. Solicitation documents will not be mailed. Register to receive email notifications to be automatically notified when a document is added or updated for a specific project. If firms do not register as an interested vendor at this website, there will be no Interested Vendors List. Please send all questions concerning construction projects to eflhd.contracts@dot.gov. Include the solicitation number, project name and number, requesting firm and address, a point of contact and telephone number. Requests for 'faxing' or overnight mailing will not be accepted. IMPORTANT SAM REGISTRATION AND PAYMENT REQUIREMENTS In accordance with Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) 52.204-7 (DEVIATION NOV 2025), prospective contractors shall have an active Federal Government contracts registration in the System for Award Management (SAM) when submitting an offer in response to this solicitation and at the time of award. To register in SAM, go to https://www.sam.gov. Annual contractor representations and certifications must be completed online at https://www.sam.gov. Also, FAR 52.232-33 requires SAM registration for payment. The required annual Form VETS-4212 must also be completed online at http://www.dol.gov/vets/vets4212.htm per FAR 52.222-37. IMPORTANT SUBCONTRACTING PLAN REQUIREMENTS Required from all “other than small business” when the requirement is expected to exceed $900,000 ($2,000,000 for construction) [FAR 19.109]. Contracting Officer, Contracting Officer’s Representative, and Small Business Specialist are responsible for approving a reasonable and realistic plan [FAR 19.206-3] [TAM 1219.201(e)(6)]. Legislated subcontracting goals are 43.02% - Small Businesses (SB), 5% - Small Disadvantaged Businesses (SDB), 5% - Women-Owned Small Business Entities (WOSB), 3% - HUBZone, 5% - Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Businesses (SDVOSB). A copy of each subcontracting plan (or contractor statement that no subcontracts are to be awarded) must be provided to Eastern Federal Lands and approved by the Office of Small Disadvantaged Business Utilization prior to close of negotiations (or award of the IFB) [TAM 1219.705-5 and -6]. PLEASE NOTE For security reasons, individuals requiring access to all government buildings must present a valid photo ID and be escorted to their destination by a Government employee. All visitors attending bid openings are urged to arrive at least 1 hour prior to a scheduled bid opening. All visitors must sign in at the main entrance of the Quantum Park facility and wait to be escorted by a Government employee to Eastern Federal Lands Highway Division (EFLHD) in Suite 200. Visitors must then register with the EFLHD Receptionist. A Government employee will collect all bids. Prior to the bid opening, a Government employee will escort all bidders to the bid opening. Unescorted visitors will be denied entry and no exceptions will be made. Bidders are encouraged to submit bids electronically per the instructions provided in the solicitation.