Solicitation
CABLEWAY CRANE REFURBISHMENT
Department of the Interior · Bureau of Reclamation · Sol. 140R3026R0010
Due in 69 days
Track this notice by email. We'll email you if it's amended or awarded, and a week and two days before responses are due.
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 (Lower Colorado Region) wants one contractor to refurbish the 150-ton cableway crane at Hoover Dam, near Boulder City, Nevada: replace the main track cables and other wire ropes, refurbish the carriage, replace sheaves, re-tension, then load test and certify the crane. It is a full and open (no set-aside) firm-fixed-price job with an estimated size of $5 million to $10 million, about 850 days of performance, and proposals are now due December 18, 2026.
Watch out for
- Extreme-height, specialized work. Work is done on cables about 600 feet above the canyon floor, with rope access crews, rescue plans and overhead hazards, so you need proven high-risk rigging experience or a strong partner.
Must include the rescue plan.
- Strict experience screens. The top-ranked factor requires several comparable high-elevation and structural projects, with cableway or heavy cable tensioning experience favored, which can knock out newer or smaller firms.
- Bonds and large up-front materials buying. You must price and furnish performance and payment bonds and buy and deliver all materials in year one, while payment for those materials only comes after the government accepts the delivery submittal.
Within the first year, all materials need to be procured and delivered on site.
- Long schedule with 10% retainage. On-site work is not scheduled until May 2028 because of a power plant outage, and 10% of each line item payment is held until all submittals are accepted.
- All-or-nothing pricing. You must price every line item; leaving any out can get the proposal thrown out.
(d) The solicitation requires submission of a proposal on all items, failure to do so may result in the
- Site visit status unclear. Vendors are expected to inspect the site, but the site visits already held were in July 2026 and a new one is only promised in a later amendment, so check SAM.gov for any new date.
- Award may come with no discussions. The government may pick a winner from initial proposals, so your first submission has to be your best on both technical and price.
Government anticipates making award without discussions.
- Government site safety and security rules. Work follows Reclamation Safety and Health Standards and Hoover Dam security requirements, and workers need protective gear and congested, narrow-road access with limited staging space.
- Proposal due date moved several times. The due date went from 07/31/2026 to 08/12/2026 and then to 12/18/2026, so more changes are possible; watch for further amendments.
Read from the notice and 12 attachments. 2 not read in full.
- Solicitation_No__140R3026R0010.pdf
- Sol_140R3026R0010_Amd_0003.pdf
- Sol_140R3026R0010_Amd_0002.pdf
- Sol_140R3026R0010_Amd_0001.pdf
- Sol_140R3026R0010.pdf
- Attachment_01_-_Statement_of_Work__140R3026R0010.pdf
- Attachment_07_-_Small-Business-Subcontracting-Plan_140R3026R0010.docx
- Attachment_04_-_Bid_Bond_SF24_140R3026R0010.pdf
- Attachment_03a_-_Wage_Determination_AZ20260006.pdf
- Attachment_03b_-_Wage_Determination_NV20260024.pdf
- Attachment_05_-_Performance_and_Payment_Bonds.pdf
- Attachment_06_-_Release_of_Claims_Form_DI-137.pdf
- Sign_In_Sheet_Cableway_Site_Visit_0001.pdf: scanned PDF: no text to read
- Attachment_02_-_Drawings_140R3026R0010.pdf: over the file limit for one brief
Full brief
What they want
- Replace the six 3-1/2 inch track wire ropes (track cables), which span about 1,615 feet, mostly above the canyon
- Replace the two 3/4 inch button line ropes, buttons and button line tensioners; replace the 1-1/8 inch inhaul, outhaul and hoist ropes
- Refurbish the existing carriage and fall block; redesign, refurbish and install the slack carriers; replace sheaves
- Re-tension the track cables and replace the hydraulic hand pump, tensioning system and lines on the Nevada side
- Lubricate all wire ropes and the hoist house mechanical components
- Provide engineering and safety analysis, including an anchor point and concrete footing report
- Perform a 125% capacity load test, then an annual inspection and certify the crane
- Contract type
- Firm-fixed-price, awarded through a negotiated RFP (FAR Part 15); price schedule has 7 lump-sum line items (CLINs 001-007)
- Period of performance
- 850 calendar days after award (listed as 09/30/2026 to 12/29/2028). Materials delivered to site in year 1; on-site work in year 2, scheduled to start May 2028
- Place of performance
- Hoover Dam Powerplant, about 8 miles northeast of Boulder City, Nevada (Clark County, NV and Mohave County, AZ)
- Estimated value
- Estimated magnitude between $5,000,000 and $10,000,000
- How they'll choose
- Best value tradeoff (quality predominance): five technical factors combined are significantly more important than price; award may be made without discussions
- Offers due
- December 18, 2026 at 2:00 PM Pacific Time (extended by Amendment 3 from 08/12/2026)
What they'll judge offers on
- 1. Relevant Experience
- 2. Technical Capability
- 3. Past Performance
- 4. Safety Plan
- 5. Small Business Participation
- 6. Price (least important)
What to include when you submit
- Must submit a proposal on all items (all of Price Schedule A); no partial offers
- Price all seven CLINs, including performance and payment bonds, mobilization, materials, transportation, engineering/safety, on-site construction, and load testing and inspection
- Technical proposal must address each evaluation factor (relevant experience, technical capability, past performance, safety plan, small business participation)
- Acknowledge receipt of each amendment (Amendments 0001 to 0003)
- Written questions go to Max Watanga (maxwell_watanga@ios.doi.gov) and Luis Gallardo (luis_gallardo@ios.doi.gov); the last published question deadline was 07/30/2026
- Other-than-small offerors may be asked to submit and negotiate a small business subcontracting plan (Attachment 07 form)
You must have
- Open to any size business (full and open, no set-aside); size standard for NAICS 237990 is $45M
This requirement will be issued as FULL AND OPEN COMPETITION (UNRESTRICTED).
- Active SAM.gov registration with a UEI and completed online representations and certifications
(UEI) number, be registered and active in the System for Award Management (SAM),
- Rope access workers at height must hold IRATA or SPRAT certification (Level 1 minimum, Level 3 for the supervisor)
Level 3 for rope access work supervisor.
- A licensed Professional Engineer must do the structural analysis of the anchor points and concrete footings
Professional Engineering license for structural analysis.
- Performance and payment bonds (CLIN 001); due within 15 days after notice of award
- Prime contractor must perform the majority of the on-site work and keep a representative on site if subcontractors are used
Prime contractor must perform a majority of the on-site work.
- Relevant experience: at least 3 construction projects at height with fall protection comparable to the roughly 200 ft tower, and at least 3 projects needing concrete footings, anchors and structural analysis; 3 similar past projects within the last 6 years for past performance
Not in the notice text
- How and where to submit proposals (email, portal or sealed), file format and page limits; the instructions to offerors (Section L) were mostly left out of the files provided
- Whether a bid guarantee (bid bond, form SF 24 is attached) is required and its amount
- Whether and when a second site visit will be held
- Drawings (Attachment 02) were too large to read, so full technical detail is missing
- Middle sections of the Statement of Work (about sections 3.1 to 3.7, including track cable and material testing requirements) were not read
- Security requirements and background check details (clause WBR 1452.237-80) were not read
- Wage rates: Davis-Bacon wage determinations for Arizona and Nevada are attached, but the Arizona one was only partly read
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Key facts
- Response due
- Dec 18, 2026, 10:00 PM UTC
- Posted
- Aug 11, 2026
- Notice type
- Solicitation
- Solicitation
- 140R3026R0010
- Agency
- Department of the Interior · Bureau of Reclamation
- Office
- Lower Colorado Regional Office
- NAICS
- 237990
- Product/service code
- Z1KA
- Business type
- Construction & renovation
- Contracting contact
- Watanga, Maxwellmwatanga@usbr.gov7022938045
- Versions
- 3 (amended since first posted)
What similar contracts paid
16 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 50% of the dollars in this market over the last 3 fiscal years.
Typical contract$3.4MMiddle half: $2.2M to $4.4M
Typical per year$3.2MValue divided by years of performance
Before you respond
Full notice text from SAM.gov
Cableway Crane Refurbishment - Hoover Dam
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