Maintenance Dredging of Newark Bay – -50ft., -40ft. and -35ft. Reaches, New Jersey Federal Navigation Project

The New York District of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) proposes to

perform maintenance dredging of portions of the Newark Bay, New Jersey, Federal

Navigation Project. The dredged material would be processed and subsequently

transported to and placed at a contractor furnished, State permitted upland placement

site(s). The proposed maintenance dredging would remove approximately 280,000

cubic yards (CY) of selected critical shoals from the Main and Port Newark Channels of

Newark Bay. Dredging in these channels would be required to depths of -50 feet, -40

feet, and -35 feet Mean Lower Low Water (MLLW) plus 1 foot allowable over-depth. The

dredged material is expected to consist primarily of silt and clay.

Due to anticipated restrictions found in the New Jersey Department of Environmental

Protection Water Quality Certificate, the proposed work can only be performed by

utilizing a mechanical dredge with a closed clamshell environmental bucket.

Additionally, multiple barges and tugboats will be needed to perform the work during the

dredging, dewatering and unloading operations. The dredged material would be

required to meet all federal, state, and approved local criteria required by the

government agencies having jurisdiction where the placement site is located. All

necessary permits required for the dredged material placement will be provided by the

contractor to the government.

The apparent low bidder shall, within 35 calendar days from the date the apparent low

bidder is notified of being such, provide copies of all required permits and approvals for

transportation, transfer, dewatering, processing, and final placement of dredged

material, and shall submit evidence of such permits and approvals to the government.

Once the contract is awarded, the contractor will be required to commence work within

five (5) calendar days after the date of receipt of the notice to proceed, and maintain an

integrated production rate of at least 2,500 cubic yards per calendar day for the

dredging, transportation, transfer, dewatering, processing, and final placement of the

material. The presence of dredging equipment in the channel will impact ship traffic,

and it is necessary to maintain this production rate while minimizing the duration of this

impact.

The proposed work is anticipated to take place between July 2023 and February 2024.

The work is estimated to cost between $25,000,000 and $100,000,000.

SURVEY OF THE DREDGING INDUSTRY

The following is a confidential survey questionnaire designed to apprise USACE of

prospective dredging contractors’ project execution capabilities. Please provide your

response to the following questions. All questions are regarding the Newark Bay, NJ

maintenance dredging project.

General

1) Have you ever worked on dredging jobs similar in nature to this project? If so,

please describe the project and for whom the work was performed. Identify a

point of contact and phone number.

2) What percentage of work (volume of material dredged, transported, dewatered,

processed, and ultimately placed) can you perform with your own equipment?

3) Do you have experience with the placement of dredged material at contractor furnished, state-permitted upland placement sites? Please list your experience

including the processing and placement sites used to place the material.

4) Have you performed dredging within the waters of the Port of New York and New

Jersey?

5) Would you be willing to bid on the project previously described? If the answer is

No, please explain why not?

6) Would you be bidding on this project as a sole contractor, prime contractor with

subcontractor(s) or as a joint venture?

7) Is there a dollar limit on the size contract that you would bid? If so, what is that

limit?

8) What is the largest dredging contract, in dollars, on which you were the prime

contractor?

9) What is your bonding capacity per contract? What is your total bonding capacity?

10)Do you have experience using the USACE Resident Management System (RMS)

3.0 for delivering Submittals, Daily Dredging reports and Pay Estimates?

11)Do you have experience applying the USACE EM 385-1-1 (Nov 2014) and all

requirements? Deficiencies observed on site will require immediate attention and

action to meet all applicable safety codes.

Equipment

1) What type of dredge equipment do you own and / or operate that is suitable for

the work described? Do you own a closed environmental clamshell bucket?

Please list each piece of equipment capable of performing each type of work

described, i.e. dredging, transfer, transportation, dewatering and/or other

processing, and final placement of the material. For each dredge that you list,

please specify its bucket size(s), and any other salient characteristics.

2) Identify which dredge(s), including support equipment (tug, scows, etc), you

would employ on this project. Also, for each dredge, identify the digging depth.

3) Do you own material scows? If so, how many do you have available for use?

Please list the name of the scow, its type (ocean-going, sealed hull, etc) and the

capacity.

4) Will you be able to meet a production rate of 2,500 cubic yards per calendar day,

with placement at a contractor furnished, state permitted upland placement

site(s)?

5) Do you have experience with the use of an automated Dredged Material

Monitoring System (Black Box/Silent Inspector) or employing a Dredged Material

Inspector (DMI)?