Download IFP DOT-OPS-ITS2008-01

The following questions have been raised regarding the Invitation For Bids on DOT-OPS-ITS2008-01 (Intelligent Transportation System Maintenance Services).  Included are the IDOT responses to those questions

Questions Regarding Specific Sections of the Contract

Section 2.3.1.4 – Labor Rates

Question:  Can you clarify sentence three concerning “premium” pay rates.  Is it your intention to multiply the quoted straight time rates by 1.5 or 2 times for premium rates (as applicable) or are the quoted hourly rates supposed to cover any/all premium time?

Answer::  Premium time shall be considered as time at higher rates for work completed as overtime, after hours or Saturday or Sunday.

Section 2.3.1.5 – Incidental Material

Question:  This item makes no sense.  Any item with less that a $25.00 value is incidental to the contract.  If we were to replace 10 fiber optic terminations at $20.00 each plus breakout kits and other associated material, we would be giving hundreds of dollars worth of material away.  During a 2-year contract, this would add up in the thousands of dollars for materials that would not be paid.

Answer:  The cost of incidental parts and materials under $25.00, which are not included in Part 3 would not apply to this contract.  There is no Part 3 of the contract which describes the parts and materials that would be considered incidental to the contract.

Section 2.3.1.6 – Knockdown Debris

Question:  The hauling of knocked down debris is incidental.  Again it takes time to pick up, haul, and unload items such as pole assemblies.  IL D.O.T, storage yards are not always near the sign locations.  For example, to retrieve a pole assembly, it could take 8-10 man-hours to deal with this item.  How can this be incidental?

Answer:  The majority of the equipment to be maintained under this contract is mounted on overhead sign structures; therefore the amount of debris needed to be removed from a knockdown should be minimal.  In the event that an overhead sign structure or the equipment is damaged and is a hazard to the motoring public, the work would be completed in accordance with Article 109.04 of the Standard Specifications.

Section 2.3.1.6 – Travel Time

Question 1:  Is it the intent NOT to pay for travel time to the sites but “chargeable” time begins upon arrival at the site and log-in?

Question 2:  Are we to somehow bury or inflate our base rate to cover travel time to and from these sites?  Our employees have to paid to travel to and from jobs.

Answer 1 & 2:  It is the intent of the contract not to pay for travel time.  The contractor’s time starts once the contractor arrives at the site to begin work.  We note the contract is set up so that a contractor may bid on the entire contract or the contract for individual districts or multiple districts.  The intent of this provision is to encourage contractors to bid on the contract that are able to respond to maintenance issues within the time provisions of the contract.

Section 2.3.1.8 – Response Time

Question 1:  It is physically not possible to get to all of these locations from our office in 1 ½ hours.  Are we to bid only those we can reach?  Since normal service is 24-response, it seems a shame not to be able to bid all of them.  I do not think there is any one contractor that has offices in all of these areas.

Question 2:  (see first question on 2.3.1.4)  Based on the furthest service area(s) emergency response times from our Peoria location are not attainable.  It is your intent to routinely assess liquidated damages per 2.3.1.9?

Answer 1 & 2:  Response times for the maintenance of this equipment could become an issue in providing timely information to the motoring public.  In the case of an emergency where damaged equipment could become a hazard to the motoring public, the response time could become critical.  If a contractor bids on the entire contract then the contractor should have a subcontractor available in this instance to meet the response time specified in the contract.

Section 2.3.1.11 – Traffic Control

Question:  It is virtually impossible to determine what traffic control will be required, how many lane closures might be required, etc.  It is really your intent to have all costs associated with traffic control included in the schedule of pricing in the IFB?  Is your intent also to assess a substantial penalty for failure to clear a traffic lane?  Would the department consider having maintenance provide lane closure if/when required to help reduce costs?

Answer:  Traffic control for maintenance purposes should require no more than a lane closure depending on the location of the equipment and if the contractor has access to the equipment from the shoulder.  In the event that equipment needs to be completely removed for servicing and/or repair that would require a complete temporary road closure with coordination with State Police goes beyond the intended scope of this maintenance contract and would be considered as extra work.

Section 2.3.1.15 –  Work Item

Question:  Paragraph 2 is quite detailed concerning various items of maintenance (ie:  video vehicle detection, etc.) however, Section 2.6 only indicates locations concerning VMS.  What exactly is the scope of work we can expect to be involved in this contract?  Does this contract only concern VMS locations, or are traffic signal installations also included?

Answer:  At the present time the primary purpose of the contract is for the maintenance of the VMS panels.  One district does have surveillance cameras mounted at several interchanges, which are only about a year old and covered under warranty.  When the warranty expires, these cameras will be maintained under this contract.  No traffic signal installations will be maintained under this contract.

General Questions

Regarding “Transportation of Parts is Incidental”: While there are times this would be true, there also will be times when replacement parts must be paid for.  For example, if we were to go to a D.O.T. yard and pick up a pole, and haul it to a site, this would be a special trip and should be compensated for.

Response:  Most of the time when maintenance is being performed at a location, a representative from the district will be available at the site.  The parts to be transported in this instance will probably be circuit boards, cables, controllers, and LED modules, which the district representative will have with them.  At this time we do not foresee any large objects having to be transported from a district storage facility to the site.

Question:  I have not seen any reference to markup allowed for materials (cost plus X%), is there a reference that I missed in my review of the documents?

Answer:  Markup allowance for materials used for maintaining the equipment under this contract is covered under the second paragraph Section 2.3.1.5 “Parts and Materials” of the contract.

Question:  It appears that various operating software is in used in different areas of service.  If required, will the department provide copies of software/licenses for our use (if needed) or will all programming or testing be the responsibility of district personnel?

Answer:  Operating software will not be made available to the contractor for programming and testing purposes.  A representative from the district familiar with the operation of the equipment should be available at the time f maintenance and/or repairs to assist in the programming and testing of the equipment for proper operation.

Question:  Is all software necessary for programming and troubleshooting being provided by the IL I.D.OT.?  Will a laptop be required?

Answer:  Operating software will be necessary for programming, troubleshooting and testing purposes.  A representative from the district familiar with the operation of the equipment should be available at the time of maintenance and/or repairs to assist in the programming, troubleshooting and testing of the equipment for proper operation.

Question:  All bid items show a truck-mounted attenuator.  Is this required?  We do not own one.  Is there an alternate that we may use?

Answer:  Traffic control for maintenance purposes should require no more than a lane closure depending on the location of the equipment and if the contractor has access to the equipment from the shoulder.  Truck mounted attenuators are normally used for moving operations, but that is not to say that a district could require the contractor to supply one due to the location of the work.  It is a separate pay item in the contract.  One of these could probably be leased from one of the traffic control companies, if a district would require it to be used.

Question:  You are requesting labor rates for repairs by the district and not by specific locations.  This is not necessarily in the D.O.T.’s best interest.  Some districts have up to three prevailing wage rates.  To protect ourselves, we would have to quote the highest rate in that district.  If you would request rates by county (or location), the D.O.T. could save up to $12.00 per hour.

Answer:  Exhibit 1 contains the prevailing wages of the counties where the work will be performed.  This contract involves labor rates for seven counties so all of the counties in a district are not included in the contract, so the various labor rates should not be a problem.