This is a Sources Sought Notice (SSN) for the purpose of conducting market research. Proposals are NOT being requested, nor accepted at this time. Responses are being requested from both large and small businesses.
Purpose: The purpose of this notice is to gain knowledge regarding the type of interested businesses and their qualifications. The National Park Service (NPS) will use information obtained through this notice to develop an acquisition strategy.
The Government anticipates conducting a competitive acquisition for this requirement. The amount of interest or lack thereof will determine the possibility of a small business or other socio-economical small business set-aside for the solicitation. Analysis of the quality of responses to this source sought announcement will be considered in the market research being conducted, and in the making of any small business set-aside determination for this requirement.
Additional Information: No proposal package, solicitation, specification or drawings are available with this notice.
Cost Reimbursement: Response to this announcement is strictly voluntary; no reimbursement will be made for any costs associated with providing information in response to this sources sought announcement or any follow-up information requests.
North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) code: 237110 Water and Sewer Line and Related Structures
Small Business Size Standard: $45
Solicitation: The NPS anticipates issuing a request for proposals in the Summer 2025.
Bonding: The NPS anticipates bid, performance and payment bonds will be required
Project Description:
Mesa Verde was a cultural indegionious people community with historical dwellings.
The project is located at: Mesa Verde National Park, Cortez. CO.
The construction magnitude is $5M -$10M mandatory.
The surrounding area is rural with limited staging located at pull outs and along the water line alignment.
Note any unique material delivery requirements.
The construction site is approximately 34 miles from nearest suppliers and lodging facilities.
The Park will remain open during construction, thus contract activities and logistics must be structured and scheduled to minimize visitor impact.
The site requires protective measures to ensure the surrounding area remains undisturbed.
The structure is a historic/natural/cultural resource.
There are seasonal/other shutdowns mandated through the construction season.
Winter construction may be required.
(plus anything else describing common conditions we ask about)
Project Scope:
The park domestic water services infrastructure has components constructed in the 1980’s with various ages of modifications, upgrades, and replacements since construction. Domestic water storage tanks at Chapin Mesa and water distribution pipes serving Morefield Campground and Wetherill Mesa and have exceeded,
their typical useful service lives, and have been identified to be replaced.
Morefield Area:
The Morefield area serves all campers at Mesa Verde National Park (MEVE), seasonal and permanent park residents and a large concessions operation. Morefield domestic water pipe replacement project includes about 3.3 miles of water supply pipe that operates under high-pressure up steep grades to fill the Morefield storage tank.
This main water supply pipe was originally constructed in 1983 with several sections of pipe replaced since original construction. The most recent pipe section replacement project was in 2010 with the pipe length now constructed of three types of pipe materials and ages. Pipe isolation valves in concrete vaults create confined workspaces making maintenance and operation more difficult.
The Morefield Area includes the park’s only 267 site campground located at the head of Morefield Canyon – open approximately 7 months out of the year with an observed 25,000 campers in 2019. Park staff housing in this area includes occupant law enforcement, structural fire fighters and other permanent and seasonal employees, and their families. The concessions store, laundry, gas station, restaurant and shower facilities are served by this waterline.
Wetherill Area:
MEVE’s Visitor Distribution and Transportation Vision Plan identifies Wetherill Mesa as critical component in redistributing visitor use on Chapin Mesa particularly in Headquarters and Mesa Top Loops area. The existing waterline that serves Wetherill Mesa is the original pipeline installed during the Mission 66 development of Wetherill Mesa and frequency of leaks is increasing as this piping continues to deteriorate and fail. Increased visitor use of Wetherill Mesa requires replacing aged and failing water service pipe to the visitor contact station, concession facility and the public comfort stations. The new water will also serve for structural and resource fire protection. Having reliable water service at Wetherill Mesa will increase visitor safety. In 2019 approximately Wetherill Mesa received 192,00 of the park’s visitors accounting for approximately 20% of the park’s visitation.
These water line replacements will significantly reduce the risk of a catastrophic failure of service that would prevent use of the Morefield and Wetherill areas of the park. Maintenance of this water supply is essential for park operations, visitor use and safety, concession operations and fire protection of park cultural resources.
Scope of Work:
The objective of this project is to replace the water line serving the Morefield housing area, campground operations and also replace the water line serving the Wetherill Mesa and Badger House Community comfort station within MEVE near Cortez, Colorado.
The existing facilities to be replaced or refurbished include approximately 13 miles of water line at Wetherill Mesa and 5 miles of water line at Morefield. Along with the water line replacemen twill be surfacing replacement, new valves and valve boxes, fire hydrants, tank connections, and select demo of existing facilities.
Morefield Water Line:
The new Morefield water line alignment is planned to be about 10-20-foot offset from the existing line throughout the lower segments in order to maintain service during construction. The lower segment will be a combination of open trench installation and HDD installation and the upper segment is anticipated to be all HDD installation. The segment of the water line going up the Mesa shall also be offset from the existing alignment by approximately 10-20 feet, however some segments may be re-aligned to shorten the length of the overall alignment. The minimum bury depth for the water main shall be four feet and maximum eight feet unless there are specific locations where it needs to be lower to avoid conflicts. Any roadways disturbed by pipe installation will be restored to preexisting conditions. The Morefield water line is the only line feeding the
Morefield campground area and thus the existing main will need to remain in service to the maximum extent feasible during construction with short shutdowns allowed for switch over connections at each end. There is a segment of the Morefield water line just north of the stainless-steel replacement pipe where the pipe is currently outside of the MEVE park boundary. The replacement pipe will be relocated to be under the access road within the park boundary. The north portion of the Morefield line, before turning west toward the Visitor Center, is located within an easement in the Henneman Life Estate. The water line replacement in this area will need to be coordinated with the current residents
The existing water line is a 6-inch diameter spiral welded steel water line except for the two segments that were replaced in 2010 with stainless steel totaling approximately 2,730 linear feet. Pressures in this segment range from 100 psi to 800 psi and there is an elevation change of over 1,050 vertical feet from the lower segment up the mesa to the Morefield Tank. Due to the high pressures, 2250 psi=rated Flex Steel was the recommended pipe type for this segment of water line replacement. Installation methods shall be a combination of HDD and open trench for this segment as shown in the plan sheets. The existing main must remain in service during construction and thus the new water line will be installed offset approximately 10 feet from the existing water line.
The replacement valves and fittings shall be stainless steel fittings and valves rated to 2250 psi. There are three isolation valves on this segment of water line that will be replaced with this project and two new valves anticipated to be installed.
Wetherill Water Line:
The Wetherill water line will be replaced with a 6-inch diameter water line in a similar alignment to the existing line within the roadway for the majority of the length between the Navajo Hill tank and the Wetherill tank using traditional open trench installation methods while also minimizing impacts to undisturbed areas and archaeological sites. Minimum bury depth for the water main shall be 4 feet and maximum 8 feet unless there
are specific locations where it needs to be lower to avoid conflicts.
The current water line is a 6-inch diameter ductile iron water line for the entire length. Pressures in the system range from 27 psi to 550 psi just upstream of the existing PRV station near the Wetherill tank and there is an elevation change of approximately 1,150 vertical feet from the Navajo Hill two-million-gallon tank to the end of the line near Badger House. Adding PRVs along the alignment to keep the pressure under 150 psi for the entire length was discussed at the VA meeting but would require four separate PRVs installed along the alignment instead of the two PRVs currently installed in one location near the tank. The preferred alternative was to install a new PRV station on the water main near the Wetherill tank to reduce pressure. This led to the selection of 1500 psi rated Flex Steel as the water line material for the entire Wetherill alignment due to the pressure ratings and cost. Installation method will be open trench for this water main and possibly some short segments of HDD in select areas to avoid conflicts.
The main water line feed will no longer route through the Wetherill Tank and will instead route directly down the access road to the comfort stations. The tank will be connected to the water main with isolation valves upstream and downstream for use in fire flow events or if a portion of the upstream water line needs to be shut down for maintenance. This will help with the water quality issues the park has been having at the end of the line and reduce the amount of treated water that needs to be flushed near the comfort stations. All replacement valves and fittings shall be stainless steel fittings and valves rated to 1500 psi.
There will be new air release valves installed at all the high points in the water line profile and new isolation valves and drain lines installed at all the low points in the water line profile, currently eight estimated for both air release and drain valves. Six new Fire Hydrants will be installed at the three parking areas along the roadway, near the Wetherill Tank, near the Wetherill Mesa Comfort Station, and near the Badger House Comfort Station.
Submittal Contents: Interested (small and large) businesses should submit the following information:
(1) Company name, DUNS number, address, point of contact, telephone number, and email address.
(2) Business type: Classification as a Large or Small Business under the above listed NAICS, Small Business Administration (SBA) certified Historically Underutilized Business Zone (HUBZone), Veteran-Owned Small Businesses (VOSB), Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Businesses (SDVOSB), SBA certified Woman Owned Small Business (WOSB), Economically Disadvantaged Woman Owned Small Business (EDWOSB). The size of a small business firm includes all parents, subsidiaries, affiliates, etc.—see 13 CFR 121.108.) Misrepresentation of size status can result in penalties.
(3) Statement regarding your company’s bonding capacity. Letters from bonding companies are not required at this time.
(4) Information demonstrating experience and capability on projects of same or similar size, scope and magnitude, and constructed under similar conditions.
(5) In addition businesses may submit existing marketing materials such as capability statements and brochures.
Submittal Due Date/Time: 6/27/25
Submit To: CO: james_waller@nps.gov and CS: kristin_tauber@nps.gov
