Maintenance Dredging of Jamaica Bay (Rockaway Inlet), New York, Federal Navigation Project
Market Survey
Background Information
The New York District of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) proposes to perform maintenance dredging of the Jamaica Bay (Rockaway Inlet), New York, Federal Navigation Project. The material would be dredged from the inlet and subsequently transported to and placed for beneficial use to restore two (2) Marsh Islands (Stony Creek and Duck Point) within Jamaica Bay, approximately 8 miles northeast of the inlet, and/or transported to and placed at the Historic Area Remediation Site (HARS), approximately 5 miles east of Sandy Hook Point, NJ. The proposed maintenance dredging would remove approximately 800,000 cubic yards of sand from the Jamaica Bay (Rockaway Inlet) Channel. Dredging would be required to a depth of -20 feet Mean Lower Low Water (MLLW) plus 1 foot of allowable overdepth. The dredged material is expected to primarily consist of sand.
Past dredging cycles have been performed by utilizing a small hopper dredge or mechanical dredge with a clamshell bucket. If work were to be performed by the latter, multiple ocean-going barges, tug boats, and ancillary equipment would be needed to perform the dredging, transport, and placement activities. The dredging and placement would be required to meet all Federal, State, and approved local criteria required by the government agencies having jurisdiction where the dredging and placement sites are located.
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 5,000 cubic yards per calendar day for the dredging and placement of the dredged sand.
The proposed work is anticipated to take place in the spring and summer of 2026. The work is estimated to cost between $20,000,000.00 and $25,000,000.00.
Stony Creek and Duck Point Marsh Island Placement Sites:
The Stony Creek Marsh Island: Approximately 375,000 cubic yards of dredged material would be placed at intertidal elevations at Stony Creek Marsh Island. The material would then be graded to the appropriate design elevations, restoring approximately 47.6 acres of marsh habitat. In total, this project will restore 3.6 acres of shallow-water habitat, 24.7 acres of low marsh, 6.0 acres of transition zone, 8.9 acres of high marsh, 3.3 acres scrub-shrub, and 1.1 acres of three (3) tidal channels.
The Duck Point Marsh Island: Approximately 425,000 cubic yards of dredged material would be placed at intertidal elevations at Duck Point Marsh Island. The material will then be graded to the appropriate design elevations, restoring approximately 41.0 acres of marsh habitat. The project will restore 5.1 acres of shallow-water habitat, 22.8 acres of low marsh, 12.7 acres of high marsh, 5.0 acres scrub-shrub, and 0.4 acres of tidal channel.
The dredged material would be placed on each marsh island through a pipeline/booster system. The dredged material would be placed on each island using multiple stockpiles throughout the project site. The present acquisition plan for the Stony Creek Marsh and Duck Pont Marsh Restoration projects envisions a separate “marsh builder” contract, such that the dredger will place the material in the stockpiles at an appropriate elevation and the marsh builder would commence restoration using this material. The two contractors would work concurrently, and the marsh builder would proceed when a reasonable amount of material has been placed. The stockpiles will be distributed to allow for each contractor to proceed while minimizing overlap to allow the marsh building contractor to begin regrading at the soonest possible moment without interfering with the continued placement of dredged material.
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 Jamaica Bay (Rockaway Inlet) 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, as a reference of relevant experience.
2. Do you have experience with the placement of dredged material at the HARS? Please list your experience.
3. In particular, do you have experience with the placement of dredged material on marsh lands/islands? Please list your experience.
4. What percentage of work (volume of material dredged, transported, and placed) can you perform with your own equipment or equipment owned by another dredging contractor?
5. Have you performed dredging within the coastal waters of New York?
6. Would you be willing to bid on the project described? If the answer is no, please explain why not.
7. Would you be bidding on this project as a sole contractor, prime contractor with subcontractor(s), or as a joint venture?
8. Would it be preferable if the marsh builder was a subcontractor to the primary dredger as opposed to a separate contract?
9. Is there a dollar limit on the size of contract that you would bid? If so, what is that limit?
10. What is the largest dredging contract, in dollars, on which you were the prime contractor?
11. What is your bonding capacity per contract? What is your total bonding capacity?
12. Do you have experience using the USACE Resident Management System (RMS 3.0) for delivering Submittals, Daily Dredging Reports, and Pay Estimates?
13. Are you familiar with the USACE EM 385-1-1 (Mar. 2024) and all requirements? Deficiencies observed on site will require immediate attention and action to meet all applicable safety codes.
Equipment
14. What type of dredge would be best suited for the dredging and placement of the material at Stoney Creek and Duck Point Marsh Islands in Jamaica Bay? What type of dredge would be best suited for the dredging and placement of the material offshore at the HARS?
15. What type of dredge equipment do you own and/or operate that is suitable for the work described? Do you own a clamshell bucket? Please list each piece of equipment capable of performing the work described, i.e. dredging, transportation, and final placement of the material onshore at the marsh island habitat in Jamaica Bay and/or at the HARS. For each dredge that you list, please specify its bucket size(s)/hopper capacity, and any other salient characteristics.
16. Identify which dredge(s), including support equipment (tug boats, crew boats, etc.), you would employ on this project. Also, for each dredge, identify the maximum dredging depth.
17. Is a pipeline available and capable of reaching the placement site for restoration of the marsh island habitat in Jamaica Bay? What size of the pipeline would be used to perform this work? Will the pipeline be floating or submerged?
18. Do you own ocean-going material scows? If so, how many do you have available for use? Please list the name of the scow, its type (ocean-going, bottom dump, etc.) and the capacity.
19. Will you be able to meet a production rate of 5,000 cubic yards per calendar day?
20. 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)?
21. The amount of material to be placed at each island exceeds the capacity of the stockpiles. As previously indicated, the marsh builder will continually draw from these stockpiles as the stockpiles are replenished until all required material has been placed. The plan presently envisions placement at both islands concurrently, with a single pipe being relocated from one island to the other as needed. Is this feasible?
SUBMITTALS
All interested businesses should notify this office in writing by e-mail and provide a response to the items below:
Provide CAGE Code and DUNS Number. Provide identification and verification of the company as Small Business for NAICS Code 237990 Other Heavy and Civil Engineering Construction. Also, please include information if your company falls within any socio-economic categories.
Prior Construction Performance -- Provide a brief description of two (2) past constructed projects, same or similar in scope. Similar projects seek non-residential facilities, and your past project description must demonstrate that multiple trades were used, such as those described in this project scope of work. The past projects submitted for consideration must have been completed in the last seven (7) years from this Sources Sought response due date. Completion is defined as the date the facility was turned over to the customer.
Prime Contractor/Self-Performance -- Provide a statement verifying that the Prime Contractor is capable and will perform twenty percent (20%) of the physical work within the firm. Indicate the type of work (trade) to be self-performed by the Prime Contractor. This does not include contract supervision and administration duties, such as payroll and bookkeeping.
Bonding Capability -- The interested contract firm must indicate its capability of obtaining performance and payment bonds in the dollar amount (price or range) of the project magnitude, which is between $20 million and $25 million.
All interested businesses should submit their responses in writing by e-mail or package delivery service. The due date for responses is 22 AUGUST 2025 no later than 5:00pm EST. Send responses to:
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, New York District, Contracting Division, Room 16-300, 26 Federal Plaza, New York, NY 10278-0090, Attn.: Ivan Damaso; OR e-mail your submittals to ivan.d.damaso@usace.army.mil AND raphael.t.dungca@usace.army.mil.
This is NOT a commitment on the part of the Government to award a contract as a result of this notice or to pay for any information received. This action neither constitutes a Request for Proposals nor Invitation for Bids, nor does it restrict the Government to an ultimate acquisition approach. This Sources Sought action should not be construed as a commitment by the Government for any purpose. The Government does not intend to rank submittals or provide any reply to interested firms. Submittals will be used for Market Survey information only.
