Amtrak has issued asolicitationfor letters of interest in a construction manager-at-risk contract (CMAR) for the $1-billion first major contract of a planned three contracts that make up a nearly $5-billion passenger rail tunnel megaproject in Baltimore.
The plan calls for replacing the 149-year-old Baltimore & Potomac Tunnel with two new high-capacity ones, named for Frederick Douglass, the prominent abolitionist and native of Maryland.
When complete, the goal of the three-part project is to upgrade a four-mile segment of Amtrak’s mainstay Northeast Corridor.
The deadline for submitting letters of interest is July 8. Amtrak will make the detailed request for proposals available to qualified entities that send in such expressions of interest. The railroad says it anticipates issuing the RFP in August.
Laura Mason, Amtrak executive vice president of capital delivery, said in a statement, "This is a major milestone for the B&P Replacement Program and this contract includes several critical elements of the project."
In its solicitation, posted June 9 andannounced6月21日，Amtrak说，第一笔合同的主要要素是南部Approach to the new Frederick Douglass Tunnel and一个新的马里兰州地区通勤者（MARC）West Baltimore Station west of Amtrak’s Pennsylvania Station.
Work includes an open-cut excavation to the tunnel’s south portal as well as under-grade and overhead bridges.
The plan also calls for a new track alignment with a flatter curve than the existing one, which Amtrak says will allow for higher speeds.
平曲线也需要让新的West Baltimore MARC Station to comply with Americans With Disabilities Act requirements, the railroad says.
In its solicitation, Amtrak says the selected contractor will work with Amtrak’s in-house design team and also is to prepare a proposed construction price for the project.
如果Amtrak接受拟议的价格，则铁路公司将在构建前阶段与获胜公司或团队签订建设合同。
如果Amtrak不接受承包商的拟议价格，则可以终止承包商参与该项目并寻求其他投标人。
Amtrak says it will use a single-phase, best value procurement for the first package, including qualifications and price factors.
Minimum qualifications for the contractor include a tangible net worth of at least $400 million, a strong safety record, experience with CMAR and other alternative-delivery methods and having carried out construction work on three to five projects over the past 10 years “with similar scope” as the Baltimore project.
