May 23, 2023 07:35 PM CDT

*** Pre-Bid Meeting for Iowa 9 Mississippi River Bridge in Lansing, Call Order 001 in the August 1, 2023 Special Letting ***

The Iowa Department of Transportation has scheduled a pre-bid meeting for the Lansing bridge projects STP-009-9(82)--2C-03, STP-009-9(83)--2C-03 and STP-009-9(84)--2C-03 . The meeting will be held via Microsoft Teams on June 6, 2023 at 10:00 a.m. and the link to join is below. The purpose of the meeting is to allow the contractors the opportunity to understand the complexity of the project as well as to ask questions to assist in their bidding.

Click here to join the meeting

NOTICE OF SPECIAL LETTING AUGUST 1, 2023  

The Iowa Department of Transportation is conducting a special letting for the replacement of the IA 9 bridge over the Mississippi River at Lansing August 1, 2023 at 10:00 a.m.  The letting information is currently available in the customary locations on both the Bid Express and the Department's websites. 

All qualified contractors are encouraged to bid.  All contractors wishing to bid as prime must request authorization to bid using the 'Request Bidder Eligibility' function on the Bid Express website, www.bidx.com.  

The Iowa Department of Transportation has scheduled a pre-bid meeting for this project. The meeting will be held via Microsoft Teams on June 6, 2023 at 10:00 a.m. and the link to join will be on the Iowa DOT BIDX website. The purpose of the meeting is to allow the contractors the opportunity to understand the complexity of the project as well as to ask questions to assist in their bidding.

NOTICE OF SPECIAL LETTING JUNE 6, 2023  

The Iowa Department of Transportation is conducting a special letting for additional maintenance projects to be held on June 6, 2023 at 10:00 a.m.  The letting information is currently available in the customary locations on both the Bid Express and the Department's websites. 

All qualified contractors are encouraged to bid.  All contractors wishing to bid as prime must request authorization to bid using the 'Request Bidder Eligibility' function on the Bid Express website, www.bidx.com.  That request must be made by noon the day prior to letting for this special letting.

INFOTECH DIGITAL ID PROCESS IMPROVEMENTS

The Infotech Digital ID process has been significantly enhanced. You can use any modern web browser to manage all your digital IDs and requests to bid from a single, convenient screen. This improved experience can be accessed from your MyBidx > Bidding tab.

For additional information, check out the Bidx.com Knowledge Center  

Have questions? Reach out to customer.support@bidx.com.

MESSAGE TO THE CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY REGARDING FEDERAL-AID PROJECTS

Construction industry partners,

As you know, the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act of 2021 (IIJA) provided a significant increase in the amount of Federal funding for transportation for the State of Iowa.  While these funds won't be enough to address every unmet need on our transportation system, the additional Federal funding will help us make significant progress in addressing those needs.  We expect that over the life of the IIJA, which includes federal fiscal years 2022-2026, the average increase in Federal funds to Iowa will be about 30% compared to previous levels. 

However, there are some challenges that come with the additional funding, and one such challenge is the additional state and local funding that is required to match the increased Federal funding.  The purpose of this note is to make you aware of a couple changes that we will need to make to address this challenge.

First, the DOT will need to use Federal funds on more DOT projects than in the past.  Previously, we avoided using Federal funds on smaller projects in order to streamline the project development and contract administration processes.  Now that our Federal funds have increased, we will need to use Federal funds on some projects that in the past we might have paid for with State funds only.  Examples of such projects include: bridge deck overlays, rehabilitation, and repairs; culvert replacements; and smaller pavement rehabilitation and replacement projects.

Second, the DOT's ability to swap the Primary Road Funds for the local agencies share of Federal-aid funds will be much more limited than in the past.  This is because with the additional Federal funds that both the DOT and local agencies will be receiving, the DOT won't have enough Primary Road Funds to both match our own Federal-aid and swap most of the local's Federal-aid.  Previously, the DOT swapped about $150 million of Federal-aid with local agencies annually.  Going forward, we estimate we may be able to swap only about $50 million annually.  In addition, the baseline amount of Federal-aid going to local agencies is increasing.  So with more Federal-aid and less ability to swap, you will also be seeing many more local agency projects that utilize Federal-aid in the future. 

If you have any questions or concerns about these changes, please feel free to contact me. - Charlie Purcell, Deputy Director, Transportation Development Division, charlie.purcell@iowadot.us 

SURETY 2000 2.0 UPDATE

Surety 2000 has recently notified customers of a pending update that requires users to verify profile information and may require you to provide your credentials when verifying your bond.  There have been some inquiries on whether the email received is legitimate.  Surety 2000 has verified it is legitimate.  Please do not disregard this notice.  If you have any questions, please contact Surety 2000 customer support (info@surety2000.com).  

AASHTOWARE PROJECT BIDS 3.2.6

Please ensure you have the latest version of the AASHTOWare Project Bids Bid component (3.2.6) to resolve electronic bid bond verification issues that were occurring in previous versions.

Please direct questions to DOT.Contracts@iowadot.us.

ONLINE SUBMITTAL OF THE CONTRACTOR'S FINANCIAL-EXPERIENCE-EQUIPMANT STATEMENT

The Iowa DOT is now requiring online submittal of the Contractor's Financial-Experience-Equipment Statement (Form 650004). The Form 650004 must be completed and submitted online from a computer, tablet or mobile device. You will be able to upload attachments and submit them with the form. Any other submittal format is not accepted.

To be prequalified to bid as a prime contractor on most work types, a contractor must submit via online a Contractor's Financial-Experience-Equipment Statement (Form 650004) for review by the Department at least five calendar days prior to the scheduled letting date. Previously approved statements expire 18 calendar months from your financial year-end listed on the statement.

A current version of the Contractor's Financial-Experience-Equipment Statement can be found by doing a search for Form 650004 at the following link https://iowadot.seamlessgov.com/sc/.

Please direct questions to DOT.Contracts@iowadot.us.

CHANGES TO CONTRACTOR'S FINANCIAL-EXPERIENCE-EQUIPMENT STATEMENT (FORM 650004)

Effective with the January 20, 2021 project letting, some changes have been made to the Contractor's Financial-Experience-Equipment Statement (Form 650004).
-For a Compiled/Individually Prepared Statement, the maximum prequalification amount has increased from $200,000 to $400,000.
-For a CPA Reviewed Statement, the maximum prequalification limit for an individual proposal has increased from $1,000,000 to $2,000,000.
-The Authorization To Loan limit has increased from $500,000 to $1,000,000.

CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY TRAINING PROGRAM

There were changes made to Iowa DOTs Construction Industry (CIT) Program in September, 2018, including the requirement of pre-approval of all trainings by the Civil Rights Team.  Please find the revised program at https://iowadot.gov/civilrights/documents/TrainingFundProgram.pdf.  Also, please contact Danny Wagener at 515-239-1422 or danny.wagener@iowadot.us with any questions or for pre-approval of reimbursable trainings.

ACTION REQUIRED FOR BIDDING WITH IOWA DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
Iowa Department of Transportation (Iowa DOT) is moving to the new AASHTOWare Project Bids TM software starting with the letting of November 20, 2018. This transition will require vendors to create a new Info Tech Digital ID for use with the Bid Express (R) service at www.bidx.com. The new Digital ID is approved using a paperless process and the cost will be refunded for any existing Digital ID holders who are recreating their active Expedite Digital ID. After the ID is created, you must send a request within the Bid Express service to bid to Iowa DOT.
 
The process to create the ID and request to bid can take up to a week. As a bidder for Iowa DOT, you should immediately download the new software (located in the DOWNLOADS box to the right) and create your new Digital ID. If this process is not completed before the transition, you will be unable to bid. Having the new ID will not impact your ability to bid any lettings prior to the November 20, 2018 letting. A detailed announcement, including directions for creating your new digital ID are in the Also Available box at the right of this page (Project Bids Digital ID Instructions).
 
The Info Tech Customer Support Team is available to assist by phone at 888-352-BIDX (2439) or email (customer.support@bidx.com). The www.bidx.com training center also includes new training materials for the AASHTOWare Project Bids software.

ALL QUESTIONS SUBMITTED THROUGH BIDX Q&A
If a prospective bidder, for a proposal for which the Department is accepting bids, is in doubt as to the true meaning of any part of the contract documents, the bidder may submit to the Contracts Engineer a request for additional information, explanations, or interpretations. The request shall be submitted to the Q&A forum at the letting website used by the Department. Questions should be submitted as early as possible so answers can be researched and posted. Questions submitted within two business days of the letting will likely not be answered. Interpretations may be in the form of an addendum to the contract documents. The Contracting Authority will not be responsible for any information, explanation, or interpretation from any other source.

OBTAINING YOUR RAILROAD CROSSING INFORMATION
A power point presentation with narration is available using the link in the Also Available box on the right hand side of this page.

CONTRACTOR POSTERS
The 8in1 poster is available on the Civil Rights website. The link is: https://iowadot.gov/civilrights/documents-forms-and-reports
E-mail questions and comments to dot.civilrights@dot.iowa.gov

PAYMENTS TO CONTRACTORS
Information on payments to contractors can now be found on the Civil Rights website. The link is: https://iowadot.gov/civilrights/documents-forms-and-reports
E-mail questions and comments to dot.civilrights@dot.iowa.gov

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