Notice of Intent to sole source Rotork brand actuators and accessories

This is an advance notice announcing the intent of the Seattle District US Army Corps of Engineers to award a sole-source firm fixed-price contract to Beaver Equipment LLC, to procure brand name Rotork actuators and accessories to upgrade the 20 existing manual gates and valves to be motorized. All gate and valve motors, actuators and gearboxes through the Mud Mountain Dam Fish Passage Facility are Rotork. The action is authorized by 41 United States Code 1901 as implemented in Federal Acquisition Regulation 13.501(a)(1)(ii), sole source (including brand name) under the authority of the simplified procedures for certain commercial items.

(1) Existing Conditions: Currently at Mud Mountain Fish Passage Facility, all gates and valves motors, actuators and gearboxes are Rotork. The existing gates have a thrust washer which is machined to a Rotork box, and the controls system is programmed to Allen Bradley electronic monitoring systems, and controls.

Operations: The existing gates and valves installed have thrust washers which are machined to Rotork boxes therefore the new gate and valve motors are required to be Rotork in order to match the existing system equipment and have consistent parts. Installing non-Rotork motors would add complexity and added complexity correlates directly with increased risk.

Maintenance: The existing facility has Rotork motors, actuators and gearboxes which ties into the Allen Bradley monitoring and controls system throughout the Mud Mountain Fish Passage Facility. The facility is programmed to work exclusively with Rotork and Allen Bradley equipment, maintenance practices have become more efficient due to redundancy.

Mud Mountain Fish Passage Facility personnel are already trained on the Rotork actuators which have similar maintenance requirements as the existing system and would require less time to institute and maintain. Having standardized components saves the Government time and money, ease of maintenance for working with one manufacturer, reduction of spares kept on hand and decreases system down time due to experienced personnel. Purchasing Rotork furnished parts eliminates confusion by maintenance personnel and ensures cross facility compatibility.

(2) Justification: Purchasing Rotork components to be tied into the existing system, decreases learning curve for replacing the component in event of failure, eliminates confusion by maintenance personnel, and ensures facility compatibility. Changing any single component introduces risk of incompatibility. Only authorized distributors for our region may supply the Rotork products.

The only regional authorized distributor registered in SAM is Beaver Equipment LLC. The North American Industry Classification (NAICS) Code is 333995 – Fluid Power Cylinder and Actuator Manufacturing. The proposed contract action is for supplies or services for which the Government intends to solicit and negotiate with only one source under authority of 13.501(a)(1)(ii). Interested persons may identify their interest and capability to respond to the requirement or submit proposals.

This notice of intent is not a request for competitive proposals. However, all proposals received within fifteen (15) days after date of publication of this synopsis will be considered by the government. A determination by the Government not to compete this proposed contract based upon responses to this notice is solely within the discretion of the government. Information received will normally be considered solely for the purpose of determining whether to conduct a competitive procurement.