Barnard-Slurry Walls, J.V.

Barnard-Slurry Walls, J.V. BNUMBER: B-274973; B-274973.2 DATE: January 15, 1997 TITLE: Barnard-Slurry Walls, J.V. ********************************************************************** Matter of:Barnard-Slurry Walls, J.V. File: B-274973; B-274973.2 Date:January 15, 1997 Carter B. Reid, Esq., and Robert M. Fitzgerald, Esq., Watt, Tieder & Hoffar, L.L.P., and Brian M. Morris, Esq., and William L. Madden, Esq., Goetz, Madden & Dunn, P.C., for the protester. Thomas J. Madden, Esq., Charles R. Marvin, Esq., and W. Craig Dubishar, Esq., Venable, Baetjer & Howard, L.L.P., for Solentanche-Inquip, JV, an intervenor. Clark J. Hulce, Esq., and William L. Henson, Esq., Department of the Army, for the agency. Charles W. Morrow, Esq., and James A. Spangenberg, Esq., Office of the General Counsel, GAO, participated in the preparation of the decision. DIGEST Low bid for levee reconstruction work was properly rejected as materially unbalanced where the lump sum price for preparatory work line item was many multiples higher than the reasonable value of the work, such that the bid was grossly front-loaded, and the unit price for the levee reconstruction work was significantly less than the government estimate and other bid prices. DECISION Barnard-Slurry Walls, J.V. protests the rejection of its bid as unbalanced under invitation for bids (IFB) No. DACW05-96-B-0066, issued by the United States Army Corps of Engineers, Sacramento District, for levee reconstruction work. We deny the protest. The IFB, issued on August 13, 1996, contemplated the award of a firm, fixed-price contract for levee reconstruction at two sites in the Maryville/Yuba City area of California. The project required the construction of an impervious slurry cut-off wall at the south levee of the Yuba river and at the east levee of the Feather river. The pricing schedule for the project contained nine separate contract line items (CLIN) as follows: CLIN 0001 - Preparatory Work; CLIN 0002 - Demolition; CLIN 0003 - Aggregate Base Course; CLIN 0004 - Erosion Control Seeding; CLIN 0005 - Slurry Cut-off Wall; CLIN 0006 - Soil Explorations; CLIN 0007 - Bituminous Surface Course; CLIN 0008 - Bituminous Prime Coat; and CLIN 0009 - Site Clean-Up. All of the line items, except CLIN 0003 and CLIN 0005, requested a lump sum bid price. CLIN 0003 requested a per ton unit and extended price for an estimated 6,400 tons of aggregate base course and CLIN 0005 requested a per square foot unit and extended price for constructing an estimated 750,000 square feet of slurry cut-off wall. The technical specifications described the work to be performed and the method of payment for each CLIN. With regard to the CLIN 0001, preparatory work, the IFB provided: "1.1 Scope: Preparatory work shall consist of operations including, but not limited to, those necessary for the movement of personnel, equipment, supplies, and incidentals to the project site; for the establishment of all facilities necessary for work on the project, and for all other work and operations which must be performed, or costs incurred prior to beginning work on the various Contract items on the project site. . . . . . "7. Measurement and Payment: Measurement and payment . . . for . . . covered by this section . . . shall be made at the contract lump sum price for "PREPARATORY WORK" . . . . With regard to CLIN 0005, slurry cut-off wall, the IFB provided that the contractor was required to furnish "all necessary plant and equipment" to construct the slurry cut-off wall. The IFB further provided that payment for the work covered by this CLIN would be made at the contract per square foot price for the measured work and that no separate payment would be made for work performed under this CLIN for materials and equipment. The IFB incorporated the Payments under Fixed-Price Construction Contracts clause at Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) sec. 52.232-5, which among other things authorizes progress payments. The IFB also required the contractor to submit a project schedule (of values) if it expected to receive progress payments during the contract. The IFB contemplated award to the low responsive and responsible bidder, but cautioned that "any submitted pricing schedule determined to be unbalanced may be considered nonresponsive and cause the bidder to be ineligible for the award." In this regard, the IFB required bidders to distribute their "indirect costs (overhead, profit, bond, etc.) over all the items in the" schedule. The Corps received three bids at the September 12 bid opening. Barnard submitted the apparent low bid of $4,827,500, Solentanche-Inquip, JV, submitted the next low bid of $5,342,500, and Geo-Con submitted the third low bid of $5,918,300.