Barillas Peak & Encino Vista Lookout Tower Restoration, Santa Fe NF

Scope of Work

This is a design-build construction requirement for the USDA Forest Service, Santa Fe National Forest, covering two remote fire lookout towers on the Pecos Las Vegas and Coyote Ranger Districts.

Base Bid: Barillas Peak Lookout Tower

• Full turnkey design (0/30/60/90/100% submittals) including structural, electrical/solar, plumbing, and civil disciplines, PE stamped
• Removal of existing cab and installation of a new steel canopy/cab on the existing 54 foot tower structure
• Interior outfitting: fire finder and cabinet, two twin beds, kitchen cabinetry, appliances (refrigerator, microwave, hot plate), furnishings, weather station
• Mechanized lift/davit system for hoisting supplies and water
• New off-grid solar PV system (concept approximately 5.2 kW, 48VDC battery bank) with backup generator and DC/AC distribution
• Electric baseboard heating
• Gray water plumbing and a new CMU (8x8x9) toilet/storage building connecting to the existing septic tank (no new tank or drain field design in scope)
• Communications: supply and install one ANT150F2 VHF antenna with LDF4-50 coax, entry panels, Polyphaser surge protection, and sweep testing
• Lightning protection and grounding system per NFPA 780 and NFPA 70, including ground rods, ground ring, exothermic welds, and ohm testing (target 10 ohms or less), with third party certification by TEDS
• Site/civil work: trenching, handrails, fencing, access gate at bottom of stairs, gravel/washed rock for access road and parking, reseeding with native grass
• Demolition of existing cab and flagpole, debris disposal

Option A: Encino Vista Lookout Tower

• Design (site visits, 30/60/90/100% submittals for NFPA 780, grounding, solar)
• New lightning protection and grounding system, including inspection and testing
• New solar power system with backup generator
• Existing tower height is 54 feet 6 inches
• Note: this option does not appear to include cab replacement, only LP/grounding and solar per the Schedule of Items

Key Requirements

• Delivery period: 548 calendar days after Notice to Proceed
• Delivery location: USDA Forest Service Santa Fe Interagency Fire Center, 11 Forest Lane, Santa Fe, NM 87508
• 20 percent bid bond required with the quote package
• Performance and payment bonds required (52.228-15)
• Management plan due within 60 days of award, including Work Breakdown Structure, project schedule, and assigned Project Manager
• Risk Management Plan due within 30 days of award
• QA/QC Plan due within 30 days of award
• Delegation of Authority letter to COR within 10 days of ARO
• Subcontractor plan and COR notification of all subcontractors/suppliers
• Fire Plan required prior to work during closed fire season, jointly prepared with Forest Service
• Weekly and monthly progress reports to the Forest Service POC
• IPP invoices must include breakdown of work, costs, and photos
• Deliverables due to Government for review 60 days prior to installation or as soon as possible
• Concrete testing required: slump, temperature, air content, one set of four cylinders per truckload
• Antenna sweep tests required, results provided to USFS before crew leaves site
• Ground resistance testing using Fall of Potential (3-point) method, pre and post installation, with photos of below-grade grounding and USFS civil inspector/COR sign-off prior to burial
• Final closeout package must include PE stamped tower and foundation drawings, ground system drawings, rolling sphere drawing, as-built drawings, geotechnical report, concrete mix design, concrete test reports, antenna sweep tests, and signed certificate of completion
• No antenna substitutions allowed without COR acceptance
• Wage determinations NM20260028 (included in text) and NM20260026 (referenced but not included in these documents) apply, meaning Davis-Bacon prevailing wage requirements apply
• Contractor responsible for fire suppression costs caused by its own operations, fire toolbox and equipment requirements during fire season, spark arresters, and compliance with Fire Precaution Plan levels A through D

Submission Instructions

• Response deadline: October 12, 2026, 21:00 GMT (per the opportunity header). The SF1442 also lists 10/12/2026 as the offer due date, with 1400 (2:00 PM) local time referenced, though the exact time zone for the 1400 figure is not clearly specified in these documents. Confirm exact submission time and method directly with the Contracting Officer.
• Requests for Information due no later than Thursday, October 1, 2026, at 2:00 PM Pacific Time, submitted via email to richard.ortega@usda.gov
• Submission address: Via email only, Contract Specialist Richard Ortega, richard.ortega@usda.gov, USDA-FS CSA Southwest 7, 333 Broadway Blvd SE, Albuquerque, NM 87102-3498
• A pre-bid site visit schedule is referenced ("See solicitation for organized Pre-Bid Site Visit schedule") but the schedule itself is not included in these documents
• Failure to inspect the site does not constitute grounds for a claim after award
• Sealed offers in original and copies are required per Item 13a of the SF1442, but the exact number of copies is not specified in these documents
• Minimum acceptance period after offers are due: 60 calendar days (per Item 13d reference)

Risks and Red Flags

• Extremely remote, high-elevation lookout tower sites with limited access. Public roads are described as accessible only late spring through late fall, meaning the effective construction season is limited
• Contractor is responsible for identifying and providing its own access for heavy equipment if no access road exists, and must restore any access route to original condition
• Full turnkey design-build scope requires the contractor (or a subcontracted A&E) to produce PE stamped structural, civil, electrical, and plumbing designs through five phases (0/30/60/90/100 percent), which is a significant design burden layered on top of construction
• Existing tower structural capacity is not confirmed. The SOW requires "final structural analysis report validating the capacity of the existing tower" and detailing "necessary strengthening/remediation... due to fire damage," indicating unknown structural conditions until design phase, which is a cost and schedule risk
• Fire damage is referenced multiple times ("extent of the fire damage," "due to fire damage") but no description of the fire event, damage extent, or photos is included in these documents
• Grounding performance requirement of 10 ohms or less is demanding for rocky/mountainous terrain typical of lookout tower sites, which may require significant ground enhancement material (GEM/bentonite) and could drive cost overruns
• Wage determination NM20260026 is referenced as Attachment 6 but its content is not included in these documents, only NM20260028 (Document 1) is provided. San Miguel County rates are shown, but Encino Vista's county/wage determination applicability is not specified in these documents
• 20 percent bid bond is a high bonding requirement relative to typical construction solicitations, which may be a barrier for smaller small businesses
• Fixed 548 day delivery period must accommodate seasonal access restrictions, fire season shutdown provisions (Plan C and D can halt welding, blasting, and power equipment use), and potential Mexican Spotted Owl restrictions curtailing operations, all of which could compress the effective working window well below 548 days
• Ambiguity in the SF1442 between checked boxes for "Invitation for Bid" and "Negotiated (RFP)" suggests a possible template error; the actual competitive method should be confirmed
• Long list of AGAR clauses including new DEI compliance certification (452.203-71) and unenforceable supplier terms clause (452.203-72), which contractors should review carefully for compliance obligations
• CMU toilet building explicitly excludes a shower per USFS direction, and septic tank design/drain field is explicitly excluded from scope, meaning the contractor must connect to an existing system without redesigning it, and any inadequacy in the existing septic system is not covered