All Steel Portable Bridge Requirements & Specifications

BC Ministry of Forests, Lands, Natural Resource Operations and Rural Development (FLNRORD)

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Ministry Structure Number(s): {Specify Structure Number(s)}

Scope of Work

Design of structural bridge components, fabricate, supply {XX, specify number of structures} all steel portable bridge(s) for {state office name and location} and deliver to {describe location or “as per attached map”}.

Terms and Conditions

Contractor General Qualifications

{Retain only one of either Box A or Box B below, and delete the other.}

Selection of Box A or BoxB should be made in consultation with the responsible Ministry Bridge Engineer.

Box A: Recommended for “bridge supply orders” involving any one of the following high risk businessfactors:

  • a large number of bridges (eg. 6 or more bridges per contract)
  • long span bridges (eg. >30 m)
  • complex or expensive bridges
  • urgent or unusually short fabrication and delivery time frames.

Box B: Recommended for bridge supply orders involving all of the following low risk business factors:

  • a small number of bridges (eg. 5 or less bridges per contract)
  • short span bridges (eg. <30 m)
  • simple (routine) or inexpensive bridges
  • usual fabrication and delivery time frames.

Box A

Bidders, as identified in their quote, must have successfully designed(or retained a qualified engineer to design), fabricated, supplied and delivered on time at least 5 bridges, similar in size, scope and complexity to those specified in this document, within the past 2 years and, at the request of the Ministry of Forests, Lands, Natural Resource Operations and Rural Development (the ministry), be able to provide proof* of such performance.

OR

Box B

Bidders, as identified in their quote, must satisfy one of the following requirements:
  1. the bidder has successfully designed(or retained a qualified engineer to design), fabricated, supplied and delivered on-time and otherwise satisfactorily fulfilled all terms of contracts for at least 5 bridges, similar in size, scope and complexity to those specified in this document, within the past 2 years and, at the request of the Ministry of Forests, Lands, Natural Resource Operations and Rural Development (the ministry), be able to provide proof* of such performance;

OR
  1. the bidder has not successfully designed(or retained a qualified engineer to design), fabricated, supplied and delivered on time, at least 5 bridges, similar in size, scope and complexity to those specified in this document, within the past 2 years, but can provide proof* that they are capable of performing this project within the time limits and requirements specified in this document. [Note:Potential bidders who have not previously fabricated and supplied bridges for the ministry and who are uncertain as to whether they sufficiently comply with the qualification requirements are encouraged to contact Ministry Engineering Branch Headquarters (Headquarters Bridge Standards Engineer, Mike Penner ()), prior to submission of a bid. It is recommended that this contact be made well in advance of bidding on an ITQ, in order to facilitate the evaluation process.]

Bidders must advise the ministry, in writing, within 2 business days of a request from the ministry, which of these two requirements they qualify within.
Bidders who have not successfully designed(or retained a qualified engineer to design), fabricated, supplied and delivered on-time at least 5 bridges, similar in size, scope and complexity to those specified in this document, within the past 2 years shall be limited to being considered for bridge design, fabrication and supply contracts with the ministry, comprising an aggregate total of no more than 5 bridges at any given time. Such limitation may affect the eligibility of any bidder under this Invitation to Quote.

* Proof for the purposes of the foregoing is required to be submitted within 4business days of a request from the ministry, and must include, but is not necessarily limited to:

  1. a description of the relevant products designed, fabricated, supplied and delivered by the bidder noting configuration and relevant dimensions;
  2. evidence that the bidder has successfully carried out and completed works of a similar nature or is otherwise fully capable of fulfilling a contract having the necessary qualifications;
  3. a list of relevant fabricating equipment (and its condition) that the bidder intends to use to fulfil the contract;
  4. evidence that the personnel being utilized by the bidder to perform the works for this contract have the necessary professional standing, technical and trade qualifications, or licenses necessary to fulfil a contract; and,
  5. the name and contact information of the Professional Engineer who took responsibility for the design of the relevant products specified above.

The ministry shall be the sole and final judge of the sufficiency of the proof provided.

  • The ministry may, at any time and from time to time, after closing time of this Invitation to Quote, require any bidder, or successful bidder, to satisfy the ministry, in its sole discretion, that they have the necessary qualifications, finances, equipment, fabrication site, material, personnel, and resources available to carry out the fulfillment of any contract resulting from this Invitation to Quote in a safe, competent manner, within the time limits, and any other requirements specified in the Invitation to Quote, including by delivering information to the ministry in writing. Any bidder, or successful bidder,asked to provide this information must comply with the request within 4 business days from the date on which the request was made. The ministry reserves the right to reject the quote of any bidder, or to terminate the contract with any successful bidder, that does not provide information to the satisfaction of the ministry, in its sole and absolute discretion, in response to any such request.
  • The ministry, at its sole discretion, may elect to have the bidder’s fabrication facility and equipment reviewed to satisfy itself of a bidder’s likely ability to carry out the terms and conditions of this tender.

Subcontractor Qualifications

  • Using a sub-contractor is acceptable. This includes a joint submission by two bidders having no formal corporate links. However, in this case, one of these bidders must take overall responsibility for successful performance of the contract and this must be clearly defined in the bid.
  • Sub-contractors must meet the “Contractor General Qualifications” and other relevant qualifications described in this ITQ, particularly if they will be fabricating and supplying primary bridge components (steel girders, precast concrete girders and panels, timber stringers and portable timber panel modules).
  • All sub-contractors, including the subsidiary member of a joint submission, must be approved prior to award of contract by the ministry. If a bidder proposes to use sub-contractors, the Bidder must include in its bid the names of all its sub-contractors and a description of the work they are proposed to complete. Additionally, the ministry reserves the right before award of contract to request from a bidder the (1) certificates of qualification of all sub-contractors and (2) documentation demonstrating that subcontractors meet the performance terms and conditions described under the “Contractor General Qualifications” in this ITQ.
  • If in the sole opinion of the ministry a proposed sub-contractor does not meet the qualifications described in this ITQ, the bid will be rejected and a contract will not be awarded.

Welding Qualifications

  • Bidders responsible for shop welded construction must be certified, at the time of tender and for the duration of fabrication, for Division 1 or Division 2 of CSA Standard W47.1, Certification of Companies for Fusion Welding of Steel Structures, with the following exceptions: fabrication of bridge railings, shear connectors for concrete slab bridges, and miscellaneous steelwork for all-timber portable superstructures may be undertaken by companies certified for Division 3 of CSA W47.1.
  • Bidders must provide proof of appropriate Canadian Welding Bureau (CWB) certification within 2 business days of a ministry request.

Precast Concrete Qualifications

  • Fabricators responsible for precast concrete fabrication (except for concrete roadside barriers and unreinforced interlocking blocks) must be certified, at the time of tender and for the duration of fabrication, in accordance with CSA A23.4 Precast Concrete- Materials and Construction. Companies must be certified by the Canadian Standards Association (CSA), or the Canadian Precast/Prestressed Concrete Institute (CPCI).Bidders must provide proof of certification within 2 business days of a ministry request.

General

  • The successful bidder shall not deliver the fabricated materials beyond the dates shown in the schedule without the prior written consent of the ministry.
  • The successful bidder shall warrant all material fabricated and supplied against defects in materials and workmanship for a period of one year from the completion of manufacture. All defective products must be repaired or replaced to the satisfaction of the ministry as soon as is practicable, at the successful bidder’s own expense.
  • The successful bidder will be responsible to rectify, at its cost, any field fit problems of fabricated bridge components attributed to errors in fabrication.

Designer Qualifications

  • Professional designs, required as part of the contract works, must be completed by a Professional Engineer licensed to practice in the Province of BC. This Engineer must have successfully completed, and taken full responsibility for by signing and sealing, detailed structural design drawings for at least 5 bridges similar in size, scope, and complexity to those specified in this document, for the Province of BC and/or forest companies operating in BC, within the past 5 years. Alternatively, the Professional Engineer must be able to provide proof of equivalent forest road bridge engineering experience that confirms a sufficient ability to undertake the design work associated with the performance of this contract.
  • Upon ministry request, the bidder or successful bidder, as identified in their quote, must provide proof of the professional designer’s experience and qualifications, within 2business days of the request. Failure to supply adequate proof, as determined by the ministry, may result in rejection of the quote or termination of the contract at the ministry’s sole discretion. Proof of experience and qualifications must include, but is not necessarily limited to: the name and contact information of the Professional Engineer, provision of representative bridge design drawings signed and sealed by that Professional Engineer, and names and contacts for recipients of previous bridge designs of that Professional Engineer. The ministry shall be the sole and final judge of the sufficiency of the proof provided.

Schedule for works

  • Upon request from the ministry, a bidder, or successful bidder, must supply, within 4businessdays of the request, a schedule for works which conforms to the required delivery dates of the tender. The schedule must include, but is not necessarily limited to: material receipt dates, fabrication commencement date, a minimum of 3critical intermediate fabrication milestone dates, and a fabrication completion date. The schedule shall also include timelines for submissions of designs, for ministry approval. The schedule shall provide a minimum of 5 business days for ministry review of designs. Failure to provide a satisfactory schedule may result in rejection of the bid, or termination of the contract, at the ministry’s sole discretion. The ministry shall be the sole and final judge of the sufficiency of the schedule provided.

Ministry Standard Reference Documents

  • Ministry standard drawings
  • Ministry Interim Bridge Design Guidelines (IBDG)
  • Forest Service Bridge Design and Construction Manual (FSBDCM)
  • The standard drawings, IBDG, and FSBDCM are available for downloading at: and

General Design Requirements

  • Specific detailed design drawings, signed and sealed by the successful bidder’s design engineer, are required for all bridge components to be supplied under this contract. The design drawings shall detail all components. The successful bidder’s design engineer shall take full professional responsibility for the overall structural design of the bridge.
  • Detailed bridge design shall be undertaken in general conformance with (1) the ministry standard drawingsspecified in this document, and (2) any accompanying attached site specific drawings supplied by the ministry under this contract.
  • In the event of discrepancy between the ministry standard drawings and any attached site specific drawings supplied under this contract, the site specific drawings shall govern.
  • It shall be the responsibility of the successful bidder’s design engineer to clarify and resolve design requirement discrepancies for the production of the final detailed design drawings.
  • Detailed design drawings shall note all relevant dimension and design information including, but not limited to: detail drawings of all connections between the individual elements, type and location of lifting hooks suitable for lift by an excavator, and the estimated weight of each component.
  • The ministry retains the right to complete a professional peer review of any submitted detailed design drawings, at its discretion and expense. If the peer review identifies deficiencies in the design, the successful bidder shall bear the cost of remediating the deficiencies on any structure or components fabricated under the contract to the satisfaction of the ministry.
  • Design calculations and engineering notes clearly indicating design analysis for the bridge shall be made available to the ministry within 5 business days of a request by the Ministry Bridge Engineer responsible for design and fabrication review (contact info provided in Table 2).
  • For skewed, flared or complex bridge components, shop fabrication drawings must be prepared to minimize the potential for anyfield fit problems. Shop fabrication drawings means the drawings, diagrams, illustrations, schedules, and other data produced by the successful bidder intended to illustrate details of a portion of the items of work to be fabricated. They provide information which assists in confirming the intent of the design and in making the required components.
  • Precast Concrete: Where required and as applicable, shop fabrication drawings shall show all information and details needed for the fabrication of the members including, but not limited to, such items as member shapes and dimensions, mark numbers and general arrangement of member locations, mass of members, prestessed and non- prestressed reinforcement, embedments, openings, block outs, chamfers, recesses, finishes, concrete mix design, stressing details, special tolerances, special handling instructions, lifting details and lifting locations.
  • Steel: Where required and as applicable, shop fabrication drawings shall show all information and details needed for the fabrication of the members including, but not limited to, such items as member shapes and dimensions, camber diagram, complete geometric information that member dimensions and shapes are based on, connection details, material and product standards, mark numbers and general arrangement of member locations, details of attachments, fastener details, weld details, mass of members, special tolerances, special handling instructions, coating details, lifting details and lifting locations.
  • Shop fabrication drawings typically do not contain design information. However, in the event that design elements are detailed on the shop fabrication drawings, the shop fabrication drawings shall be prepared and signed and sealed by the design engineer.
  • Detailed design drawings and any required or prepared shop fabrication drawings shall note all relevant dimension and design information. At least 5 business days prior to commencement of fabrication, these drawings shall be forwarded electronically in 11”x17” pdf format to the Ministry Bridge Engineer to review for overall suitability and to determine if they are acceptable for the project before they are used for fabrication. By this routine review of drawings to determine their acceptance, the Ministry Bridge Engineer is not taking the responsibility of the fabricator or design engineer.
  • Ministry accepted detailed design drawings shall be signed and sealed by the successful bidder’s design engineer taking responsibility for the design.
  • All bridge materials, design and shop fabrication drawings, and related correspondence shall note the structure number pertaining to each specific structure.
  • Fabrication shall be completed in accordance with the ministry accepted detailed design drawings and shop fabrication drawings. Any variations from the ministry accepted drawings must be approved in writing, prior to fabrication, by the Ministry Bridge Engineer responsible for design and fabrication review.
  • The design of bridge bearings shall consider the specified bridge deck grade.

General Design Analysis Methodology

  • Design must conform to CAN/CSA-S6, modified to suit forestry bridges, and the following exceptions:
  • 350AT Cat 3 is acceptable for fracture critical members
  • Fatigue limit state of 500,000 cycles for spans > 12m; or 1,000,000 cycles for spans 12m.
  • The bridge design vehicle configuration shall be:
    BCL-625, L-100, L-150 or L-165, as specified by the ministry in this document.

In-Plant Quality Assurance (QA) Inspection

  • All materials must conform to the current ministry standards and shall not be acceptable without in-plant inspection by the ministry’s in-plant quality assurance inspection agency (below):

McElhanney Consulting Services Ltd.
Suite 500, 3960 Quadra St., Victoria, BC V8X 4A3

Telephone (250)370-9221

Important Notes:

  • The ministry’s in-plant Quality Assurance inspections during fabrication are not substitutes for the successful bidder’s or his subcontractor’s own required Quality Control measures, including their obligation to perform the work in accordance with the various standards and specifications and other requirements of the project.
  • The successful bidder must contact the ministry’s in-plant inspection agency to arrange for an in-plant inspection 72 hours prior to commencement of fabrication. Scheduling of any in-plant inspections requires mutual agreement between the successful bidder and in-plant inspection agency.
  • The ministry in-plant inspector shall be supplied with copies of ministry accepted detailed design drawings signed and sealed by the successful bidder’s design engineer, including copies of ministry accepted shop fabrication drawings.

Deficiency resolution process and pre-shipment requirements: