REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS Fabrication of a Creative, Interactive Interpretive Installation Town of Vail Environmental Sustainability Programs

BACKGROUND

In 2012, Gore Creek was listed as an “impaired waterway” by the Colorado Department of Public Health and the Environment (CDPHE). The Town of Vail undertook a comprehensive study of the causes of Gore Creek’s declining macroinvertebrate populations and, in 2015, adopted the Gore Creek Strategic Action Plan. Due to the non-point source nature of the pollutants impacting Gore Creek, the plan identified Education and Outreach as a key strategy to raising awareness and fostering community engagement to restore Gore Creek. The Town has developed educational programing, advertisements and videos and hosted events to spread the message in the community that all residents and guests need to work together to Restore the Gore. The Town of Vail is now seeking to expand its Gore Creek Education and Outreach programs and reach new audiences through a series of interpretive installations along Gore Valley Trail, the recreation trail that parallels Gore Creek.

In 2020, the Town hired Howard and Revis (H+R), a Washington DC-based interpretive design firm to complete the design package for the Gore Valley Trail Interpretive installation. Town of Vail is now seeking a creative and capable partner to fabricate the interpretive elements based on the attached plan.

OPPORTUNITY

The Town of Vail is seeking a qualified firm to fabricate the interpretive panels, sculptures, spotting scopes and other elements as designed by Howard & Revis (H+R) and shown in the attached Drawings. See Attachments A and B. Please pay particular attention to the drawing package by the Town of Vail that specifies the scope of work that the onsite contractor will be performing, and the ways in which it is largely distinct from the fabricator’s, but with definite areas of overlap and coordination onsite between the two firms.

Campaign Goals

1. Raise community awareness of the causes of Gore Creek’s impairment through interactive exhibits and media.
2. Engage trail users and educate them about macroinvertebrates, aquatic ecosystems, and wildlife.
3. Communicate how community members can do their part to Restore the Gore.
4. Draw the attention of trail users to the riverine and riparian ecosystems that the Gore Valley Trail meanders through and educate them about the importance of these ecosystems.

SCOPE OF WORK

The Town of Vail seeks a firm or team with the capacity and ability to fabricate the interpretive elements shown in the Design Drawings Package, and to work collaboratively with an on-site contractor (see separate drawing package attached) hired separately by Town of Vail. That contractor will build and install the paved pull-outs, concrete footers with stainless steel hardware, and the added woodwork needed at existing fences at those stations as indicated in the drawings. The fabrication firm will be expected to oversee the onsite contractor to the extent that that contractor understands how to properly install each type of exhibit element. The aim is to streamline the fabricator’s time on site while ensuring that all exhibit components are securely installed.

The qualified fabrication firm should possess a team with documented ability to create shop drawings, fabricate direct-embedded, powder-coated aluminum interpretive panels, weld and form complex shapes from welded wire mesh panels, fabricate weathering steel (Cor-ten or equal) sculptures to specified designs, and affix bronze sculptures produced under a separate contract to the tops of the direct embed panels using hidden fasteners. Both creativity and an ability to navigate the logistics of fabrication and delivery of interpretive elements to Vail, Colorado while remaining within a budget will be necessary for the completion of a successful interpretive installation.

Unique Interpretive Elements

The Gore Valley Trail Interpretive Installation centers around several design themes that extend across nine geographic locations along the Gore Valley Trail (a paved stream-front recreation trail) in Vail, Colorado. The images and language that comprise the main content of the installations will primarily be communicated using powder coated aluminum panels with direct embedded graphics and text that are folded into “peaks and valleys” as detailed in the drawing package. These panels will either be fixed to gabion mesh “baskets” filled with cobble, existing bridge and fence railings, or existing picnic tables. These main exhibits will be complimented by secondary interpretive elements including spotting scopes, sighting tubes, weathering steel animal sculptures and a projected gobo image (projector and its installation and power and signal wiring by Owner’s contractor). A successful candidate firm must have documented experience working in all the materials proposed for use in the attached interpretive design drawings.

1. Gabion Boulders and Interpretive Panels - Stations 1, 2, 9, 10, 11 and 12
   • Fabricated welded wire steel mesh sections cut and welded to size and shape per the Design Drawings package Includes a high-density foam filler piece. Top of gabion to have ¼ inch direct embedded, powder-coated aluminum graphic panel with break form folds as designed to attach via stainless steel, security screws to gabion mesh base. Concrete footing, stainless steel j-bolt with spanner washer and nuts, and compacted gravel pad by Owner.

2. Railing Wrap Panels - Stations 3, 8 and 11
   • Folded, ¼ inch aluminum panel with direct embedded, coated graphics, break form as required by design, and concealed mounting brackets. Laser cut, knock out “circling trout” pattern on back panel of Corten steel. To be installed on existing railings, and any required woodwork modifications by Owner’s onsite contractor.

3. Picnic Table Panels - Station 8
   • Quarter inch direct embedded, coated aluminum graphic panel, welded folds as required by design. To be installed on existing wood picnic tables, required modifications by Owner.

4. Weathering Steel Sculptures - Stations 3 and 9
   • Quarter inch weathering steel (Cor-ten or equal) porcupine and pine marten sculptures with laser cut, knock out graphics; built in layered sections. To be affixed to live trees on site by Owner.

5. Sighting tubes - Station 3
   • Two powder-coated aluminum sighting tubes with polarized lenses and attachment brackets to be installed on an existing railing by Owner’s onsite contractor.

6. Spotting Scopes- Station 12
   • Bushnell spotter scopes mounted on standing powder-coated aluminum tubes/base with two-sided, ¼ inch powder-coated direct embedded graphic panels wrapped as per design. Bushnell scopes, concrete footing and installation by Owner. Owner will provide one scope to the fabricator to allow precise fabrication of the housings as per the design drawings.

7. Steel pylon w/ Panel and Projector trigger - Station 6
   • Folded weathering steel (Cor-ten or equal) pylon and, ¼ inch direct embedded powder-coated aluminum panel with trigger button. Concrete footing, electrical work, gobo and gobo projector, housing and installation by Owner’s onsite contractor.

8. Compatibility with bronze sculptures to be affixed to coated aluminum interpretive panels- Stations 1, 2, 3, 8, 10, and 12
   • Bronze sculptures to be designed and created and cast by others. Gabion boulders must be compatible with bronze sculptures which have been modelled to align with the embedded graphics (see drawing package). These bronzes willbe created and delivered to the jobsite by a third party foundry under a separate contract, and will include stainless steel threaded inserts installed in the cast underside of the bronze base of each sculpture. These threaded inserts will allow, once aligned holes are drilled in the graphic panels, the sculptures to be secured from the underside of the panels by the Owner’s bronze sculpture project manager.

9. Compatibility with installation sites to be constructed by local contractor (Note site design and installation specifications in Attachment B)
   • Footers for gabion mesh boulders and associated compacted gravel pads to be constructed by others. All elements above will need to be compatible with mounting brackets in attached design.

10. Shop drawings, engineering, and submittals for all above
    • Provide shop drawings for all components, engineers and sample submittals as needed prior to fabrication.

11. Delivery of all materials and components to 1309 Elkhorn Drive, Vail, CO 81657

12. Partial on-site project management and interface with installation contractor

• Demonstration of installation at one location with on-site installation contractor. Assume one supervisor on site in Vail for a duration as needed to ensure the on-site contractor/installer understands all work required for the proper installation of fabricated interpretive components.

SUBMITTAL REQUIREMENTS

1) Statement of Qualifications: statement covering resources, expertise, client list and references. If a team, partnering firm or organization is proposed, include background information on all participating members. Include standard billing rate(s) range.

2) Relevant Work Experience: examples of similar previous work, which may include welding, fabricating weathering steel sculptures, and creating direct-embedded coated aluminum interpretive panels. Detail specific case studies that demonstrate abilities in these areas and approximate cost range.

3) Approach to Scope of Work: indicate the proposed approach to developing shop drawings of various interpretive elements and approximate timeline to complete fabrication and deliver all elements to Vail, Colorado for installation (based on planned contract signing in early March 2023).

4) Project Cost: Provide a cost to produce each of the elements, including shop drawings, approval process, fabrication, consultation with designers and owners, and delivery to Vail, Colorado. All components will be installed by a local contractor hired by the Town of Vail. However, candidates should provide a cost to provide on-site consultation and a demonstration for each element type. Cost estimates should be broken down and itemized by station.

5) Sample panel: Provide a sample of a formed, ¼ inch direct-embedded powder coated aluminum panel with full color images and text.

SELECTION CRITERIA

The successful candidate firm or team will provide examples and demonstrate the ability to:

• Manage expenses to approved budgets, demonstrate accountability, and meet Fabricate interpretive elements using the materials identified in the Gore Valley Trail Interpretive Plan Drawings. Be resourceful, flexible, dedicated and results-oriented
• Bring creative solutions to the project and to problem solving

TIMELINE

RFP Question and Answer Period Submit questions via email to pwadden@vailgov.com	Jan. 20, 2023- Feb. 3, 2023
RFP Due Date	Feb. 20, 2023
Candidate Selection Process Narrow results to maximum of 3 firms, conduct interviews	Mid-February, 2023
Contract Award	March 8, 2023

LINKS

Attachment A: Gore Creek Valley Trail 100% BID Set Revised 20230117

Attachment B: Gore Creek Valley Trail 100% BID Set Design Book 020230117

CONTACT AND SUBMITTAL

Responses are due by 5 p.m. MST no later than Monday, Feb. 20, 2023. All responses will be submitted via email to pwadden@vailgov.com .

Inquiries should be directed to:
Pete Wadden, Watershed Specialist
Town of Vail, Environmental Sustainability Department
970-479-2144 or pwadden@vailgov.com