A -- OPERATIONAL TEST OF A MAINTENANCE DECISION SUPPORT SYSTEM (MDSS)

Notice Date

April 17, 2001

Contracting Office

Department of Transportation, Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), Office of Acquisition Management, HAAM, Room 4410, 400 7th Street, S.W., Washington, DC, 20590

ZIP Code

20590

Solicitation Number

DTFH61-01-R-00069

Point of Contact

Charles Kotch, Contracting Officer, Phone (202) 366-4256, Fax (202) 366-3705, Email charles.kotch@fhwa.dot.gov -- Arlan Finfrock, Contract Specialist, Phone (202) 366-0125, Fax (202) 366-3705, Email

E-Mail Address

Charles Kotch (charles.kotch@fhwa.dot.gov)

Description

Notice of Intent Title: FHWA Operational Test and Pre-Cooperative Agreement Conference for a Winter Road Maintenance Decision Support System Purpose: This is a notice of intent by the FHWA to hold an Pre-Agreement Conference and issue an Request for Application for teams of public sector winter road maintenance agencies, and private vendors of Road Weather Information Systems, to perform an operational test of advanced decision support components. Interested agencies and vendors may submit their contact information for further notifications, and attend the Pre-Agreement Conference. Description: The Maintenance Decision Support System (MDSS) project is being sponsored by the FHWA. The project has a prototype development phase, being conducted from September, 2000 to September, 2001, and an operational test phase to begin in October, 2001. The prototype development phase includes a public Pre-Agreement Conference for potential awardees of operational test funds and anyone interested in the MDSS development. The MDSS Pre-Agreement Conference will be held on 21-22 June, starting at 9:00 AM at the U.S. Army Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory (CRREL), 72 Lyme Road, Hanover, New Hampshire. The RFA for the operational test will be issued prior to the meeting through the Federal Electronic Posting System and the Commerce Business daily, and will be available at the meeting. The purpose of the meeting is to provide technical information on the MDSS Project for public winter road maintenance agencies and private vendors that may be interested in performing the Operation Test Phase. Required Response: A response to the FHWA is required if your organization intends to attend the Pre-Agreement Conference. Otherwise it is optional, but will facilitate dissemination of information on MDSS development and the operational test. The response information shall consist of: 1. Contact Name 2. Contact agency or firm 3. Contact Address 4. Contact Fax number 5. Contact email address 6. List of attendees to the Pre-Agreement Conference (if any). Because of check-in procedures at the CRREL facility, the list shall indicate whether any attendee is a non-US citizen. Response Deadline: Contact information shall be submitted by May 7, 2001. Email or fax is preferred. Submit to: Rudy Persaud Federal Highway Administration Turner Fairbank Highway Research Center 6300 Georgetown Pike McLean, VA 22101-2296 Fax: 202 493 3419 Email: rudy.persaud@fhwa.dot.gov Project References: Background on requirements for the MDSS are found in the Surface Transportation Weather Decision Support Requirements (STWDSR) Operational Concepts Definition (OCD). This is available online at: http://www.itsdocs.fhwa.dot.gov/jpodocs/EDLBrow/401!.pdf A MDSS Project Plan summary is also available. Electronic or hard copy may be requested from the response contact, above. Background: The MDSS Project will demonstrate a prototype MDSS by 30 September 2001. Further details on the MDSS project are contained in the references. The prototype phase is to validate the concept of a MDSS that fuses environmental threat, transportation system, and treatment resource information to support decisions by winter road maintenance managers. MDSS development is being conducted by six federal or university national laboratories with expertise in meteorology, road conditions and decision support. An operational test phase will follow the prototype phase. Prototype components and/or data products will be made available on a non-exclusive basis to any system developer and vendor, for integration into their systems for testing and deployment. In addition, the FHWA plans a competitive RFA, to evaluate at least one operational test. The MDSS prototype developers will provide operational test technical support. The operational test phase will commence about October, 2001. There are three review benchmarks during the prototype phase: First Review: This occurred in February 2001, with selected DOT winter road maintenance managers who reviewed the prototype concept relative to their operational needs. Second Review: This is the Pre-Agreement Conference announced through this notice. Anyone interested in the MDSS, including any public agency involved in winter road maintenance or private vendor of services to winter road maintenance, is invited to attend. The attendees should have an interest in commenting on MDSS development progress, or in participating in testing MDSS components. Attendance at this review is recommended, but not mandatory, for any parties who will respond to the RFA for the FHWA award of operational test funding. All parties submitting contact information to this Notice will receive further information on the MDSS and the operational test. Third Review: This will occur in September 2001. The third review will demonstrate the prototype MDSS components that will be used in the operational test phase. This review probably will occur after the operational test award. Attendance is required for the awardees. Attendance is optional for any other parties interested in testing or deploying MDSS components outside of the FHWA test. The FHWA operational test is intended to produce an Initial Operating Capability (IOC), in August, 2002. The IOC is intended to achieve a working integration of MDSS Prototype products with a pre-existing winter road maintenance decision support system, to be provided by the partners who are awarded the FHWA operational test. The MDSS developers will work with the partners to integrate MDSS components and data into the pre-existing system. The integrated system will be tested in an operational environment and evaluated at least over the winter following the IOC.

Web Link

Visit this URL for the latest information about this (http://www.eps.gov/cgi-bin/WebObjects/EPS.woa/wa/SPF?A=P&P=DTFH61-01-R-00069&L=30)

Record

Loren Data Corp. 20010419/ASOL004.HTM (D-107 SN50J4B8)