U.S. Department of Transportation, Federal Railroad Administration, Office of Acquisition and Grants Services, Mail Stop 50, 400 7th Street, S.W., Washington, DC 20590

A -- IMPROVED NON-DESTRUCTIVE TESTING (NDT) FOR TANK CAR SAFETY POC Contracting Officer, Robert Carpenter, (202) 493-6153 The Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) intends to negotiate on a sole source basis with Transportation Technology Center, Inc. (TTCI), a subsidiary of the Association of American Railroads (AAR) the award of Task Order No. 127 under Contract No. DTFR53-93-C-00001 for the purposes of a railroad research project focusing on "Improved Non-Destructive Testing (NDT) for Tank Car Safety." The work will include the establishment and maintenance of a respository for various actual-size tankcar defect specimens which will be prepared and calibrated so as to be usable and transportable as training exhibits. This Tank-car Re-evaluation and Inspection Facility (TRIF) will be established at the Transportation Technology Center (TTC) in Pueblo, Colorado. The TRIF will be used to evaluate presently prescribed/allowed tests and inspections, as well as to monitor the efficacy of the inspection methods and personnel. The contractor will study and analyze at least two nondestructive tests and evaluations that may be applicable to determine tank car integrity. TTCI is the facility management contractor at the TTC in Pueblo, Colorado. The 52-square mile TTC property is managed and operated by TTCI for the Federal Railroad Administration, and is the only known facility with the unique capability and circumstances suitable for highly specialized and potentially hazardous railroad test operations safely away from revenue service rail lines. The work will involve analyses by TTCI engineers using this Government-owned facility. The applicable authority for this procurement is 41 U.S.C. 253(c)(1) as implemented by FAR 6.302-1, "Only One Responsible Source." This announcement is for information purposes only relating to potential subcontracting opportunities. Interested parties may contact the TTCI contracts manager, Edward Walsh, at (719) 584-0534 for information regarding potential subcontracting opportunities, if any. This is NOT a competitive Request for Proposals (RFP) and a competitive solicitation is NOT available. Posted 07/22/99 (W-SN357988). (0203)

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