Public Higher Education Bulletin

The Board of Trustees of Southern Illinois University Edwardsville hereby requests sealed bids for construction work on the installation of processing equipment to be used in the National Corn to Ethanol Research Pilot Plant project (Bid # 8242).

Project: The Board of Trustees of the Southern Illinois University governing Southern Illinois University Edwardsville hereby requests sealed bids for the installation of processing equipment to be used in the National Corn to Ethanol Research Pilot Plant on the Southern Illinois University Edwardsville, Edwardsville Campus.

The National Corn to Ethanol Research Pilot Plant is designed to improve the efficiency of ethanol production. Research conducted in the facility is expected to significantly reduce the cost of ethanol and have very positive ramifications for the midwestern agricultural economy.

Proposals will be received until 2:30 p.m. CDT on October 31, 2001 in the Supporting Services Building, Purchasing Department, Room 1020, Campus Box 1012, Edwardsville, IL 62026. Once the RFP has been awarded, notice will be posted on the State Procurement Bulletin website, www.procure.stateuniv.state.il.us. Immediately after closing time for receiving bids, they will be opened publicly in the Mississippi Room of the Morris University Center Building.

Any questions concerning this project, must be faxed at least seven days prior to the bid opening, to Jim Cole, Project Engineering Manager, Washington Group International, 630-829-3573 and a copy faxed to Shelly Albert, Purchasing Officer, SIUE, 618-650-5682.

Bid Document Sources: Bid documents may be obtained upon application at the Southern Illinois University Edwardsville Purchasing Office, Campus Box 1012, Edwardsville, IL 62026 or by contacting Shelly Albert at 618-650-3265, Supporting Service Building. Bid documents will be available on or after October 5, 2001.

Deposit of $200.00 (per set of contract documents) is required. It is preferred that the deposit be in the form of a check drawn payable to Southern Illinois University, Board of Trustees; however, cash will be accepted. The deposit for each set will be refunded to bona fide bidders upon return of the contract documents in good condition if not later than fifteen (15) days following the award of contracts. Fifty percent of the deposit will be refunded to non-bidders, subcontractors, and suppliers who return the contract documents within the specified period.

Firms that require transmittal of plans and specifications via common carrier (i.e. Federal Express, Airborne, etc.) must provide their carrier identification number so that delivery charges can be billed direct to their firm.

Bid Document Review Sets: For the convenience of bidders, complete sets of documents will be on file at the Office of Southern Illinois Builders Association, 7623 West Main, Belleville, Illinois; F.W. Dodge Scan, Division of McGraw Hill, 1750 S. Brentwood, Suite 270, St. Louis, MO; and Construction Market Data, 2029 Woodland Parkway, Ste. 100, St. Louis, MO 63146.

Prequalification: BIDDERS MUST COMPLETE THE ENCLOSED PREQUALIFICATION STATEMENT PRIOR TO THE BID OPENING. THIS STATEMENT IS VALID FOR THIS PROJECT ONLY. Firms may verify their prequalification status by contacting Shelly at (618) 650-3265. The SIUE approved prequalification document will be due at the SIUE Purchasing Office prior to the bid opening.

Statutory Requirements: The successful bidder will be required to comply with all laws, statutes, regulations, ordinances, rulings or enactments of any governmental authority which are applicable to the work or to the project. The successful bidder shall pay prevailing wages and shall utilize equal employment opportunity hiring practices in connection with this project.

The Owner reserves the right to reject any and all bids.

Sealed envelopes containing the bids will be marked installation of processing equipment to be used in the National Corn to Ethanol Research Pilot Plant. Bids will be received up to the hour of 2:30 PM local time, on Wednesday, October 31, 2001. Immediately after closing time for receiving bids, they will be opened publicly and read.

All bids must include:

• Bid security (see complete bid for details)
• A letter from a surety company in substantially the form set forth in the Instructions to Bidders assuring the issuance of the Performance and Payment Bond.
• All bidders must submit a PC-2 form as required by the Illinois Department of Human Rights.

Pre-Bid Conference: A prebid conference for all those interested in bidding the project will be held on October 9, 2001 at 2:30 p.m. in the conference room of the Hickory, Hackberry, Redbud, and Oak Rooms of the Morris University Center Building. Representatives of the Owner and the Washington Group will be present to answer questions regarding the project and bidding procedures. All prospective bidders are urged to attend.

(Submitted by Kenn Neher, State Purchasing Officer.)