The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) New England District, in support of the Veterans Affairs Office of Construction and Facilities Management (VA CFM), will host a One-On-One Industry Engagement for the New Surgical and Clinical Space Tower project. The project is planned to be issued on or about May 2024. A Design-Build construction contract is anticipated to be awarded in Fiscal Year 2025. The value of the construction project is estimated between $250,000,000.00 – $500,000,000.00.

The purpose of this Industry Engagement is to improve industry’s understanding of project requirements; answer questions on the New Surgical and Clinical Space Tower project; provide an overview of potential acquisition timeline for this project; and gain an understanding of how industry can support this construction. This is a continuation of USACE’s engagement with industry and multiple ones will occur throughout the procurement of this project. The intent of this One-On-One engagement is to connect with prime construction contractors who have experience in this type of construction. Any interested prime construction contractors should contact Tyler Maryak, Contract Specialist, at tyler.s.maryak@usace.army.mil with their contact information so that a meeting can be scheduled within the next 30 days. This is not the forum for A-E or subcontractors.

Overview:

The new Surgical and Clinical Space Tower to be designed and constructed at the West Haven, CT campus is intended to upgrade and consolidate existing clinical and direct patient care spaces to current standards of patient care. General utilities serving the space are also outdated and require updating and upgrading, including electrical and medical gas systems. There are concerns with patient and staff safety due to the deficiencies with space and function of the surgical suites. The scope of the project includes the addition of an approximately 189,000 gross square feet (GSF) three-to-four story tower and the demolition of approximately 45,000 GSF of administrative, common, and research space of existing outbuildings. The tower will be constructed in the vicinity of the existing hospital (Building #1) in a congested, previously developed area. Upgrades and/or relocation of existing infrastructure, to include some combination of parking, road network, utilities, and campus-wide power and heating plants, will be required. The tower is planned to be constructed north of Building 1 and be connected to it via direct addition, and multiple corridors and/or catwalks to Buildings 1 & 5 in an area presently occupied by a parking lot and the buildings to be demolished.

Major impacts to existing infrastructure include relocation and expansion of multiple utility distribution systems impacted by the new construction, new utility tunnels, additional steam plant and on-site water storage capacity, new electrical substations, parking and road network reconfigurations, and re-grading of site/construction of retaining walls. Coordinated phasing is required to minimize impacts to current campus operations. The Medical Center will remain operational during the construction of all phases of the project and impacts to the hospital operations must be minimized.

Specialized construction requirements include operating rooms, intensive care units, pathology, endoscopy, laboratories, mental health spaces and supporting spaces that meet all DVA infection control standards; associated complex and specialized HVAC and electrical requirements; medical gas distribution systems, nurse call systems, pneumatic tube distribution systems, medical security, and alarming systems that will all need to be integrated with existing systems. The new tower will need to integrate seamlessly with the other buildings on campus. New construction and demolition will need to be coordinated with the Connecticut State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO). Site improvements will include access roads, utilities, landscaping, and all other work necessary to provide a complete and usable project. It is expected that the project will be constructed to comply with Guiding Principles for Sustainable Federal Buildings (Guiding Principles) and certified to meet LEED Silver.