Invitation for Bids

Date:5 December 2008
Grant Title:Proposed Road Network Development Investment Program Project 2
Contract No. and Title:MPW/943/ADB/ICB: Construction of a road from Bagrami (Km 0+000) to Sapary (Km 50+000)
Date:31 January 2009, 14:00 Hours

1.    The Islamic Republic of Afghanistan has applied for a grant from the Asian Development Bank (ADB) for the Road Network Development Investment Program to meet the cost of construction/rehabilitation of various roads in Afghanistan. Part of this grant will be used for payments under the contract named above. Bidding is open to bidders from eligible source countries of ADB.

2.   Afghan Reconstruction and Development Services (ARDS) on behalf of the Ministry of Public Works (MPW) of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan (the Employer), invites sealed bids from eligible bidders for the above contract.

3.    International competitive bidding will be conducted in accordance with ADB's Single-Stage: Two-Envelope Bidding Procedure and is open to all Bidders from eligible source countries of ADB.

4.    The scope of work consists of construction of a 50-km road from Bagrami to Sapary; including bridges, structures and other works incidental to construction of the road, and rehabilitation of existing bridges based on subsoil boring investigation, in accordance with the technical specifications and road standards prescribed by MPW. The detailed design of the road and bridges has been carried out by consultants appointed by MPW and is available at MPW.

5.    The contract price shall be adjusted for Changes in Cost as per clause 13.8 of the general conditions of contract (GCC) and of Particular Conditions of Contract.

6.    Bidder's must meet the following minimum requirements and qualifications, which will be assessed as part of the bid evaluation:

A.    Financial

  1. have an average annual construction turnover (calculated as total certified payments received for contracts in progress or completed) over the last 3 years of at least US$ 27 million;
  2. have access to, or availability of, financial resources such as liquid assets, line of credit, and other financial means, other than any contractual advance payment to meet (i) three-month cash flow requirement of US$ 3.6 million (ii) the overall cash flow requirement for this contract and its current work commitment.

B.    Experience

  1. have successfully (on time and within budget) or substantially completed, as prime contractor, management contractor or sub-contractor ,at least 2 road contracts combined with bridge construction, which are similar in nature and complexity to the proposed works, within the last 10 years, each with a value of at least US$ 19 million.

C.    Litigation

  1. provide accurate information on any litigation or arbitration resulting from contracts completed or under execution by it over the last 6 years. Claims, arbitration or other litigation proceedings pending, with a possible impact of more than 50 per cent of the bidder's net worth shall be a ground for declaring the bidder not qualified for the award of the contract.

D.    Personnel

  1. demonstrate that it has the following personnel with the corresponding experience:

    No. Position Total Work
    Experience [years]    		 Experience In Similar
    Work [years]
    1 Project Manager cum Highway Engineer 15 10
    2 Pavement Engineer 15 10
    3 Bridge Engineer 10 8
    4 Equipment (Plant and Machinery) Engineer 10 8
    5 Environment Protection Manager 10 8

  2. provide details of the proposed personnel and their experience records in the relevant Information Forms included in Section 4 (Bidding Forms), and propose one person for each role. Personnel must be professionals licensed by an internationally or nationally accredited professional body and have a proven record of successful accomplishment of tasks.

E.    Equipment

  1. demonstrate that it owns; leases or has immediate access to, in the event of a contract award in its favor, as a minimum, the equipment listed below:
No. Equipment Type and Characteristics Min. Number Required
1 Asphalt Mixing Plant 125 Ton/Hr 1
2 Asphalt Paver -7.5m 1
3 Stone Crusher 200ton/Hr 1
4 Stone Crusher 100 Ton/Hr 1
5 Dozer Capacity>40 Ton 1
6 Dozer Capacity> 20 Ton 1
7 Excavator Capacity>1.0m3 5
8 Motor Grader 5
9 Loader 8
10 Dumper (Trucks) 20
11 Vibratory Roller 5
12 Tandem Roller 3
13 Transit Concrete Mixer 4
14 Water Truck 3

7.    To obtain further information and inspect the Bidding Document, the bidders should contact:

Afghanistan Reconstruction and Development Services (ARDS)
Ministry of Economy, 4th and 5th Floor
Malik Asghar Square, Kabul, Afghanistan
Contact Persons: Awdhesh Kumar / Masoud Qasime
Email: awdhesh.kumar@ards.org.af, massoud.qasime@ards.org.af, ards.procurement@ards.org.af

8.    Interested bidders may download a complete set of the bidding documents (in English) from the ARDS website http://www.ards.org.af or may obtain in flash/CD form from the ARDS office at the address given above. In case of any difficulty in downloading from website, interested bidders may request the Bidding Documents from ARDS by sending an email to: ards.procurement@ards.org.af.

9.    Bids must be delivered:

  • to the address given above. Electronic submission of bids is not permitted.
  • on or before 14:00 hrs (Afghanistan Time) on 31 January 2009. Late bid will be rejected.

10.    All bids must be accompanied by a bid security of US$ 720,000 or equivalent amount in a freely convertible currency. Bid security shall remain valid for 28 days beyond the validity of bid or up to 148 days from the date of bid submission, i.e., up to 18 June 2009. The required bid validity period is 120 days.

11.    Bids will be opened immediately after the deadline at the address above in the presence of the bidders or their authorized representatives who choose to attend.

12.    A pre-bid meeting will be held on 11 January 2009 at 10:00 hrs (Afghanistan time) at the conference room of the Ministry of Public Works, 1st Macroyan, First Block, and Kabul, Afghanistan.

13.    When comparing bids, ADB's domestic preference scheme will be applied in accordance with the provisions stipulated in the Bidding Documents.

Specific Notice