26-010 Springs Road Transmission Main

Location:	North Carolina
Posted:	Jan 29, 2026
Due:	Mar 3, 2026
Agency:	City of Hickory
Type of Government:	State & Local
Category:	Y - Construction of Structures and Facilities
Publication URL:	To access bid details, please log in.

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The City of Hickory

Request for Qualifications

Public Utilities

Professional Engineering Services

SprCinIgTs RYoOadFTrHanIsCmKisOsioRn YMain

Request Number: 26-010

Project Title:

Springs Road Transmission Main

SECTIONS WTIHIN THIS REQUEST:

a. Notice and Contact Information

b. Request for Qualifications

c. Statement of Qualifications Content Requirements

d. Sample SOQ Evaluation Form

e. Special Terms and Conditions

CITY of HICKORY

Request for Qualifications

Request Number: 26-010

NOTICE OF REQUEST FOR QUALIFICATIONS (RFQ)

Notice is hereby given that the City of Hickory is conducting a qualification based selection

process to retain a proponent for professional engineering services for Springs Road

Transmission Main.

The City of Hickory invites interested firms/teams to submit a written Statement of Qualifications (SOQ)

relating to this solicitation. Proponents are invited to review the information and to submit their SOQ in

accordance with the criteria established within this RFQ. A Project Screening Committee will evaluate

firms/teams qualifications and experience with similar projects. The City will rank the submittals and, if

required, create a short list of firms/teams to interview before selecting the best qualified firm/team. The

firms/teams determined to be best qualified through review of the submitted SOQs will be invited to

interview with a project committee and the firm/team being most qualified will be selected for negotiations

to complete the project. Should negotiations become unsuccessful, the second ranked firm/team will be

invited to enter negotiations.

Written questions regarding this RFQ must be received by Friday February 13, 2026, no later than

12:00 PM. Email questions are acceptable but must contain the wording Springs Road Transmission

Main Question in the subject line. Questions may then be responded to as an amendment to this

document and posted to the solicitation within an anticipated three (3) working days after questions

deadline. Oral statements or instructions shall not constitute an amendment to this RFQ.

All submittals must be received by the deadline specified herein. Any submittals received after the due

date and time specified will not be considered. The City of Hickory reserves the right to reject any or all

submittals, or to withhold awarding a contract for any reason it may determine, and to waive or not to

waive any informalities in any submittal. Contact with City Council or other influential individuals to

the selection process regarding this RFQ is expressly forbidden and shall be grounds for

immediate rejection from the process. All information regarding the content of the specific submittals

will remain confidential until sealed proposals are opened.

POINT OF CONTACT:

William Hamblin, Public Utilities Director

City of Hickory

1441 9th Ave NE

Hickory, NC 28601

Mail:

PO Box 398

Hickory, NC 28603

whamblin@hickorync.gov;

828-323-7427

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Project Title:

Springs Road Transmission Main

CITY of HICKORY

Request for Qualifications

Request Number: 26-010

Submittals must be received before the deadline and they may

be mailed to:

City of Hickory Public Utilities

Post Office Box 398

Hickory, NC 28603

Attention: William Hamblin, Public Utilities Director

Or delivered to:

City of Hickory Public Works

1441 9th Ave NE

Hickory, NC 28601

Attention: William Hamblin, Public Utilities Director

Submittal Deadline:

12:00 PM

Tuesday March 3, 2026

NOTICE OF REQUEST FOR QUALIFICATIONS (RFQ)

DEFINITIONS

The Owner means officers or employees of the City of Hickory.

Proponent means the person or firm/team responding.

Statement of Qualifications or SOQ means the submission received from a Proponent

in response to this RFQ.

Request for Qualifications or RFQ means the entire document, including all of the

documents and any addenda thereto issued before the RFQ closing time.

II.

BACKGROUND

Hickory Public Utilities Department operates a water distribution system consisting of 960 miles of

distribution mains and 13 storage tanks. The central pressure zone consists of five (5) 1-Million

Gallon elevated storage tanks. The Springs Road EST was constructed in 2021. When the site

was selected for the Springs Road EST, it was determined that a future transmission main would

be needed to fully cycle the tank. Included in this RFQ is a potential route and preliminary sizing

of the transmission main. Hickory prepared an application and was selected for a Drinking Water

SRF-Hurricane Helene loan/grant.

III. SCOPE OF SERVICES

The City of Hickory Public Utilities Department is soliciting RFQs from qualified consultants to

provide surveying, engineering, design, easement acquisition, permitting, bidding and

construction management services for the transmission main.

The City is seeking firms whose combination of experience and personnel will provide timely,

cost-effective, and professional services for the City. It is anticipated that the successful firm and

the City will work together to develop a more detailed scope of work including specific project

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Project Title:

Springs Road Transmission Main

CITY of HICKORY

Request for Qualifications

Request Number: 26-010

goals and schedule milestones. A Preliminary Engineering Report meeting the requirements of

SRF loans will be required as a part of the design scope.

IV. SUBMISSION INSTRUCTIONS

No contact shall be made with Hickory City Council as this shall be grounds for dismissal

of RFQ submittal.

All questions should be submitted in writing to the Point of Contact listed above.

SOQs will be received prior to deadline in person at Public Services or by mail

(information at beginning of RFQ).

SOQs submitted via fax or email are not acceptable and will not be considered.

Proponents will be evaluated on experience and qualifications. Project fee related

information is not requested (excepting Section II, subsection D, paragraph 1) and will not

be used in the evaluation process. Receiving project fee related information will be

grounds for dismissal of the RFQ submittal.

Clearly indicate on the envelope the name of the Proponent and the name of the Project

for which the SOQ is being submitted.

G. Refer to the section SOQ Content Requirements for detailed instructions.

There will not be a pre-proposal conference for this project.

There will not be a public opening of the SOQs with Proponents present.

COST OF SUBMISSION AND OWNERSHIP OF SOQ

The City of Hickory is not responsible for any costs incurred by Proponents in preparing,

submitting, or presenting their SOQs.

Except as otherwise provided in this RFQ, all SOQs become the property of the City

upon submission and will not be returned.

STATEMENT OF QUALIFICATIONS CONTENT REQUIREMENTS

This section specifies in detail the form and minimum content requirements for information required to be

submitted in each SOQ. Proponents may, at their discretion, include additional information which they

consider relevant to ensure a full and proper evaluation, provided that the specified maximum allowable

number of pages is not exceeded.

SUBMITTAL FORMAT

Four (4) bound copies and a PDF provided on a flash drive is required of each submittal.

The material should be in sequence and related to the solicitation. The sections of the

submittal shall be tabbed to match SOQ and be clearly identifiable. Failure to include all

requested information will result in the proponent being non-responsive and may result in

the rejection of the proponents submittal.

Cover letter expressing interest in the available project. It shall also identify a principal

and secondary individual as point of contact for any future correspondence and be a

maximum of two pages.

Page size of the SOQ shall be 8 ½ x 11 with a minimum font size of 10. A maximum of

two (2) 11 x 17 pages will be allowed (one (1) page if double sided). Note: this will

count towards the page limit.

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Project Title:

Springs Road Transmission Main

CITY of HICKORY

Request for Qualifications

Request Number: 26-010

No more than 20 pages single sided or 10 pages double sided. Note: divider tabs (if

used), Cover Letter and Table of Contents do not count towards the page limit and shall

not include pertinent information to be evaluated.

II.

SOQ CONTENT

Please provide the following in this order:

Cover Letter/Letter of Interest (does not count toward page limit; two (2) page maximum)

Principal and secondary contact for the project including mailing address, email,

phone numbers, and appropriate license numbers. At least one of these

individuals shall have the ability to negotiate Contract conditions for the

Proponent.

Provide a statement of interest, including a narrative describing the firms unique

qualifications and answering the specific question why should the City select

your firm/team for this project?

Table of Contents Page (does not count toward page limit)

Firm Profile

Provide general information about the Proponent, which needs not be specific to

this RFQ. Include history of the firm, years in business, office locations, number

of staff, types of services provided and specialist areas of expertise. Indicate

office location from which services will be provided. This includes any sub-

consultants.

Statement that the Proponent is licensed to provide required professional

services in the State of North Carolina.

Statement (confirmation) of current general liability insurance as required to

provide services.

Experience and Qualifications of the Proposed Team

Provide a minimum of three similar projects (completed within the last five years)

for which your team was responsible and which you consider to be a

demonstration of your teams design ability, including project title, reference

(name, phone, email) location, design fees, engineers cost estimate, bid amount,

approximate construction cost, year completed, and members of proposed team

included with project and their role on it. Include information on how actual

project construction cost compared to engineers cost estimate. Provide a

narrative explaining any differences.

Please provide a minimum of three (3) unique municipality references (should

references in item D (1) above be duplicated, may provide a reference without a

project).

Submit qualifications on the team and explain why your team is especially well

qualified to perform the required services.

Provide the experience of the proposed team on similar projects. Identify

type and location of similar work to illustrate work quality and the role of

each proposed team member. Show how the experience relates to the

categories outlined.

NOTE: Projects used as examples of similar work shall be clearly noted if the

work was done by individuals while employed by other firms. The only

projects which you may claim without attribution are those projects

actually produced by your firm/team. Improper or misleading credit for

projects, in our view, is an adverse reflection on a firms integrity and

may be grounds for rejection of those projects from your experience or

record or dismissal of the entire RFQ submittal.

Experience and Qualifications of Proposed Team Members (this information will count

toward page limit).

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This is the opportunity summary page. It provides an overview of this opportunity and a preview of the attached documentation.

26-010 Springs Road Transmission Main

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