Sonic Echo-Sounder System

Trade Agreement: WTO-AGP/NAFTA/AIT/Canada FTAs with Peru/Colombia/Panama
Tendering Procedures: Generally only one firm has been invited to bid
Non-Competitive Procurement Strategy: Exclusive Rights
Comprehensive Land Claim Agreement: No
Vendor Name and Address: 
R2Sonic LLC
5307 Industrial Oaks Blvd
Suite 120
Austin Texas
United States
78735
Nature of Requirements: 

ADVANCE CONTRACT AWARD NOTICE (ACAN)

WIDEBAND MULTI-BEAM ECHO-SOUNDER SYSTEM

KW405-160637

1. Advance Contract Award Notice (ACAN)

An ACAN is a public notice indicating to the supplier community that a department or agency intends to award a contract for goods, services or co
nstruction to a pre-identified supplier, thereby allowing other suppliers to signal their interest in bidding, by submitting a st
atement of capabilities. If no supplier submits a statement of capabilities that meets the requirements set out in the ACAN, on or before the closing date stated in the ACAN, the contracting officer may then p
roceed with the award to the pre-identified supplier.

2. Definition of the requirement

2.1 Background:

Environment Canada- Watershed Hydrology and Ecology Research Division (WHERD) conducts comprehensive scientific surveys to discover, delineated and characterized submerged features and substrates in the 3-dimensional space of the aquatic environ. These efforts directly contribute to the decision processes and actions directed towards the restoration of impaired ecosystems and the identification and quantification of substrate features and distribution thereof. As such there is a requirement to implement proven technologycapable of providing high resolution bathymetry with the ability of ultra-high resolution mapping of targeted features specific to the research of benthic structures and encountered anomalies. As such the Wideband Multi-Beam Echo-Sounder is called uponto conduct scientific surveys primarily throughout the all the Great Lakes basin and possibly other areas of federal interest. Consequently, the system must be capable of mapping areas with water depths of over 300 m as well as being fully operational at depths as little as 2 m or less.

The system will also be used to acquire backscatter (reflectance) data to develop mapping capability of substrate type and distribution which are important metrics in the understanding ecosystem processes. The integration of high-resolution bathymetry and the corresponding substrate information will yield informative insight with respect to submerged landscape.

The Widebeam Multi-Beam Echo-Sounder system will be deployable from a standard launch (7 m) as well as from vessels of opportunity ranging from open water survey vessels to inflatable rafts deployed from helicopter or ATVs.. The later requiring a small-form factor and minimum power demand
 that would allow for feasible operation with a battery and invertor. 

The option for the Ultra-High Resolution (UHR) Upgrade is requested as currently it is the only available multi-beam echosounder technology capable of providing 700 kHz to provide enhanced discrimination and description of bottom features at micro-bathymetry scales. 

The option for the Snippets and TruePix Backscatter Output to provide concurrent acquisition of backscatter data to be used for the description and distribution of substrate types within the areas surveyed. 

2.2 General Information: 

The required system consists of one (1) Sonic 2022 Echo-Sounder System, one (1
) lot of required Mounting Frame and Hardware, one (1) Ultra-High Resolution (UHR) Upgrade, and one (1) Snippets and TruePix Backscatter Imagery Module. It is the intention of Environment Canada - WHERD to use 


third party data acquisition software, and as such, this does not form part of this requirement. 

3. Mandatory System Requirements

3.1 Minimum Essential Requirements: 
Any interested supplier mustdemonstrate by way of a statement of capabilities that is products meets the following specifications:

1. The wideband multi-beam echosounder system must operate over a frequency range of 200 kHz to 400 kHz with at least 20 frequency selections available over this range (available in equal incremental steps), selectable in real time. 

2. The wideband multi-beam echosounder system must additionally provide sele
ctable 700 kHz operation.

3. The system must have a sounding depth range from 1 m to375 m.

4. The wideband multi-beam echosounder system must provide a minimum of 
256 dynamically focused beams with user selectable equiangular or equidistant beam spacing.

5. The wideband multi-beam echosounder system must provide narrow dynamically focused beam widths as follows (receive and transmit, respectively):

2° x 2 ° at 200 kHz selectable operation
1 ° x 1 ° at 400 kHz selectable operation
0.6 ° x 0.6 ° at 700 kHz selectable operation

6. The wideband multi-beam echosounder systemsignal processing and all beam forming must be done inside the sonar head receiver, without 
recourse to a surface sonar processor.

7. The wideband multi-beam echosounder system must offer signal bandwidth of 60 kHz with a system range resolution of1.25 cm for improved resolution and accuracy of the multi-beam soundings and the quality of the resultant imagery.

8. The wideband multi-beam echosounder system must provide selectable swath widths from 10° to 160° in real-time at all frequency selections from 200 kHz to 400 KHz and from 10° to 60° at 700 kHz, with the ability 

to rotate the swath sector +/- 70°port or starboard in real-time at all 


frequency selections from 200 kHz to 400 kHz and   +/- 30° at 700 kHz. This latter requirement relates to the need to optimally image shallow water bathymetric features and anomalies that occur outside the stan
dard vessel operating depths such inshore shallow water regions or 
areas that would normally be excluded due to wharfs and piers.

9. To enable sustained deployments in remote/pristine areas where gasoline engines/generators are not permitted the average power consumption of the system must not exceed 50W.

4. Applicability of the trade agreement(s) to the procurement

This procurement is subject to the following trade agreement(s):

- Agreement on Internal Trade (AIT)

4.1 Exclusions and/or Limited Tendering Reasons
The following exclusion(s) and/or limited tendering reasons are invoked 

under the:

Agreement on Internal Trade (AIT) - Article(s): Exempted - Article 506 (12a), (12b)

North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) - Article(s): Exempted - Annex 1016.2 (b), (d).

World Trade Organization - Agreement on Government Procurement 
(WTO-AGP) - Article(s): XV (b), (d).

5. Set-aside under the Procurement Strategy for Aboriginal Business - Not applicable. 

6. Comprehensive Land Claims Agreement(s) - Not applicable

7. Justification for the Pre-Identified Supplier

R2Sonic is the only known authorized Canadian distributor for the Sonic 

2022 Echo-Sounder System, the original equipment manufacturer who owns the IP of the equipment. R2Sonic does not authorize value-added resellers or distributors for their equipment in Canada.

The Environment Canada- WHERD requires a shallow water broadband multi-beam echosounder system to provide the research community insight into
 the submerged aquatic landscape features that often are key drivers in 
ecosystem processes. This will be accomplished by having the capacity 
to develop maps of high interest targeted areas in ultra-high 
resolution to extract feature and spatial descriptors and document temporal changes at the micro-bathymetry scale. The requested te
chnology will also be used to develop accurate 3D bathymetric models with integrated substrate descriptors derived from the backscatter da
ta. These models will then be applied to augment the design of studies and interpretation of limnological processes and phenomena.  R2Sonic is the ON
LYmanufacturer of a shallow water multi-beam sonar system (typically 200-400 KHz) that provides an additional ultra-high resolution 700 kHz imaging option. As high accuracy, high precision and high resolution structural recording is the primary operationalrequirement of the EC-WHERD, no other available system on the market meets its needs.

8. Government Contract Regulations Exception(s)

The following exception(s) to the Government Contracts Regulations is (are) invoked for this procurement under subsection 6 d); only one person or firm is capable of performing the contract.

9. Ownership of Intellectual Property - Not applicable

10. Period of the proposed contract or delivery date

The product/system/equipment must be delivered on or beforeFebruary 
28, 2016. Delivery to Environment Canada, 867 Lakeshore Road, Burlington, ONT. L7S 1A1.

11. Cost estimate of the proposed contract

Price is not provided as it could compromise the pre-identified supplier’s competitive position if the requirement proceeds to a traditional or electronic bidding process.

12. Name and address of the pre-identified supplier

R2Sonic LLC
5307 Industrial Oaks Blvd., Suite 120
Austin, Texas 78735

13. Supplier’ right to submit a statement of capabilities

Suppliers who consider themselves fully qualified and available to provide the goods, services or construction services described in the ACAN may submit a statement of capabilities in writing to the contact person identified in this notice on or before the closing date of this notice. The statement of capabilities must clearly demonstrate how the supplier meets the advertised requirements.

14. Closing date for a submission of a statement of capabilities

The closing date and time for accepting statements of capabilities is: December 2, 2015 EST.

15. Inquiries and submission of statements of capabilities

Inquiries and statements of capabilities are to be directed to:

Aaron Abela
33 City Centre Drive, Suite 480C Mississauga, Ontario. Canada. L5B 2N5
E-mail address: Aaron.Abela@pwgsc.gc.ca  


You are hereby notified that the government intends to negotiate with one firm as identified above. Should you have any questions concerning this requirement, contact the contracting officer identified above. 

An Advance Contract Award Notice (ACAN) allows departments and agencies to
 post a notice, for no less than fifteen (15) calendar days, indicating 
to the supplier community that it intends to award a good service or construction contract to a pre-identified contractor. If no other supplier submits, on or before the closing date, a Statement of Capabilities that meets the requirements set out in the ACAN, the contracting authority may then proceed with the award. However, should a Statem
ent of Capabilities be found to meet the requirements set out in the ACAN, then the contracting authority will proceed to a full tendering process.

Suppliers who consider themselves fully qualified and available to provide the services/goods described herein, may submit a statement of capabilities in writing to the contact person identified in this Notice on or 
before the closing date of this Notice. The statement of capabilities must clearly demonstrate how the supplier meets the advertised requirements.

The PWGSC file number, the contracting officer’s name and the closing date of the ACAN must appear on the outside of the envelop in block letters or, in case of a facsimile transmission, on the cover page.

The Crown retains theright to negotiate with suppliers on any procurement.  

Documents may be submitted in either official language of Canada. 


Delivery Date: Above-mentioned

You are hereby notified that the government intends to negotiate with one firm only as identified above. Should you have any questions concerning this requirement, contact the contracting officer identified above.

An Advance Contract Award Notice (ACAN) allows departments and agencies to post a notice, for no less than fifteen (15) calendar days, indicating to the supplier community that it intends to award a good, service or construction contract to a pre-identified contractor. If no other supplier submits, on or before the closing date, a Statement of Capabilities that meets the requirements set out in the ACAN, the contracting authority may then proceed with the award.  However, should a Statement of Capabilities be found to meet the requirements set out in the ACAN, then the contracting authority will proceed to a full tendering process.

Suppliers who consider themselves fully qualified and available to provide the services/goods described herein, may submit a statement of capabilities in writing to the contact person identified in this Notice on or before the closing date of this Notice. The statement of capabilities must clearly demonstrate how the supplier meets the advertised requirements.

The PWGSC file number, the contracting officer's name and the closing date of the ACAN must appear on the outside of the envelope in block letters or, in the case of a facsimile transmission, on the covering page.

The Crown retains the right to negotiate with suppliers on any procurement.

Documents may be submitted in either official language of Canada.